Electric Thoughts by Ivan Trevino

This past April, I performed a solo faculty recital featuring percussion works that included electronics. Here is Electric Thoughts for solo marimba and audio track by Ivan Trevino.
Electric Thoughts (2014) is scored for marimba soloist + audio track and was commissioned by a consortium of percussionists led by Dr. Christopher Lizak.
Electronic pop music has had a lasting influence on my musical and compositional vocabulary. From Radiohead’s Kid A to Jon Hopkins’ Insides, I’ve been drawn to music that organically melds artificial instruments with real ones.
Given our constant need for technology, the idea with Electric Thoughts is to find a balance, using the tape part to simply enhance, and not overtake, the live performer. I attempt to accomplish this by taking my favorite qualities of the marimba and enhancing them with electronic accompaniment; coupling rhythmic passages with unison drum beats and lyrical passages with electronically sustained sounds. This healthy balance reflects the role I’d like technology to play in my my own life; a balanced accompaniment.
- Ivan Trevino, Sept. 2014