CRYSTAL OSCILLATION
for soloist and concert band
(2022)
for soloist and concert band
Available for solo tuba, euphonium, or baritone sax
PDF ONLY [DIGITAL]
ORDER PHYSICAL COPIES [JWPepper]
ca. 3 minutes | GRADE 2.5 [solo part: GRADE 5/6]
© 2022 M.O.T.I.F. (ASCAP)
INSTRUMENTATION
SOLOIST: tuba, euphonium (B.C. and T.C. parts provided), or baritone saxophone
—Two parts for each instrument are available - one preferred GRADE 6 part, and one alternate GRADE 5 part.
WOODWINDS: 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes (optional), Bassoon (optional), 2 Bb Clarinets, Bass Clarinet
SAXOPHONES: 2 Altos, Tenor, Bari
BRASS: 2 Bb Trumpets, 2 Horns (optional), 2 Trombones, Euphonium (T.C. and B.C. parts provided), Tuba
KEYBOARDS: Piano (optional)
PERCUSSION: 3 Percussion (one player per part)
BRASS MUTES [optional]
Trumpets: Straight, Harmon, and/or Cup
Trombones: Straight and/or Cup
PERCUSSION LIST
Brake Drum, Vibraphone (bow needed), Suspended Cymbal (bow, mallets needed), Tambourine, Marimba (4.3-octave; 4-mallet introduction is provided and optional), Whip, Bass Drum, Tambourine, Drum Set (hi-hat, snare, kick, 3 toms, crash, cowbell, temple blocks)
COMMISSIONED BY: Jonathan Steltzer for Hannah Lantrip and the Wayne County High School Symphonic Band
WORLD PREMIERE:
-Tuba: May 17th, 2022 | Hannah Lantrip (tuba), Wayne County High School Symphonic Band (Jonathan Steltzer, conductor) | Wayne County High School, Jesup, GA
-Euphonium: TBA
-Baritone Saxophone: TBA
SCORE FOLLOWER
solo tuba and concert band version
When playing any type of video game, you've probably experienced at some point glitches, crashes, or even the game itself slowing down when a number of events occur instantaneously onscreen. Nowadays, these bugs can typically be fixed with either hardware or firmware updates. Back in the 1990's, however, it wasn't as easy to accomplish for even the most famous video game consoles of the era.
The SEGA Genesis (or Mega Drive, depending on where you live) includes in its hardware a crystal oscillator, a type of electronic circuit that has the ability to create electrical signals that can maintain a constant frequency by relying upon a vibrating crystal's mechanical resonance. What makes the Genesis stand out from its predecessors of the time, however, is that its hardware was intentionally built to be able to run on television sets in both America and Europe.
SEGA's hardware designers for the Genesis (and subsequently video game developers for the console) had the ability to output games from NTSC resolution (used in Japan and the majority of North America, with games running at 60hz, or 30 frames per second) to full PAL resolution (used in much of Europe, with games running at 50hz, or 25 frames per second). The Genesis is built with a custom Video Display Processor Chip that can switch between NTSC and PAL resolutions - the main difference is which crystal oscillator frequency is used, with PAL models using a slightly smaller oscillator frequency than NTSC models.
Unfortunately, Genesis games ported to PAL resolution were purposefully slowed down in order to accommodate these differences and avoid major issues with performance, timing, and coding. This resulted in typically slower game speed (especially if multiple actions and effects instantaneously occurred onscreen), choppy frame rates, and letterbox effects if the screen resolution was left unchanged during the conversion process.
Crystal Oscillation creates an imaginary scenario of a major boss battle during a fast-paced video game suffering from these notoriously frustrating hardware issues, to the exasperation and annoyance of its soloist, who just wants to play the game. My sincerest gratitude to Jonathan Steltzer and the Wayne County High School band program for commissioning this piece.