Documentation of performance Gung Ho 1,2,3D by From Scratch members Geoff Chapple, Phil Dadson, Wayne Laird, Don McGlashan
“Gung Ho means 'work together" and takes it's title from the gung ho workers' co-operative movement established in China in 1938 by New Zealander Rewi Alley (1897 - 1987). Gung Ho 1,2,3d is one in a series of works devised by Dadson during the 1970's/80's to explore the facets of triadic relationships. The egalitarian ideas and the ground plan for the work – an ancient symbol of strength and unity, an equilateral triangle in a circle – were found to align with Alley's principles, plus with the gung ho symbol for strength and unity, an equilateral in a circle. 1,2,3d refers to the physical layout of the performance with three percussion stations (High, Medium and Low racks of PVC slaptubes, tuned drums and chimes) and a fourth drone role.
The drones are acoustic, designed to provide a steady background accompaniment of humming, whistling or growling tones.
At the time the work was evolving, Geoff Chapple was also researching Alley's gung ho initiative, both for a documentary and a biography on Alley. The two merged.
Like many of Dadson's compositions Gung Ho 1,2,3d uses the technique of hocketing, where the intricate patterns of separate voices collectively contribute to a single song (see separate 'hocketing' notes). The one hour work is in 7 sections, 3,4,5 through to 9,10,11, with each module exploring consecutive number, triadic and tonal permutations. Each module gets progressively longer as the piece evolves.” http://www.sonicsfromscratch.co.nz/fromscratch.php?id=64