TERRA INCOGNITA for Percussion Solo（2009）

Terra Incognita is a multiple percussion piece using a rather limited number of instruments: a vibraphone，a bass drum，three cowbells and two wood blocks. Like most of my pieces，quarter-tones are used in Terra lncognita―less extensively however—to facilitate the notions of a swaying sensation and fragility. The vibraphone is "prepared" in order to produce quarter-tone pitches. Some of the bars of the instrument in the middle and low registers are fastened with plastic clothespins. The timbre becomes darker and the pitch goes down about a quarter-tone. In the higher register，cowbells with quarter-tone pitches are added.
With the colorfully shining and trembling mixture of the quarter-tones from the vibraphone and cowbells along with the primitive yet profound sounds of the bass drum and wood blocks，I explore the terra incognita―unknown territory—not only of the percussion music，but also of my internal world.