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It can be said,
without fear of contradiction, that few musicians have done as much for
the perfection, re-invention and diffusion of their instrument as has
Andrea Centazzo for percussion. Paralleling his twenty years of composing
and performing, Centazzo has endeavored to continuously research, delving
into performance techniques and the technical construction of his instruments.
These same instruments have rendered some of his finest works; the works,
in turn, are dedicated to the instruments. His love for percussion was
born in his initial contact with the world of music. Centazzo said in
an interview in 1980, "I started out from jazz and, therefore, the
drum set as an element of rhythmie propulsion was the point of departure
for my musical development. The second thing to fascinate me about the
world of percussion was the variety of sounds. Even today I find it strange
how the percussionist can often be considered a second-class musician,
when in reality he is the only one, in the entirety of the orchestra,
able to produce such a variety of sounds, each sound so different from
the other, and produced with myriad different techniques. We should remember
that a percussionist has to play the vibraphone, the marimba, the drums,
the snare, the timpani, etc.; each instrument requires a different technique
of execution. It was this fascination with tonecolors that moved me to
broaden the horizons of the drum set right from the start. I augmented
the conventional drums with bronze metallophones, gongs, tam tams and
other metal instruments, which are related not only in sound, but also
philosophically to the music of the Far East."
Centazzo immediately commenced in-depth studies in the performance techniques
and concepts relevant to musical interpretation, working with other musicians,
ad alone, to develop that particular philosophy of the focused sound he
first discovered with Pierre Favre.
Centazzo adopted this philosophy early and enriched it with knowledge
and influences drawn from listening to oriental music, with particular
attention to the instruments typical of these cultures; the gamelan, Chinese
gongs, Indian and Japanese gongs became everyday points of reference.
Many ethnic instruments came to make their home in his set, priming his
music with suggestiveness, creating in live performance a natural landscape
in which he moved like a demiurge.
Driven by inexhaustible curiosity and by his desire for complete knowledge,
he experimented with new sounds, using instruments in original ways and
creating his own new instruments. Centazzo's instrumental set started
to take on it's own unique form. To the old Ludwig kit, left over from
his youthful experiences, which had already been expanded in the drum
department, were added a gong adapted from an old tray, alpine cowbells,
orthodox and unorthodox cymbals, and anything else capable of producing
an interesting sound.
In short order, his supplier became UFIP, a small workshop in Pistoia,
Italy that produces percussion instruments. The proprietors, Luigi Tronei
and Carlo Biasei, being familiar with Centazzo's work, and particularly
his experimentation with instruments offered to collaborate. Centazzo
happily accepted and within a few years they entered into an official
business relationship. In 1976 he moved from Moruzzo, a small village
near Udine where be bad his base, to Pistoia, to assume management of
their music programming at the invitation of local ARCI (Italian Recreational
and Cultural Association). Centazzo went on to organize a series of concerts
and seminars dedicated to jazz and improvised music; the first of their
kind in Italy.
Many new instruments wore born from this new collaboration with UFIP,
they were produced on a commercial basis. Today they are still used by
important percussionists throughout the world. The trademark, Ictus 75,
was put on a series of new and original instruments for the world market.
Premier of England, another famous percussion manufacturer, also approached
Centazzo with an endorsement offer. Centazzo's intense concert activity
meant his instrumental needs were constantly evolving, and it was Premier
who would create two "custom made" instruments designed by the
artist. Centazzo's new "drum kit" (by now the term was inaccurate,
and quickly becoming irrelevant) had shallower drums, capable of producing
a more nasal sound, and others that were deeper, to produce particular
resonances. (For example, it was possible to tune one of these drums to
produce a roll with a bass drum, using one hand and one foot-a new and
precise technique Centazzo developed) Also with Premier, Centazzo designed
and built a kit that when dismantled its components would fit inside one
another, like Chinese boxes, simplifying transportation. This idea was
adopted by various large-scale manufacturers.
Despite this solution, the problems of transporting Centazzo's set have
never fully been solved. Even to this day when touring the world, he still
uses his own particular set consisting of a multitude of pieces. Consequently,
he worked on various solutions for containers and supports with Mario
Villotta, a genial artisan from Udine; solutions he continues to use.
"Meeting Mario Villotta was of fundamental importance." recalls
Centazzo, "Ai the age of seventeen I took him my first cymbal to
repair! Mario has the manual aptitude combined with the imagination of
a true artist." By 1976, together we had already developed instrument
mountings which were duplicated by the industry and marketed some ten
years later. Many of my musical technical solutions have come from the
possibilities offered by these special supports which can bring together
instruments of different sounds. For a percussionist the positioning of
instruments is of vital importance, and often the performance is inhibited
by the clutter of instruments and their supporting structures. "Mario
has always been able to resolve any problem with incredible wisdom: problems
like how to have a tiny drum balanced perfectly next to a 45 pound bell
- without any sound interference." remarks Centazzo. Villotta was
also responsible for the frames on which Centazzo arranges his instruments
in the order he needs them; like the keyboard of a piano. Centazzo has
never left anything to chance, and this quality is one of the many that
make his performances special. It seems every thing he uses or plays is
uniquely his; it is perhaps from this particular practice that comes his
strong relationship with these sound objects.
Centazzo is an authentic explorer of sound, attentive to all the possibilities
and nuances locked away in the instruments. He prefers the evocative sound
of a gong in a Tibetan monastery to a showy display on the drums, because
it is loaded with philosophy and cultural validity. Centazzo has always
been fascinated by instruments linked to oriental musical philosophy,
where between one stroke and another one has the pleasure of hearing the
sound flow slowly along as the harmonics diffuse. "Man becomes merely
the agent of release for the voice of the instrument, which is silent
when at rest and speaks when agitated." says Centazzo. He maintains
that the singularity of the percussionist lies in the touch, the capacity
to strike an object and let it vibrate; the ability and the technique
to produce the right sound at the right place and time. "Machine
gun bursts are certainly not the measure of a performer. Often in letting
off steam in such technical displays he musical nature of the instrument
is denied."
Centazzo's fascination with sound objects has induced him over the years
to collect instruments from all over the world. And since his very first
record, Ictus, (PDU EMI, 1973) his instrumentation has been open
to the use of electronics, and, in recent years, has been considerably
augmented with the employment of digital production systems alongside
traditional percussion. He was the first Italian artist to use the Moog
drum controller, an obscure accessory to the famous Minimoog synthesizer
and, since 1987, he has revolutionized his set and his concerts with the
addition of the Simmons Silicon Mallet, and later the Kat; both controller
keyboards, set up similarly to a marimba, with rubber keys which transmit
impulses via music industry digital interface (MIDI) to a computer programmed
to realize sounds in real time. The whole fabric of the sound is created
by no expander and other sound modules, supported by a series of digital
effects. Everything is passed through a mixer where also the amplified
sounds of the conventional percussion interments are blended in to create
a homogenous sound.
It may seem a contradiction that an artist of natural sounds such as Centazzo
should make use of electronic sounds that don't exist naturally Nevertheless,
as Edgar Varese wrote forty years ago, "The new instruments will
have to be able to provide a variety of sound combinations, and not just
remind us of things we have already heard, and heard again. After all,
instruments should be only a means of temporal expression." Making
music, Centazzo is able to extract from every instrument, both the traditional
and the most state of the art; a personal style. Centazzo has developed
a poetry of ethereal atmosphere, of pulsating vitality, such as to be
considered the first New Age artist in Italy, by combining the purity
of acoustic percussion sonorities with the use of electronics, computer,
and digital recording. (Indian Tapes bas previously demonstrated
how Centazzo bad anticipated the New Age aesthetic.)
"Now, using this technology," Centazzo reveals, "I have
liberated myself from the limits of the percussion concert. My shows are
performances realized via percussion technique, representing a sound universe
that contains colors which are absolutely alien to the world of percussion
From purely monodic polyrhythmic percussion solos, I have progressed to
an expansive and more complete orchestral dimension The solo percussion
pieces I play now have become more interesting, because they are presented
in a more encompassing sound context, with the result that they are better
delivered and are more appreciated."
The music takes on such a strong stenography validity, that the music
demands to be "seen" as well as heard. Such a massive instrumental
set brings with it the stage management and scenic considerations to complete
the performance; enabling it to assume a multi-media character... with
the addition of video, projected images flow with the music.
Centazzo's cultural background, his studies, and his inner desire to explore
new paths of interdisciplinary research led him to a vast production of
musicological essay writing, which has found no important place on the
international publishing scene; starting with Guida Agli Strumenti A Percussione
(A Guide to Percussion Instruments) published by Il Formichiere, Milan
1979.
This was the first text in Italian on this subject, and is still considered
today to be the standard text. A lively work, of great technical interest,
the Guide bas been adopted by many conservatory and university libraries.
The book was the result of studies into ethnic musics, al the point where
jazz, folklore and classical ancestries meld into a continuous interpenetration,
where the mastery of instruments, which were once used for sending messages,
for rituals or warnings, became an obsession for the composer. In the
course of nearly two hundred pages, the reader is led on a musical and
anthropological journey from the idiophones at the dawn of history, across
continents and different cultures, to arrive at the modernity of classical
European percussion, and to the commerciality and popularity of the drum
set in rock and jazz.
"In our culture a great number of musical uses and meanings only
survive as fossils. Think of the instruments used in the Catholic world;
the church bells, the little bells of the mass; these are pallid reflections
of what was once percussion activity, arid in some cultures still is.
That is, the underlining of ritual moments and collective action. Centazzo's
book explores these aspects of percussion instruments. They are the fundamental
first moments of sound production of the human race, not only because
of their simplicity but also because they establish the temporal scansion:
rhythm. With the resources of archeological research, from the findings
at the digs, to the reading of figurative designs, to the study of peoples
still living in primitive cultures, we can assemble an ample catalog of
what man as created to play, beating two objects together or one object
with a hand.
The book goes on to present a vast range of instruments, arranging them
according to the usual classifications, that is by their method of sound
production. The pages are completed by photographs which give names to
familiar objects, or images to familiar names. The appendixes too are
useful, containing a glossary and a list of abbreviations and of symbols
used in orchestral notation, followed by a bibliography and a brief discography."
"This book sets out to make known a very specific world, a world
which even the appassionati of art music do not know in depth: the vast
spectrum of everything that can be called percussion, of everything that
from this percussion makes a sound, a sign with its precise significance
arid musical meaning. Centazzo's voyage commences from any point on the
globe. Anywhere where there is a trace of man; first you hear him, then
you see him. Centazzo's approach is an easily accepted viewpoint if you
consider the terribly beautiful attraction of the Aeolian organs of the
pacific islands. Ai the outset of the tempest, the tubes of this organ
emit an agonized alarm call. What was it that guided the instinct of the
aborigines to create this exceptional instrument? Obviously, it was the
need to be warned of danger. This serves to further prove that everything
that is percussive serves to communicate, bar with whom and where? The
answer lies in the labyrinth of estotericism of the most immediate of
the instincts. Communicating by sound requires instruments, and actions
which signify man’s presence to another man, (and to the Gods). The
bibliography and discography will help the reader to further his knowledge
of a world where even the clatter of a typewriter is percussion."
With Strumenti Per Fare Musica (Instruments for Making Music), published
by Gammalibri, Milan 1982, Centazzo enlarges his scope to deliver a study
of all the families of musical instruments. The text sets out to be a
guide to the history, aesthetic, technical, and cultural knowledge of
musical instruments. This is a popular anthology, yet capable of presenting
the synthesis and analysis of the instruments; freely transversing the
vast geographic and historic panorama of the musical world. Centazzo reviews
instruments from both popular and refined traditions, ancient and modern,
from the most disparate of cultures. Furthermore, ever attentive to the
real world and what is happening on today's music scene, he doesn't neglect
to consider, with equal seriousness, modern electronic technology and
the electricity instruments, beginning from the first union between music
and electricity in 1730.
On the book Luca Cerchiari has written: "Until today the only serious
text available, in the Italian market, on this subject bas been The History
of Musical Instruments by Curt Sachs. lf only because of the stature of
the German author and the expected comparisons, the task Centazzo bas
set hi self would have seemed considerably difficult. But he seems moved
by such a fascinatingly complex challenge, to write a 'popular' history
of musical instruments that is up to date, clear and useful; our percussionist
has hit the bull’s - eye. Centazzo has created a work which is eminently
readable, bringing together research and theory of a branch of study which
until now was only practiced in countries with deep - rooted musicological
traditions; those of the German and Anglo-Saxon languages. Centazzo's
book is of a completely different style from the historical writings of
Sachs, and seems to start where the last chapter of the Berlin academic
leaves off. That is, with the enlargement of instrument classification
from four families (aerophones, chordophones, idiophones, and membraphones;
where clearly the definitive criteria is the method of sound production)to
five, with the adoption of electro phones; instruments which function
electrically or which use electrical means to amplify or modify their
sound. With his direct approach to the subject the author avoids organizing
his chapters into epochs or styles along the lines of Sachs’ school
of musical study (later to be developed by André Schaeffner and Francis
Galpin), arid the result is ideed stimulating; updated by the genres nearer
to Centazzo's own experience and way of life, including jazz and pop,
and open to the traditions of many continents. The work is accompanied
by numerous illustrations, designs and photographs which will be of use
to those interested in al] types of music."
"La Batteria, Stili, Protagonisti e Tecniche" (The drum set,
styles, players and techniques) published by Muzzio & Co, Padova,
1982, is the only book on the international market to analyze scientifically
all the inherent aspects of this instrument, which bas become the most
popular of percussion instruments in western music of this century. Even
if there are numerous study methods published for drums, rarely has a
book been dedicated to the history of the instrument, it has been practically
ignored by official studies of musical instruments.
"And yet what sharpness, what intelligence, how much work, how much
history there can be behind a drum solo when the drummer is a true master!
That history bas rarely been told, or rather it has been told between
the lines, incidentally, with some hurried sparse footnotes in the complex
history of Jazz."
Centazzo's book fills this void, follows a complete discourse on the origins
and evolution of the drum set, with ample space for the stories and the
styles of the artists who have made a particular contribution to the evolution
of the various percussion languages. Furthermore, Centazzo confronts the
problems of drum technique, clearing the field of the simplistic and erroneous
identification of technique with speed, volume and show. This is a precious
volume, not only for drummers but for those who want to understand the
philosophy and history of this instrument.
"Centazzo has said everything there is to say about the drum set,
he begins from the origins and the first developments, and arrives at
the various methods of approach. He passes through a careful study of
the history, the styles and the players; from Baby Dodds and Zutty Singleton
to the most recent percussionists; of the techniques, the study, the gimmicks
one can use when confronting this not - so - easy means of expression.
There is a brief English - Italian dictionary of drum terminology as well
as a discography, a bibliography and a very precise and analytical index
to complete the book which fills a definite gap in the Italian editorial
market. The historical part is most interesting and presented with great
attention to detail. Centazzo detects in some passages of drumming by
the originators something of that spirit and those forms which have contributed
to the development of the so-called drum set, which already figures as
a phenomenon of pluriform percussion technique, and is filled with cultural
signifiers from the Africanism of their shapes to the western substance
of the musical message. From this encounter the drum set has bad motive
and opportunity to fill a cultural void, and to this end the second part
of the book, sets out a gallery of famous names to further discuss the
various styles and techniques, so many and varied despite how much the
fascination lies on the rhythm itself, and it serves as a frame work for
a significant approach to the public of modern music, not only jazz, but
rock and pop as well. We should not overlook the section regarding transcriptions.
There are many very interesting ones which will be useful to those wishing
to know more about the mysteries of the rolls of Max Roach, Roy Haynes,
Kenny Clarke or Art Blakey."
"La Percussione - Nuove Tecniche" (Percussion-New Techniques)
published by Ricordi, Milan in 1983, is a book aimed at a broadening of
the teaching methods of percussion in conservatories and universities.
Centazzo examines and explains the various technical performance solutions,
from the most common to the most unusual, to be used with percussion
instruments, and as used by performers of contemporary music in Europe
and the United States. "The book opens with a reference to the classification
of musical instruments by Curt Sachs, since the treatment is carried out
on the basis of the families: idiophones, membraphones, cordophones, electrophones;
each instrument is described in a clear, synthetic manner (classification,
form, origin, materials used). Then the various available models are analyzed,
the technical resources, performance problems, notation used, with continued
reference to existent studies, and many examples drawing on works by Centazzo
himself and others, from the pre-war period: Mahler, Varese, Stravinsky,
Cowell, Chŕvez, Walton, Gerhard, Satie, Orff, Stravinsky, Berg; and post-war:
Berio, Cage, Stockhausen, Nono, Boulez, Pennisi, Kagel, Haubenstock -
Ramati Bussotti and others. The author includes even the car springs from
Laborinthus II by Luciano Berio, the rolled bronze sheets from A floresta
e’jovem by Luigi Nono, the anvils from Johann Strauss,
Jr.'s Freuerfest, the electric saw discs, frying pans, metal ice - cream
tubs from Satie’s Parade, the straw brooms from Berg’s Wozzeck,
toys, newspapers, dried peas, and more."
Moreover, the book expands upon the technical and sound possibilities
of bronze idiophones; the fruits of his research and collaboration in
the manufacture of these instruments. Two closely related volumes confronting
the practical aspects of music making with percussion are Il Batterista
(The Drummer) published by Gammalibri, Milan. 1982 and Il Batterista Intelligente
(The Intelligent Drummer) published by Nuova Carisch, 1993.
Of the first book Marcello Pirash as written: "Centazzo takes a very
interesting point of view with respect to the subject; percussion is considered
a global experience totally absorbing the individual. As such, he discusses
the drummer from before he even picks up the sticks in his hands, the
author talks about muscles, suggests physical exercises (with illustrations)
and even talks about the drummer's diet. In actuality it is 45 pages before
we read about the music, and yet these are perhaps the most original pages
of the book. The last two parts of the book look at the choice and arrangement
of equipment, and problems that can arise in the recording studio. Here
are precise rules to which one must adapt oneself, and which are better
to know in advance to avoid unpleasant surprises. This section is therefore
particularly useful, even for the student who has not yet entered a recording
studio." "In both The Drummer and The Intelligent Drummer there
are pragmatic suggestions for the development of technique, and strength
in execution. Furthermore, Centazzo takes on the variety problems presented
by amplification, recording and modifying the drum set: from large rock
concerts to recording in the home - studio.
It would be impossible here not to mention the volume of didactic and
seminar activity which has accompanied Centazzo's artistic life. With
his kind disposition, Centazzo bas gathered around him, students and collaborators
who today, thanks to these encounters, shine in their own light on the
international scene.
From the first didactic concert given at the Venice Theatre in Venice,
1973 to the first seminars on creative music for the ARCI in Pistoia,
to his intentional activity in Austria, Portugal, France, Germany and
the United States, Centazzo has cohesively and coherently developed a
didactic itinerary based not only on his considerable record production,
but, most importantly, on his day to day experience as an artist and his
re-examination of the new and old, studied and neglected, approaches.
"Even though I loathe school as an institution (most of all Italian
schools!), he says, I have always regretted not having had the opportunity
to follow a specify course of pragmatic musical study, such as that of
the conservatory an institution which is clearly falling apart at the
seams. Unfortunately, the conservatory is the only institution offering
a professionalism even to the non-creative musician. Therefore, I have
always advised my students to go there, and to my great satisfaction I
have been able to see the favorable outcome of this choice. I would like
to mention one student in particular, Marco Malatesta, an excellent percussionist
who specializes in ethnic instruments. We met when Marco attended my seminars
in Bologna in 1979. A strong bond of friendship and mutual artistic respect
and cooperation has flourished through the years. Marco even played on
Cetacea (Index 0050,1990) and has been an essential and precious collaborator
on many tours and recordings, not to mention his invaluable technical
assistance in my numerous videos. I have a somewhat different attitude
to students abroad, where the schools work better and the students have
more choices. It’s not a coincidence that I studied in Switzerland,
even though I admit that Italy too has private institutions today on a
high level." One particular episode in his didactic research has
been to teach young children using percussion instruments. "It is
here in fact, that one witnesses the synthesis of creativity play and
exploration," explains Centazzo, "Beating time, simple motor
movements provoke direct sensations in the child which are amplified by
the resulting sound, and move him to a continual analysis of his immediate
surroundings." Experiments of this type carried out in Austria, Portugal,
Italy and Germany have surprisingly produced the same results, and testifies
to how ill-fated the cultural stratification of the individual is in musical
education. Boldly ignoring the generation gap, Centazzo has used this
infant didactic method with interesting results at the D.A.M.S. (Bologna
University); it is as if to say percussion can take you back to your infancy
in a process of self liberation. With the exhibition In Battere (On
the beat) at the Valli Theatre in Reggio Emilia, and the seminars for
Musica Nel Nostro Tempo (Music in our time) in Milan, Centazzo
succeeded in his ambitious project, a complete retaliation of the percussion
interments against the indifference of public and critics. The birth of
the International Association of Percussionists; PULSUS, of which Centazzo
was chairman, and the publication of the journal of the same name, gave
further contribution to the cause. Sadly, the association folded after
only two years, torn to pieces by a growing, obsequious trade-unionism
(typical of Italian orchestral musicians) and the chronic lack of funds
arid volunteers.
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