Percussion Under Construction - CD production "Locked Down"

The album Locked Down? features different kinds of percussive music written or arranged during the difficult period of the pandemic, where musicians had to find new ways of being creative.

This spring, as COVID-19 changed our lives and the way we used to play and perform our music, we started talking to other musicians around the world facing similar challenges. The idea of producing an album covering music related to this period and working together with people we shared the stage with started to form.

Against the odds of the crisis, we will be able to feature some special guests and compositions on this recording:
• Our album will feature the first recording of Prayer and Blessing, Tan Dun’s unique response to the COVID- 19 crisis and an effort to bring together isolated musicians from around the world. We will perform this on 12 gongs from Wuhan, China.
• The Australian Soprano Valda Wilson (https://www.valdawilson.com.au/) is going to join us for vocals.
• Herman Rarebell / HermanZeGerman (http://www.hermanrarebell.com/), who recorded eight studio albums
for the band The Scorpions, is going to play the drums in our version of the hit Rock You Like a Hurricane.
• Chistopher Garcia (https://christophergarciamusic.weebly.com/drumsetmarimba.html), member
of The Grandmothers of Invention, will join us for our version of Frank Zappa’s Black Page.
• Music written by Nebojša Jovan Živković, (https://zivkovic.de/) will be played on instruments built by
Percussion Under Construction.

This album is not only interesting for all kinds of percussionists but for all music lovers and professional musicians. Our musical spectrum ranges from classics of the percussion literature to solo works for marimba and first recordings of modern and experimental arrangements written especially for our ensemlbe. The music is partly played on self-made instruments or objects of everyday life replacing traditional instruments such as buckets instead of tomtoms, metal canisters instead of snare drums, plastic pipes instead of a marimba.
Our goal beside the realization of the album is to collect the highest possible amount for the fund of the „Deutsche Orchesterstiftung“ helping freelance musicians.

Whoever supports this unique project can help us making possible an album of music “outisde the box”. Furthermore, you also support musicians badly shaken by the crisis.

This is a non-profit project. The money of the first crowdfunding stage is intended to cover the costs of the professional CD production (sound engineer, recording equipment, editing fee, GEMA, booklet, pressing etc.) as well as the travel and accommodation costs of the special guests.
Any money exceeding the costs of the recording will be passed on to the Corona Emergency Aid Fund of the German Orchestra Foundation (https://orchesterstiftung.de) in order to help independet musicians whose source of income has been severed without warning due to the COVID-19- pandemic.