Dark, moody, deep, dramatic, pulsating, stunning. You might use these words to describe the scores of some of your favorite horror films and cinematic masterpieces. The Shining, Suspiria, The Seven Samurai, Taxi Driver, or Flash Gordon, for example. Ok, Flash Gordon may be a stretch there, but the score is undeniably epic, nevertheless.
These terms can also describe the sounds created by Dennis K. Sullivan II for the Splice Originals: Cinematic Percussion pack. They suggest a nod to those legendary composers but with a fresh, modern twist. They evoke the feeling of stepping into a fresh pine forest, but late at night with a fog rolling through and no one in sight. That's their appeal. They draw so much emotion, so much uncertainty, they leave you at the edge of your seat wanting more.
For this session, we visited the incredible studio at Adelphi University to record Sullivan's orchestral percussion. Using traditional and extended techniques, he played timpani, concert marimba, xylophone, 5' tam-tams, gongs, tubular bells, crotales, concert bass drums, and an assortment of other percussion assembled in a huge cage. His favorite sounds produced in the session were created using the timpani as a resonating chamber for small metallic objects while bowing everything.
Sullivan is a founding member of the performance duo, Radical 2 with percussionist/electronics engineer, Levy Lorenzo. He is also one half of Popebama, a high-octane experimental percussion/saxophone duo with composer/saxophonist Erin Rogers. His solo work explores cross-genre coalescence between acoustic, electronic, and timbral-based noise music.
His compositions examine sounds through a very small aperture, drawing attention to the sonic consequences that are always present but not always heard. He crawls inside of each instrument to find every pitch in the spectrum and every small consequence of the physical action that goes into producing sound.
If you're a fan of the cinematic work of Fumio Hayasaka, Wendy Carlos, Bernard Herrmann, or even Trent Reznor, you'll find use for this pack in scores, atmospheres, and beyond.
