On June 12, the U-M Percussion Ensemble, led by Professor Doug Perkins, released the world premiere recording of Michael Gordon’s Field of Vision, on the Cantaloupe Music label.
Composed for the U-M percussion studio, Field of Vision is a large-scale outdoor work for 36 percussionists that features 24 brake drums, 24 gongs, 6 bass drums, dozens of metal plates, pipes, and more.
The U-M Percussion Ensemble, along with faculty and alumni, recorded Michael Gordon’s Field of Vision in Hill Auditorium, March 2024.
Professor Ian Antonio, composer Michael Gordon, and Professor Doug Perkins are pictured during the recording of Field of Vision in Hill Auditorium, March 2024.
Recorded in March 2024 in Ann Arbor’s historic Hill Auditorium, the album features performances by School of Music, Theatre & Dance students as well as faculty and alumni. In addition to leading the ensemble, Perkins produced the recording using Dolby Atmos spatial audio technology and served as music editor. The recording was made possible in part by support from the SMTD Faculty Research Grant, and the album features the artwork of Brooklyn-based artist Katie Merz.
Field of Vision album cover
Cantaloupe Music offers this description of the album:
Performed on specially constructed and tuned percussion instruments, industrial metals, wood and gongs, Michael Gordon’s Field of Vision reveals a complex spectrum of overtones and resonances. The large number of percussionists, and the vast performance field, invoke a sweeping perspective that suggests the architectural movement of sound.
Produced by Doug Perkins and performed by the University of Michigan Percussion Ensemble, the piece is meant to induce, in Gordon’s words, a quasi-meditative, almost ecstatic state – for performer and audience alike. “It’s where attention sharpens and dissolves, and thoughts focus and drift,” he explains. “In the end, I think the music emerges as an exploration of space itself. Who can tune space? The answer becomes collective: the performers, the instruments, the listeners.”
Field of Vision is available as a CD or a digital recording.
In this video, Professor Doug Perkins discusses recording Field of Vision with the University of Michigan Percussion Ensemble. It includes clips of the ensemble recording the album in Hill Auditorium and interviews with composer Michael Gordon.