Mr. Preiss talked about Reich’s inspiration for Drumming. In his travels, Reich had come across West African drumming and Balinese gamelan, and was inpired to compose something in response. Like his inspiration sources, he wanted to compose music that didn’t require performers to read the score; they would perform by rote memory.

I got to thinking about all the different kinds of source inspirations that we happen upon every day. Perhaps something you hear on the subway, or in traffic, or in conversation. Noise, books, a movie, a sculpture, or whatever — source materials can be found in just about everything we come across, if you stretch out and think creatively.

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