Reich, Steve: Drumming / Music For Mallet Instruments, Voices And Organ / Six Pianos (3LP, numbered limited edition, 180g) [DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON]

Why you'll love it

Reich's 1974 recording of Drumming, with Six Pianos and Music For Mallet Instruments, Voices And Organ. Deutsche Grammophon remastered it from the original four-track tapes for the first time and cut it all-analogue at Emil Berliner Studios, for Reich's 90th birthday on October 3, 2026.

This edition

• Original Source series
• Numbered limited edition
• 3LP box, 180g
• All-analogue (AAA) cut at Emil Berliner Studios
• Original cover art, Reich's liner notes, session photos and facsimiles of the recording logs

About the album

Drumming builds its four parts from a single rhythmic cell, passed from tuned bongos to marimbas to glockenspiels, voices and piccolo, slipping in and out of phase until the patterns seem to play themselves. Russ Hartenberger, Bob Becker and Glen Velez are among the players.

The box adds Reich's correspondence with the DG producer and the original tape sleeves, so it's as much a document as a record. Put it on, lose track of time, and don't be alarmed if you start tapping along to things that aren't there.

Also at Kops: more Classical / Ambient

Tracklist

On Deutsche Grammophon, a reissue of the 1974 recording.