Ben Garcia
5/6/15
Music 18
Sac State Percussion Group

Last Wednesday I attended a percussion group performance in Capistrano Hall. I had no expectations going into the performance as to what to expect. I knew there are many varieties of percussion instruments, however I had never seen a percussion group play live. I was blown away at the different variety of objects that can be played as a percussion instrument. Also I want to mention that the performers were amazing and very talented. Before this performance the basic idea I had about percussion group was that they primarily used drums and cymbals for the majority of their music. However, this was not the case. I was thoroughly impressed with the variety of instruments that they used. Some of which I have never seen before. Some of the instruments that I observed the performers using were the gong, the triangle, Marimba, and hand drums. My favorite instrument that I observed is called the” cajon”. I was amazed by this instrument because when the performers came out, they were each holding what appeared to be a basket or crate. Then they all started playing these creates very fast and loud and with great rhythm. I was so impressed with this instrument that I had to do a little research on it. Cajon is a Spanish word for crate. This instrument was created in Peru. The instrument is basically a crate with wire strings stretched across it and the sound it creates sounds similar to a snare drum. Seeing these musicians playing these crate drums made me believe that almost anything can be made into a percussion instrument. Another other song that the percussion group performed used six gongs. Wow. This really blew me away. I’ve only seen on TV a giant gong being hit by giant drumstick. When the group performed the song “Parade”, they used all different sizes of gongs and played them simultaneously in rhythm with each other. They use different objects to hit the gongs. I believe they use drumsticks, what look like a paintbrush, their hands, and drumsticks that had a big puffball at the end.
The percussion group did a wonderful job and I would enjoy seeing a performance like that again. I believe that was the general opinion of the crowd. After every song when the performers went back stage, everyone in the crowd appeared to be smiling and talking about their favorite part of that song that was played. And each song just seem to get better and better. By the end of the performance everyone was on their feet clapping and cheering. Lately when I listen to music, I have been taking more notice of the percussion instruments that I hear. And now that I have expanded my knowledge on percussion instruments, I am getting better at identifying the percussion sounds I hear in music.