Woojoo for 8 Tubas and Drum Set (PDF download)

Woojoo, 
for 
Eight 
Tubas 
and 
Drums, 
was 
written 
for 
the 
2008/09 
tuba 
class 
at 
the
 USC 
Thornton 
School
 of 
Music.

 My
 colleague 
Norm 
Pearson
 and 
I 
had 
an
exceptional
 class
 that
 year—all
 eight
 had 
F 
tubas 
and
 plenty 
of 
chops 
and 
talent. 

I
decided 
to
 write 
a challenging 
piece 
as 
a 
class
 performance
 and 
recording
 project.
The 
piece 
is 
quadra‐phonic
 with
 four 
stations
 of
 two 
tubas 
each.
 In
 performance 
(and
especially
 as 
recorded) 
it 
gives
 a 
feeling
 of
 broad 
sonics 
and
 cascading
 figures—and
is 
best
 heard
 with 
an
 IPOD
 or
 headphones 
and 
may be
 performed
 in
 the 
round.

Woojoo 
was 
named 
by
 student,

 Zeewoong 
Munn
, and 
means 
“space’
 in
 Korean.
The
 performers
 (in
 score 
order) 
were 
Jon 
Hansen, 
Zeewoong 
Munn,
 David 
McLemore,
Danny
 Garcia, 
Steven 
Caron,
 Mike 
Musick,
 Lyndsey 
Hoh,
 Dave
 Holben
 and 
Brian
Foremen,
 drum
set. 
It 
was 
great 
experience
 in
 recording
 and
 preparing 
difficult
 music.

Throughout 
the 
piece
 I 
employ 
my
 love
 of 
odd‐meters 
with
 sudden
 rhythmic 
figures
giving 
the 
impression 
of
 odd‐meters.
Woojoo
 begins 
with
 a 

low 
intonation
 of
 the 
title,
“Woo—Joo” 
and
 a 
slow 
lyrical
 intro 
followed
 by 
the 
first 
large 
section
 at
 letter
 A—a
kind
 of 
loosely
 swinging
 funk
 groove
 with
 lots
 of 
interplay 
between
 the 
pairs
 of
 tubas
and 
drums.
 All
 of 
the 
tubas 
have 
wide 
range
 and 
technical
 challenges.
The
 second
large 
section 
(at
 letter 
H)
 is
 a
 series
 of
 showcase
 duets ‐‐ at
 times 
punctuated 
by 
the
other 
tubas. 
Underlying 
this 
is
 a
 repetitious 
6/8—3/4
 drum
 pattern.
 With 
the 
tubas
playing 
three 
against
 four
 and
 many 
other
 rhythmic
 complexities, 
the 
impression 
is
 one
 of
 shifting
 meters.

 Letter 
I 
is
 a 
set 
of
 overlapping 
and
 cascading 
figures 
followed
by 
more 
duets 
and 
a
re turn 
to 
the 
funk
 groove.
The
 third
 section
 uses
 REAL 
odd‐meters 
that
 constantly 
shift‐‐
ala
 Stravinsky‐‐building
 up 
to 
eight
 unison
 high 
Fs
 with
four
 tubas
 moving
 to
 high
 Gs 
for 
a 
tense,
 screaming
 high 
major
 2nd.

The 
final
 section
at 
letter
 P
 is
 a
 soft 
underlying
 hemiola 
figure 
of
 all
 Fs
 and
 Gs.
 On
 top 
of
 this
 we 
have
several
 improvised
 solos
 and
 some 
craziness
 as
 Woojoo 
fades 
out 
into 
space.

Woojoo
 was
 recorded 
on 
campus 
April
10‐11,
2009
 by
 USC
 professor
 Rick 
Schmunk,
assisted
 by
 Mike
 Musick.
The
 project
 was 
an
 interdisciplinary 
project
 in 
the
 Thornton
School
 of 
Music.
The 
live 
premier
 was
 on
 April
 27th 
at 
USC and 
conducted
 by 
Norm Pearson.
 Much
 video
 was 
shot
 at
 the
 recording
 sessions,
 performance
 and
casually
 for 
an
 upcoming
 video
 version
 of
 Woojoo.

It 
is
 8:24
 minutes
 in 
length.
 JS

(With
 good
 players 
Woojoo
 could
 be 
played
 with
 four
 pairs
 of
 one
 euphonium
 and
one 
tuba
 each 
and
 it
 would
 also
 work
 well 
for 
8
 Bass
 Trombones).

Jim Self is a Los Angeles free-lance musician, a veteran of thousands of motion pictures, television shows and records, and tuba soloist on many prominent movies. He is Principal Tubist with the Pasadena and Pacific Symphonies, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Los Angeles Opera and Opera Pacific orchestras. His compositions and arrangements include works for solo tuba, brass quintet, and other brass and woodwind chamber music.