Beer kegs, gongs and a lion's roar: any old object makes music

TorQ Percussion Quartet is a group that arouses lots of smiles. A testament to this was their energetic concert at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre last Friday night showcasing not only highly polished chops, but also incredible passion and a spirit of fun.

Time and time again – especially in the second half – you could feel a grin creeping across your face as the Toronto-based foursome demonstrated imagination, resourcefulness and just enough verve to keep you wondering what came next.

A toned down version of Stomp and Blue Man Group, the ensemble was definitely less flashy. Not that they needed too much flash and bling.

As percussion graduates from the University of Toronto, their technique was impeccable. From the opening volley of The Bright Side, Dan Morphy, Adam Campbell, Jamie Drake and Richard Burrows’ skill on the beatbox, drums and shakers was cemented.

In fact, the first set was a musical showcase of TorQ’s technical prowess from the more classical genres. One great example was Steve Reich’s Mallet Quartet as the four musicians held two mallets in each hand for striking marimbas and vibraphones.

The piece was in three movements – fast, slow, fast – and the foursome was deeply focused in mapping out seamless clusters of sound while manipulating 16 mallets. But impressive as the mallet manipulation was, the chart clocked in at a little over 10 minutes. When you have four musicians standing virtually still, it was a little too long and some in the audience were zoning out.

Morphy’s Thrown from a Loop, with marimbas holding down the patterns while the vibraphones carried the melody, blended influences from digital delay and Radiohead giving it an almost electronic vibe.

The quartet really loosened up for the big closer of the first act playing Campbell’s El Mosquito Marron, a Latin influenced chart that included the flamenco based palmas or quick clapping. As for the mosquito, it could be heard darting, zipping, floating and biting.

The second set, where TorQ used homegrown objects to make music, took off with another Morphy tune, Wash, a cowbell dominated work that drew wild applause from the crowd.

But it was Natural Resources (what to do until the power comes on) that had everyone on the edge of their seat. It was explained as a game where a board marked with 10 pieces of tape was placed on a table.

Campbell and Drake each stood on one side of the table opposite each other hitting the pieces of tape in a specific rhythm. While the two musicians hit the strips of tape in cyclical repetition, Morphy and Burrows put different objects – bells, wood blocks and gongs – on the tape. As the objects were hit, they created a variety of sound patterns. It is hard to explain but riveting to watch.

John Gage’s Third Construction was probably the fun highlight of the junk percussion segment as the ensemble went all out improvising with gongs, paint cans, mini-beer kegs, a ratchet, a conch shell and even a lion’s roar, a drum with a rope running through it that when pulled sounds like grandpa passing wind. It was a gas to say the least.

Throughout the evening each musician had numerous opportunities to solo and the casual patter in between numbers just heightened the friendly atmosphere TorQ created.

Judging by the loudness of applause, the audience favoured the junk percussion segment. Hopefully next time TorQ rolls around they’ll have a broader junk percussion set that really shows off their inventiveness.