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Changing My Spots is a group improvisation whose form is open
but whose harmonic materials are fixed. Its object is to move from one
harmonic field to another, fluidly, and without a realization that a
modulation has occurred, until after the fact. Since it is based on a structure
derived from overtone relations, its sound is strongly “tonal”, but it has little
to do with traditional functional progressions.

Symphony of Drones #1 (2001) is a symphony in the most literal meaning of the word, a collection of sounds, in this case, those centered around a drone mentality. It is a conducted, graphically notated piece designed for any collection of four or more pitched instruments. It is in a three -movement form, and each movement addresses various indeterminate and structured improvisational concepts that explore textures that ornament, enhance and disrupt a fused and continuous ensemble timbre.

Symphony of Drones No. 1 with the Wet Ink Ensemble, 2010

• Originally for brass septet.  Versions for brass quintet or brass sextet (3 trp, 3 trb)  
• "The best [works on this CD] are two brass septets,  David Froom’s Kick Off! and Robert Patterson’s Fantasy and Stomping Music.  Froom, who teaches composition and theory at St. Mary’s [College of Maryland], gave these outstanding brass players lots to do in a work that says a great deal in four minutes.  The ending, with trumpeter Silberschlag on a stratospheric F-sharp, is spectacular."  (American Record Guide)

KickOff7tetExcerpt.mp3