Blacktop Percussion

Wolfram, by Sebastian Zhang

wolfram is another name for the element tungsten, which is one of the heaviest metals that people normally encounter in everyday life. It is most notably used in light bulb filaments.
When I was younger, I had an obsession with the periodic table, to the extent that I would go to the website www.periodictable.com everyday. This website was the documentation of Theodore Gray's element collection, and I found much youthful wonder in the fascinating descriptions of each element in everyday objects.
For me, chemistry is exciting in the same way music is exciting: there is so much depth to every little detail. Every pot and pan I pick up is a sound source that I can play with and explore, much like how everything in the universe is made out of something fascinating.
wolfram takes musical inspiration from breakcore grooves and circuit-bent distorted toys, such as the speak-and-spell. The distortion effects on the instrument are similar to the harsh timbres and sampled screaming often found in breakcore. The instrumentation intentionally uses as much metal as possible, to mimic electronic distortion effects.
-Sebastian Zhang

Ofelia, by Brandon Berlanga

Ofelia is a percussion trio written for and dedicated to Blacktop Percussion, the ensemble I share with two of my closest friends, John Dawson and Michael Lee-Smith. Inspired by the lead character in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) by Guillermo del Toro, the piece began as a personal project during an especially overwhelming period of my life. Like Ofelia’s journey in the film, this composition became a form of imaginative escape. Drawing on musical influences I was immersed in at the time - progressive rock, Latin pop, and minimalist music - I set out to create something equally engaging for performers and audiences alike. The result was Ofelia.

Artists who inspired Ofelia: Steve Reich, Maná, Juanes, Tool, and Andy Akiho

-Brandon Berlanga

70 Years, by Shane Roderick

This work, which was Blacktop’s second ever commission, explores elements of rudimental drumming over an electronic soundscape. This rhythmic language is applied to non-traditional instruments such as bottles and metal sheets, and this blending allows for a virtuosity that combines the acoustic and the electronic into one cohesive musical entity.

-John Dawson

Scintillations III. the radium howls in winking starlight (arr. for trio by Michael Lee-Smith)

Spinthariscopes are old 1900s era toys—visually similar to a kaleidoscope.
Hold one up to your eyes, and see tiny flashes of light. Within the toy, a radioactive element would decay, then emit a particle. This particle would strike a special material, and this material would emit light—displaying the impact of individual atoms decaying, in real time.
This special material was called a scintillator, and these flashes are called scintillations.
Musically, this piece draws upon a vibrant fusion of all my musical experiences—from chiptune-breakcore to riff-heavy video game music to math rock to jazz.
Much of this movement embraces the contemporary, rhythmically-complex percussion repertoire—repertoire that Brandon and Michael introduced me to, on late nights filled with merry mirth and laughter while I was a freshman in college.
This movement is about those memories—those "flashes of light" late at night, happy flashes of memories shared between friends. It's filled with references to these memories, from the music to the conversations, the teachers we've shared, the moments we've held together.
It's like taking those memories and putting them in a bottle or toy—like a little spinthariscope of my early days in college.
As we grow older and our paths diverge further apart, it's starting to become more and more real to me that those days are over.
I can't get those days back.
But hey, I can create new ones. I'm writing for fantastic people—old and new.
I'm creating new memories, with this music.
III. the radium howls in winking starlight is a love letter to those memories, and what they can do.
It’s a dream-like interpretation of songs and conversations as musical processes and radioactive flashes of sound.

-Sebastian Zhang

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Blacktop Percussion is an award-winning, contemporary percussion trio based in Rochester, NY. Composed of members Brandon Berlanga, John Dawson, and Michael Lee-Smith, the trio has individually performed across the United States and Internationally before establishing the ensemble in 2023 over their shared passion for electrifying music that pushed the envelope of modern classical music. Through their recent collaborations with rising composers Sebastian Zhang and Shane Roderick, the trio has helped bring music to life which blends modern musical styles such as hip-hop and breakcore, within the classical setting, to create a unique and marvelous experience for all audiences. With performances that can best be described as intense and animated, Blacktop Percussion offers an opportunity to engage with live music unlike any other.