Instrumentation: Percussion Quartet

Percussion 1: 5.0 Octave Marimba, Bowed Crotales

Percussion 2: 5.0 Octave Marimba, Bowed Crotales

Percussion 3: Vibraphone (bowed), Upright Kick Bass

Percussion 4: Glockenspiel, Crotales (bowed), Bongos, Low Tom

During my time at the University of Texas- San Antonio, I remember one week of my second year when I had extreme migraine stemming from lack of sleep and an obscene amount of caffeine. Every day of that week felt like there was a new type of migraine. Sometimes they came in waves throughout the day with a beating thump against my head, and other times it was a constant ringing in my head that I heard in every class and rehearsal. 

When I was writing this percussion quartet, I was trying to think of how I could describe every type of migraine I felt with a minimal number of instruments. The various sections, which differ in timbre and rhythm, represent a new type of migraine or a combination of multiple migraines.