Sonic No. 7 and No. 10: Percussion Book

El-Dabh's percussion works open ears to sonic possibilities beyond traditional Western concert percussion. These pieces honor global percussion traditions while remaining accessible to contemporary ensembles, offering a substantive alternative to the standard repertoire.

These movements invite listeners into a world of timbre and resonance, where the attack and decay of each strike matters as much as pitch. The writing draws on percussion traditions beyond the concert hall, creating an immersive and often meditative soundscape.

Percussion ensembles, contemporary music programs, and directors seeking to program 20th-century works that engage with non-Western instrumental traditions. This book serves advanced high school and college-level percussionists interested in expanding beyond standard orchestral repertoire.

• Research the specific percussion instruments called for in both movements; El-Dabh often specifies non-standard or world percussion instruments that may require advance sourcing or substitution planning
• Attend to dynamic and timbral variety as primary compositional elements rather than melodic development; the focus is on color, resonance, and texture
• Allow space for the resonance of struck instruments to decay naturally; avoid the impulse to overlap attacks or fill silence

Consider programming either movement as a concert opener or closer to frame a program thematically around world music or 20th-century experimental approaches to percussion. These pieces pair well with other contemporary percussion works or ethnomusicological concert concepts exploring global instrumental traditions.

• Reading specialized percussion notation for world instruments
• Developing timbral sensitivity and dynamic control across extended techniques
• Understanding non-Western rhythmic and tonal approaches
• Ensemble listening and balance with non-pitched percussion instruments
• Sourcing and performing on authentic or culturally-informed percussion instruments