duration: 14:00
instrumentation: 6 percussion (+ elec)
premiere: May 15, 2025 // Church of St Luke & St Matthew, Brooklyn
premiere performer: Talujon
publisher: A-Town Publications (ASCAP) © 2025
Made In Canada was commissioned and premiered by Talujon.
The main instruments in this piece are a set of copper pipes, valves, and fittings from a drawer of my Dad’s old plumbing supplies. Sifting through the heap of dusty metals, I discovered that many of the products were labelled “Made in Canada,” probably during the 70’s and 80’s when Dad was building homes in the Lloydminster area, including ours. The drawer full of metals felt like a piece of history. Today, most of these plumbing materials would be manufactured overseas and shipped into the country. After dusting them off, I played around to find compelling strike points, muting nodes and mallets to build strong pitch sets, and a resonant, harmonic foundation into the piece. In addition to the drawer of metals, the instruments include a handful of companies that continue to manufacture industry-competitive products on Canadian soil: saw blades from Royce/AYR cutting tools (Ontario), filter FX pedal from Fairfield Circuitry (Quebec), and wood planks from Nelson Lumber (Alberta/Saskatchewan). All of these companies are innovating and manufacturing in Canada as of May, 2025.
Made In Canada was commissioned by Talujon and is dedicated to my Dad.