Questions tagged [percussion]
Musical instruments played by striking with the hand or with a hand-held or pedal-operated stick or beater, by shaking, or by rubbing.
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Have I been teaching rolls wrong?
I teach beginning band to first-year players aged 10-12. I have always taught 5-stroke and 9-stroke rolls this way: Assuming that we are in a simple meter like 2/4, 3/4, or 4/4, I first divide the ...
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Steel percussion mallets
I'm going to be striking a variety of unconventional bells varying in material from steel to brass, bronze and aluminium. I wonder if there is anything against using precision mallets with stainless ...
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Top-down strokes versus side strokes: what is the most ergonomic drum style between tabla or mridangam/pakhawaj?
Tablas are hand drums that comes by pair which the 2 skins are (nearly) horizontally oriented with the hand moving from top to down, while mridangam/pakhawaj/dol/dolak are hand drums which the 2 skins ...
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Timing variations of percussive instrument performance
I am at the final stages of my M.Sc. and I am working on a sonic gesture interaction system to control a digital percussion instrument (more like sampler). In order to perform the evaluation of the ...
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On the fly tuning of drums
I was watching Whiplash for the first time, and they mention tuning the drums at the start of the session, but that made me think. In every other instrument I know of, you can do on-the-fly pitch ...
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How do I make a percussive backbeat and pluck another three string simultaneously?
I am trying to learn the fingerstyle version of "take me to church" by Hozier.
Tab is from Hozier – Take Me To Church Tab by Kaminari | Songsterr Tabs with Rhythm.
But how do I make a ...
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How effective is a "glancing blow" technique at preserving crash cymbals?
I've heard it said hundreds of times that hitting a crash cymbal with a "glancing blow", rather than straight on, will extend its life and help prevent it from cracking.
...
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pitch choice for steel drums
When a steel drum is being tuned up are the pitches determined chromatically or are they tuned diatonically to a specific key? I'm asking about Jamaican style steel drums, just to be clear.
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How do unpitched instruments work on a technical aspect? [duplicate]
I dont know a lot about how sound waves work, so this question might sound stupid, but as far as I know the frequency determines the pitch and the amplitude determines the volume.
What confuses me is ...
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Are castanets used in tango music?
I'm working on a piece for Pierrot ensemble (fl, cl, vln, vlc, pa, perc). While it's not trying to be a strict or authentic tango, it uses several familiar rhythmic patterns and "sounds like&...
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Is there a standardized way to write sheet music for musical spoons?
The spoons are a percussion instrument common in folk music around the world. Often, the spoons can create lines similar to a snare drum cadence, but with the addition of different body strikes and ...
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Play E-Drums with Pedals only?
Let me explain. We are a two-man-group. My mate is doing guitar and vocals and I am doing bass and percussion. Some time ago I build (soldering and then also really assembling) myself a set of 6 drum-...
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Percussion duration notation issue
As I understand it:
For most percussion instruments "notes" don't really have durations in the same sense as other instruments. Percussion instruments are struck, and thus usually sound ...
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tuning of marimba in a jazz band
I started playing the marimba and although it seems a bit unusual I wish to be part of a jazz band with that instrument. Fortunately, before buying my own instrument I found out that marimbas have ...
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Is it reasonable to expect a non-percussionist to play a simple triangle part?
If all the percussionists are occupied playing more demanding parts, would it be reasonable to expect someone in a nearby section not playing anything to, e.g., play a clear sustained triangle hit on ...
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Why do temple blocks come in sets of 5?
It seems like temple blocks are commonly sold, bought, and played in sets of five as pictured here:
Image Source
My old high school had a set like this, but we never needed more than two blocks for ...
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How should the percussion on an Acoustic guitar be played in the song "Californication"?
I've seen this arrangement for "Californication" (guitar fingerstyle). I'm don't know how to thumb slap well, but I'd like to understand how the slap works here.
For example, look at the ...
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Artificially Extended Drum Duration?
I am watching a beginner's guide to music production using Cakewalk on Youtube. An interesting fact it points out is that adjusting a drum's note duration in the piano roll view has no effect, ...
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Is there a term for the combination of melody and harmony, excluding percussion?
I am working with a simple sound generator, which can simultaneously produce multiple sine waves plus white noise. The sine waves can have their frequency and volume modified over time, and the white ...
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What is this part of a kettledrum?
Here is a picture of a kettledrum (from here). What is the name and function of the thing behind the pedal that is indicated in red?
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Notating Dynamics for Drum Kit
I'm currently finishing an arrangement in Sibelius. One of the last things I'm adding is dynamic markings. For context, there is a string section, an electric guitar, electric bass, piano and vocals ...
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Guitarist and Bassist as only Bandmembers - Rhythmsection?
We are two individuals, one is playing guitar and sings and the other plays bass. We would like to just cover some rock songs we like and love. However, we do not really want to add another person for ...
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Question about tempo markings on timpani part
I’m playing a timpani part in 4/4 at 132 BPM. 4 measures into the excerpt, there is a “dotted quarter note equals quarter note” marking. In this new section (still in 4/4), there are still eighth ...
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Western musical instruments that can be played with one hand
https://www.google.com/search?q=western+musical+instruments
Will it be very few western musical instruments that can be played by human beings with one hand only?
Example : Mouth organ.
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Which specific terms could be used to search for music without beats / percussions / drums?
From what I can gather, most music besides some specific genres is based on top of a background beat layer.
I happen to be one of the (apparently) few people with a strong dislike of any kind of ...
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Why did baroque music use percussion abundantly, but classical stopped?
Classical music evolved from baroque music, which in turn evolved from Renaissance music. Both baroque and even more so Renaissance make extensive use of percussion. It is certainly not new to ...
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Note with two stems in snare drum part [Ravel's Miroir]: What is the result?
This is part of the snare drum part from Ravel's Miroirs No. 4: Alborado del Gracioso (The jester's aubade).
What is the effect of both sticks playing the same note? If the sticks coincide precisely ...
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What temperament do Hang drums/hand pans use
Do they use just, equal, or some other tuning system?
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Tenor drum sweeps exercises [closed]
Hey does anyone here know any really good excercizes for practicing sweep patterns for marching tenor drums (preferably with 6 drums)? I have little to do with school shutdown and just wanted to ...
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How to write a beat in a bar with 16th and 32nd notes?
I am trying to find the best way to write this bongo rhythm. I know bongo is usually written on two lines only, or even on one line sometimes, but my bongos are tuned to G so I just use normal music ...
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What is the effect/role of Syahi on the Tabla skins?
What is the effect of Syahi (the black metallic glue) in the middle of Tablas ?
What would happen to the sound if it was:
removed
added twice as more glue
The player who had sold me one of his ...
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Timpani alternative in the band room
I’m looking for a cheaper alternative to the timpani, that may be used in a middle school band.
Any Ideas?
Thanks in advance.
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Is this a correct traditional grip?
I know I put the stick on my ring finger but the exact joint that I’m supposed to have it on confuses me as I was told to do this, but it is slightly painful and my ring finger slides around a lot.
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What is a dotted quarter note, 100 BPM, with a triplet eight note pulse
What is a dotted quarter note, 100 BPM, with a triplet eight note pulse?
My son is in percussion and he has a recording he needs to do and this is the "timing" he was given. Can someone help tell me ...
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In percussion notation, how does one interpret a slurred tremolo?
My question is about tied/slurred tremolos in percussion music notation.
I've had my bongo drums for almost half my life, and am just now deciding to buy a book and learn how to play Afro-Cuban ...
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What is this sound, instrument? (Rheingold, Wagner)
I am currently composing something and I really want to have this sound in my piece. It sounds like a small hammer hammering on metal.
It starts at 1:08:07 (...
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Is it best to use a tie when using 8th notes off the beat?
I am notating my bongos in 4/4. If you look at the last two bars, they are the same rhythm but notated differently.
Can you tell me if the 3rd or 4th bar would be the most correct way to notate the ...
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Mic Placement for Live Percussive Guitar
Like the title says: Does anyone have tips for mic placement that will help pick up and project percussion (generally through a PA system).
I'm beginning to get more into the "live performance" scene ...
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Guiro part notation using cross notes
Here's a picture of a Guiro part in drum notation:
In a Guiro part, what does it mean when there are cross notes? I've seen other Guiro parts elsewhere that use the same line placement but with ...
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Will a forte tympani overpower a quiet orchestra?
So far, I have been mainly using the tympani in my orchestration of the Pathetique Sonata for the purpose of adding an accent. It might change later on to having a more important role but right now, ...
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Question about this thing for timpani
I’m transposing some music in Medly and looking at the sheet music I came across this in the timpani part. Does anyone know what this means because I have no clue >~< I listened to the music a few ...
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Configure 4-4 Tabla for Bansuri Practice
The video below (starting at 2:50) shows the Instructor turning on the 4-4 Tabla player.
How did he configure the Tabla player? He's a wonderful Instructor, but rather vague on these points.
In my ...
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Having issues with guitar percussion
I have started learning percussive techniques on the guitar. While I can reproduce these on my teacher's guitar without issues, I can't do the same on my own guitar. My teacher recommended that I ...
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Can a timpani player play more than one note at a time?
Is it possible for a timpani player to play multiple notes at the same time such as a guitar or piano player would do?
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Path for learning cuica
Really hard to find anything for this lovely crazy little thingy. Can anyone give me hints for a learning path?
What are the first skills I need to acquire? Even sounding up and downstrokes I guess? ...
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Mnemonic or memory aid for Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Marimba, and Vibraphone
I am a choral director who has been transplanted to concert band. I know the differences between the percussion keyboards in theory, but in practice I still need to do an internet search to remember ...
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In a rhythm, what word best describes the duration of an on/off beat cycle?
I'm writing some software that composes drum-lines.
I'm looking for a word that describes the lowest unique combination of down- and up-beats.
Eg: Let's say the following are quarter notes:
(Disco ...
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Tubulum Construction: How does including elbows affect the pitch?
I am considering building a tubulum out of 2" PVC pipes. (Like Blue Man Group) There are some specs on the internet for making the notes, but no one really says when inserting an elbow into the length,...
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Did the rain stick originate independently in multiple continents?
There is a traditional rain stick (percussion instrument) in Africa, Latin America, and I believe in Australia as well. Was it invented separately, or did one culture influence another?
Here is a ...
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Has anyone else composed for the Mahler Hammer?
The title pretty much sums it up: Has anyone else (other than the composer for whom it's named) written music that incorporates the "Mahler Hammer™"?
Some more links:
Walt Martin's blog about ...
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