Wine glasses, bodhran, marimba, Micromoog. Originally for a choreography with two dancers (modern).

Dance Duet

4 tracks of B-flat minor marimba, bass, overdriven bass, low-fi drums, and Moog. Because of course the ancient marimba just screams for some Moog and overdriven bass accompaniment. 2000

4 Marimbas

The sun is going down through the trees, visible through a sliding glass door, there is a slow pulse from the highway, there is still life but it is finished, the pulse of the sun, the cars, the trees, the lights, the dreams fade in the twilight, weightless.

Sundown through a Glass Door

A faculty recital recording of my 1997 Etude No 2 for Marimba. This etude is subtitled "Progression" because of the suspended chord progression throughout. This is part of 3 etude set for marimba published by Keyboard Percussion Publications.

KSC Faculty Percussion Recital

Etude No 2 "Progression"

Super basic drums, bass, 2 marimba tracks, synths, pattern gate lead… Boom Gate.

Boom Gate

“..wonderfully written and could be performed individually or as a set. Swist’s artistry as a composer is displayed through his lyrical and idiomatic writing for the marimba.” Percussive Notes 9/2010

The publication of these etudes bridge a gap in Christopher Swist’s marimba writing from the 1996 solos (Centipede, Streamline, Four Scenes from a Gorge) to Impressions of Giza of 2000. They are accessible tonal etudes set in minor modes with a variety of tonal and thematic interplay. Etude One (in the key of A minor) is subtitled “layers.” It features additive layering and is an excellent study etude for 4-mallet control and independence.

Duality Extended Cut

Etude No 1 "Layers"

Bard Conservatory Orchestra
Marcelo Lehninger, conductor

Sunday, December 9, 2012
Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, NY

Program Note:

Some of the best lessons on orchestration I’ve experienced came from sitting and playing in the percussion sections of large orchestras. During long rests and the many tacet movements, you gain a feel for how ideas and texture are collaborating on stage and in the hall. Even while playing, you discern how your colorations are interacting with the other instrument groups.

Abaprima is my fourth work for orchestra and a continuation of my interest in atmospheric development as well as musical logic in terms of serial harmonic structures and extended form. The overall form is A – B – A prime with each section being a relatively equal 6 1/2 minutes. Several harmonic pitch sets completing the 12-tone aggregate are deployed and established in the A section. The slow B section focuses on strings and harp and is certainly influenced by those many orchestral tacet slow movements. There is also a brief homage to percussion and Edgard Varèse.

The closing A prime section develops the original A section in terms of meter, orchestration, and motivic movement. The piece ends with a final flourish of the original pitch sets and a coda built around two bass drum “bombs” that are a salute to Stravinsky’s Firebird.

Concert 12/09/12

Abaprima for Orchestra

1) Prelude for Charles Ives
2) Duration for Morton Feldman
3) Time for Lou Harrison 

Live Performance - December 5, 2013 - Redfern Arts Center

Amy Williams (piano), Matt Ward, Robert Paterson, and the Keene State College Percussion Ensemble

Trois Petits Hommages

Beta-testing a natural live room: no compression or limiting, high voltage mic pres. 4-Piece kit, Steinberger 5-string, Vibraphone.

Can I Watch SpongeBob?

An epilogue for Dave Samuels whose influenced myself and countless percussionists and fusion players. My father Larry Swist recorded most of his solo catalog along with much of his Spyro Gyra material. Dave's fantastic Limelight was a reference mix for this little tribute.

Dave

An analog intense remake of Credit Music from 2000. The original Credit Music was a MIDI Sequence on the Korg OSR/W. This is an unedited multitrack performance on acoustic drums, 5-string bass, vibraphone, marimba, and Kurzweil synth. Recorded "out of the box" at EvenFall Studio with SSL, Millennia, and Neve outboard.

Credit Music 2020

This started as a good home for some potboilers from my early electronic studio but now has grown into a holding area for live recordings of my contemporary classical works. Recent uploads are from the new rooms at EvenFall Studio.

Some of these electronic "candies" were used in dance, short film, and commercial/advertising forms. Now they are just sitting around, so if you dig anything here let me know. This was all outboard gear including: Moog Micromoog, Korg 05R/W, Kurzweil PC2R, Korg Electribe EA-1 & ER-1, HHB Radius 3 Tube Compressor, MOTU 896, various TC Electronic and Digitech effects. If you're interested in my "Western" symphonic, electronic, and percussion compositions they are available to listen on the music page of my website. Thanks for listening! Enjoy!

Christopher Swist

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