Hammerclaw (2018)
Instrumentation: Shamisen and Hammered Dulcimer
Electronics: No
Duration: 8'
Commissioned by Hidejiro Honjoh
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NOTES: When the shamisen virtuoso Hidejiro Honjoh asked me for a duet for us to play together, he said he thought the combination with hammered dulcimer would work well because our instruments are both so buzzy. So I leaned into the colors our instruments share, while learning the possibilities of the shamisen: left-hand pulloffs, glissandi, the massive plectrum, and the ease and frequency of retuning (the tuning is changed six times during the course of a performance). The title “Hammerclaw” inverts the term for the classic banjo technique called clawhammer.