A MINUTE OF NEWS (VOL:4 THE NOBLE SNARE BOOK)

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A Minute of News (1990) - Program Notes version #2 (the story)

A Minute of News (1990) for Snare Drum by Eugene Novotney (b. 1960)

In 1989, I was travelling in Baja, Mexico. Near the end of my trip, I found myself in the city of Ensenada for the evening looking for some live music. I heard several good string bands, and even a horn band (almost a municipal-type band), but not much percussion at all. Then, I came across this group that was just walking down the road looking for a spot to set up. I followed them, out of curiosity, because they had with them a drummer that caught my attention. He was carrying an old, beat-up snare drum over his shoulder that just looked awful, and I had to see what he was going to do with it.

The band stopped and set-up, and I observed that the snare drum was actually permanently taped-on to the snare stand, and that the snare mechanism, which engaged and disengaged the snares, was badly broken. In addition, the drummer did not have a matched pair of sticks or mallets in his possession, but instead, seamed to have "one" of everything instead.

I was expecting the worst, but to my surprise, that drummer used everything about the situation to his advantage. He turned that broken drum and those mismatched sticks into an entire trap-set with his skill & creativity. He used different beaters in different hands to create lead and accompaniment patterns, he used the broken strainer as a sound-effect, and he grooved throughout in a clave-based ostinato that just amazed me.

It was that moment delivered by that drummer that inspired my composition, “A Minute of News.” In essence, he read me the news that very day! That drummer, whom I had discounted before hearing because of his poor equipment, taught me a great lesson about the connection between poverty and creativity, a great connection that I`ve seen repeated many times since then. I will never forget that unknown drummer who put on such a show for me that one day in Ensenada, and it is because of him that I composed "A Minute of News".

Eugene Dominic Novotney

A Minute of News (1990) – Errata Sheet

In the Notational “KEY” of the piece (p. 3 of Noble Snare, Vol. 4), number “1.” should read, “Turn Snare Off – perform as a percussive gesture,” and number “7.” should read, “Turn Snare On - perform as a percussive gesture.” In essence, with the exception of the 4-bar strainer interlude section where the snares are turned On and Off, the entire piece should be played with the snares Off.