Tins and Pans: ETSU music professors perform recital using traditional, nontraditional instruments

On Sunday, Oct. 30 in Mathes Recital Hall, two former ETSU students turned professors presented a percussion recital that mixed old techniques with new.

Professors David Mitchell and Logan Ball performed percussion pieces using many different instruments that have been around for ages, but they presented some instruments people would not necessarily expect.

They used instruments that ranged in size from a vibraphone all the way down to a triangle, but they also managed to work every day items such as a frying pan, a cookie tin and a computer into their performance as well.

“One thing that I talk to my students a lot about is being creative and not necessarily grabbing the thing that’s right in front of you, but doing some homework and trying to sound as good as you can and as unique as you can,” Ball said.

There were six pieces in the program, and Logan Ball and David Mitchell each took turns playing each piece.

Some pieces were performed with regular instruments as well as a computer, some were played using only one instrument, but the last piece of the night, which was titled “One Hundred and Twenty/ Everything” and was performed by Ball, was intended to show the audience how creative a piece can get.

“The only thing that’s the same every time is the track,” Ball said. “I could choose an entirely new set up, and since the piece was written for me and I play the premiere there were no other versions to go off of. I wanted to put my own creativity in to it. It’s nice to have those creative licenses that I can use to show the students what they can do, and what all their options are, so they can go their own route.”

David Mitchell performed his favorite piece of the night titled “Sense and Innocence.” He also played the song “Over the Rainbow.”

Mitchell has a specific way he chooses his favorite piece and interprets its meaning.

“Favorite piece for me is the one that moves me the most emotionally, the one that connects with me on a deeper level more than just saying: oh, that’s a cool chord structure or cool rhythms,” Mitchell said. “Something that can really just make me feel something emotionally. That’s what makes something a good piece to me.”