Christopher Hull is a percussionist and ethnomusicologist whose work focuses on tensions between tradition and innovation in contemporary music. As a passionate performer of solo, chamber, and orchestral percussion, he seeks to ground his work in his classical training while simultaneously transcending the conventions of the conservatory. With classical percussion degrees from Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Alaska Fairbanks, a performing arts certificate from the Arts Institute of Indonesia Denpasar, and his current studies in ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto, Christopher’s genre-defying work exhibits a world of experience.
As an orchestral percussionist, he frequently works with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, the Hamilton and Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestras, and Sinfonia Ancaster. He has appeared as a chamber musician and soloist in festivals such as Open Ears, International Gamelan Festival Munich, Young Artists Niagara, and Sacred Rhythm Jakarta, and can be heard playing drums, vibraphone, and synthesizer on commercial recordings by Call Me Moon and Treephones. He is also Associate Artistic Director of Toronto-based Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, commissioning and premiering new works for Sundanese degung, and director of the University of Toronto’s Balinese gamelan ensemble, Dharma Santi.
Get to know Chris…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Reading, cycling, and synthesizers
Musical influences: Jojo Mayer, Benny Greb, David Garibaldi, Gary Burton, Tony Miceli, Steve Reich, Glenn Gould, Bill Evans, I Dewa Made
Favourite food: Noodles
Least favourite food: Quiche
Favourite music: R&B, hip-hop, funk; Western modernism and minimalism; Balinese gender wayang; Sundanese degung; Orchestral; beatsce Favourite song:!
Favourite movie: The Departed
Favouirite movie music: Old modern romantic soundtracks (eg. Spellbound)
Favourite musical theatre/opera: West Side Story/Turandot
Best quote from your teacher: “When we perform, we smile. If we make a mistake while performing, we smile bigger.” -Dewa Suparta
Favourite quote: “I’m a man who leaves nothing to chance.” -Maestro Boris Brott
Favourite book: Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami
Best thing about teaching at ABC: The lovely students
Latest Homework from CHRIS
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Tuesday, June 4th
Myles
Survivor: Eye of the Tiger
–good. Let’s focus on the road map! Two strategies: listening to the song, and reading along. Work on both!
–See the new section on the sheet in google drive (chorus and post-chorus) and maintain those sections for next week
–Get the fill at the end of the chorus up to speed
Refresh Alfred Solo #2 (lines 1-6)**
Jonah
Warmups (1min/ea)
–Triplet Exercise (Goal tempo=115)
–Sixteenth-note exercise (goal tempo=100)
Herbie Hancock: Watermelon Man
***PLEASE PRINT SO THAT YOU CAN WORK ON IT THIS WEEK**********************************************************************************
Francisco
Warmups (30sec/ea., find goal speed):
–8 on a hand (140bpm)
–Singles (sixteenths at 140bpm)
–doubles (16ths at 90*)
–Paradiddles (16ths at 90*)
Drumset Musician p13 ex 20-23
Nirvana: Smeels like Teen Spirit-Everything up until the end of page 1
–Is there some way you can set up your drums/computer/print the page so that you can read it while playing?
–Go ahead and play to the end of page 2 (download file so that you can read it), skip the bridge section for now
Warmups (30sec/ea., find goal speed):
–8 on a hand (140bpm)
–Singles (sixteenths at 140bpm)
–doubles (16ths at 90*)
–Paradiddles (16ths at 90*)
Drumset Musician p13 ex 20-23
Nirvana: Smeels like Teen Spirit-Everything up until the end of page 1
–Is there some way you can set up your drums/computer/print the page so that you can read it while playing?999
–Go ahead and play to the end of page 2 (download file so that you can read it), skip the bridge section for now
Noah
Warmups:
–Triplet Exercise (1mm RH, 2mm LH) @ 95bpm**
–Sixteenth-note Exercise 75bpm*
Lenny Kravitz: Are You Gonna Go My Way
–Reprint the sheet so that you can read along
—-The extended fill in verse 3
—-the weird break after the guitar solo
—-the time signature changes during the last chorus
Saturday, October 26th
Jack
Tragically Hip: 50 Mission Cap
–Playing sticking exercises along with the beat of this song!
Benny Greb Rhythmic Alphabet (find sheet in the Google Drive>Frequently Used Resources)
–Learn each letter in the “binary” part of the alphabet (counting 1-2-3-4)
–try building small words!
Xylophone
–Learning the musical alphabet (ABCDEFG)
–Visually identifying C on the keyboard
–Spelling “Dad” and “Egg” on the keyboard
Nova
Warmups:
–Stick Control first 13 exercises (trying for 50bpm goal tempo)
Remi Wolf: Photo ID
–Finishing this song off
–Work on adding the Chorus fill (on handout) into the second chorus
XYLOPHONE NEXT WEEK :)
–C Major Scale and Arpeggio (C-E-G-c-G-E-C)
–Piano Adventures p 46-47 (counting in 3)
Cirone Book: “Step 6” (pdf in Nova’s personal gdrive folder)
–Review note reading using the Step 6 melodic exercises
–If you need help or a reminder about which notes are which, look back at lesson 5 (Amw PDF)
–Be careful to follow the correct stickings and rhythms!
–Try to build the habit of visually identifying the notes (looking at the page)
–Sing the note names as you play them
Koel
Warmups (1min each):
–Triplet Ex. 125bpm
–Ride pattern exercise with sixteenth exercise on the cymbal (goal tempo 90)
Van Halen: Jump (scan of chart in your personal folder)
–Pre-chorus: add in final fill
–**Now, work on everything up until the Guitar Solo on p. 4
Jared
Warmups:
–Stick Control ex 1-13 goal tempo: 80bpm***
—-Play each exercise ***4 times***
Bruno Mars: Uptown Funk
–done. Awesome!
***Bruno Mar: Locked Out of Heaven
–Drill the main beat to really get it solid. Careful with the bass drum placement
–Drilling the tom-groove at the end of the Chorus section
Mario
Warmups (1min/ea; slow, med, fast speeds)
–8 on a hand
–Single Stroke Roll (R L R L…)
–Double Stroke Roll (R R L L…)
Basic Beat Level 2***
Step 1) Count “1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +”
Step 2) Play the Hihat with your right hand (RH) on all counts (playing eighth notes now, as opposed to the quarters of Level 1
Step 3) Add in the bass drum with your right foot (RF) on “1” and “3”
Step 4) Add in the snare drum with your LH on “2” and “4”
–The goal is to get through this with all instruments four times uninterrupted
Also, focus on making sure the notes line up precisely.
New Song!! White Stripes: Seven Nation Army
–everything up until ca. 1:00, playing along by rote
–Bass drums on the beats, snares on the “backbeats”
Aleksander
Warmups (30 sec each) at three speeds (slow/med/fast):
–Single strokes (R L R L…)
–Double Strokes (R R L L….)
–Paradiddles (RLRR LRLL…)
–Basic Beat level 3.5
—-Make sure that when two instruments play together they land precisely at the same time
Learning Drumset Notation: Drumset Musician book
–Counting aloud; play each exercise four times without interruption
–Practice exercises 1-7 on p11 of the Drumset musician book (find PDF below)
–top line is hihat middle space is snare drum, bottom space is bass drum
ACDC: Back in Black–everything up until 2:49
–Nice job
–Add in the fourth “line” of the Guitar solo (a bunch of extra crashes!)
–Follow along, playing the Chorus section that happens after the guitar solo. Listen to what happens after that!
Preferred Books for TCHRNAME Students
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