It’s Skippy!
for percussion, pitch-shifter & video
Premiere: Rebecca Lloyd-Jones
15’20"
It’s Skippy! is a multimedia work for percussion, video and live electronic elements. The work presents a sardonic imagining of the role of the kangaroo on live television, isolating scenes where the animal is manipulated for the stage: dressed up in costumery, wrangled on live television, and pushed down a slide. This imagery is juxtaposed against footage of a wind-up kangaroo toy that I was gifted by my close friend.
The percussion centres on the use of the snare drum, primarily exploring the manipulation of preparations with a single-handed roll. Sometimes the percussion part is directly connected to the video, contributing cartoonish embellishments, or triggering the video through precise hits. Other times, the percussion provides a texture which is manipulated by the electronics.
Pitch-shifters transform the sounds of the percussion instruments, giving a low-fi quality that accompanies the often low-quality footage of the video sources. The electronics add to the kitsch imagery of the video, but these sounds also have a darker, more sinister quality, with low rumbles and bursts of reverb contributing to twisted and deranged aspects of the video.
The project was supported by the America Australia Association, and The West Australian Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.
Score
Performances:
12/12/2021: Studio A – UC San Diego, San Diego, California, USA [Premiere]
