Traced Identities

Trevor Barroero

General Info

Year of Published: 2021
Publisher: Bachovich Music Publications
Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced
Cost: $25.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Small triangle, teardrop triangle beater, large metal bowl of water
Player 2: Medium triangle, teardrop triangle beater, large metal bowl of water
Player 3: Large triangle, teardrop triangle beater, large metal bowl of water, hand-crank siren

Program Notes

Traced Identities is a programmatic triangle trio that was composed for the members of Lineage Percussion utilizing one siren, three bowls of water, and three different- sized triangles. The piece explores the extreme sonic and timbral possibilities of this often- neglected three-sided instrument. The numerous extended techniques featured throughout the work include muffled and open tones, dead strokes, scrapes, visual choreography, and pitch changes by dipping the triangles in and out of water. Originally composed for Black Swamp’s teardrop triangle beater, the piece utilizes every part of the beater to achieve subito pianissimo dynamics and smooth crescendo tremolos.

At its surface, the title, Traced Identities, is nothing more than an innocent play on words, referencing the Spanish homophone, “tres” (t-r-e-s), meaning “three.” This is in obvious reference to the triangles’ three sides and, of course, to the individual identities of the three musicians performing the piece. But the true meaning of the title stems from an interaction I had with a police officer in October of 2020. The cop pounded on my apartment door looking for someone else. I explained that he had the wrong person and I offered to grab my identification, but he was quick to trust me at my word alone and immediately left. My day continued on as normal. For weeks, however, I could not shake the memory of the interaction and the understanding that, had it not been for my privileged position as a white man, the situation could have played out quite differently.

The entire piece opens with a siren that explodes into a deafening “alarm bell” that persists for over 20 seconds before dropping dynamically to expose a nervous heartbeat rhythm in the lowest triangle that permeates the entire first section of the piece. The three triangles exchange a busy chattering of rhythms representing the indiscernible voices in one’s head in a moment of crisis. As these “voices” quiet down and become a distant memory, the piece falls suddenly into a “naïve samba,” where carefree solos are traded between each of the musicians. This is short-lived, however, as the siren and alarm bell return abruptly before forcing a moment of “introspection” and “reflection” through the improvisatory figures with the water triangles. The musicians trace various shapes with the triangle beaters, utilizing each side of the instrument, first in unison rhythms and then separately as individuals. The ending culminates by bringing together the brewing frustration and anger of the previous sections and concludes with one final “sigh” with a unison scrape across the right side of each triangle.