Marimba and wind ensemble by david gillingham, xl

etween the clusters (they occasionally contain a single whole-step, and so are not all 0,1,2 etc.),
suggesting that Etler was primarily concerned with color, dissonance, and tension.
Figure 2.3 – Tone Clusters on Vibraphone (0,3,4 – 0,2,3,5 – 0,1,2 – 0,1,2,3 – 0,1,2,3,4)
Melody
Extreme contrast in timbre and relative pitch between the low range of the skin
instruments and the high range of the wood instruments creates interesting melodic contour.
Figure 2.4 shows an example of wave-form rising and falling and the use of stepwise motion
combined with ascending and descending leaps.
Figure 2.4 – Relative Pitch Creates Melodic Contour
The chromatic tone clusters created in the vibraphone section of the work seen in figure
2.3 generate a great deal of melodic interest through contour as well. The twelve-tone style
xylophone passages generate tension as they slowly ascend. This tension is subsequently
released in quick descending skin transitions, as shown in figure 2.5.
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