TetraCurrent by Chad Floyd

Originally titled “First Four,” the inspiration for TetraCurrent stems from an ad lib session during a break in a recording session. The first idea the composer explored for this piece was the use of the tone clusters as a recurring accompanying rhythmic figure. The melodic ideas were then constructed over this idea and developed from there. This piece can be categorized as an intermediate level work. Three marimbas are required (players 1 and 4 can share) and the use of a 5-octave is optional. TetraCurrent was premiered by the Ballard High School Percussion Ensemble (Louisville, KY), under the direction of Jay Matheney and Kevin Luken in the fall of 2015.