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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Playing steel drum on a keyboard
I'm playing a calypso number, and decided to use the steel drum (pan) sound from the GM (general MIDI) set of sounds available. The sound is pretty authentic, but I'm struggling to emulate the 'drum ...
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Must I label percussion "switches" in orchestral part where clefs make it obvious?
Title pretty much says it, but here goes. I'm formatting instrumental parts for a chamber work that will be played by orchestra musicians (professional). One player will be assigned to timpani and ...
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Why is music with African roots different in North America than in South America?
Hello fellow musicians of the world. My question is primarily a historical one. As an admirer of both Latin music and blues/jazz, I always wonder why United States music with African roots isn't as ...
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Flam under a fermata
The music is notated for me to play a flam but it’s under a fermata. Do I just play it once or do I keep playing flams while director holds the fermata?
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Differences between types of Chinese cymbals
I am a student percussionist, and the orchestra I am in is performing "Red Plum Capriccio", the Erhu concerto. I am having some difficulty deciphering the difference between the different ...
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How does pitch bending work on keyboard percussion
There is a less known technique for keyboard percussion that allows some form of pitch bending.
For example:
These are some way of getting it, but a similar effect is ...
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What do notes on the neutral clef mean? [duplicate]
When writing notes on the neutral clef for percussion, do the notes correspond to different instruments (bass drum, snare drum, etc.) or do the notes represent something else?
Here's an example:
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How can I access a specific wave sound on the Roland SPD-SX Pro drum pad?
I've watched videos and skimmed the manual but I can't find how to access a specific wave sound.
This drum pad has 1,553 factory sounds, I'm assuming that each one is used in one or more of the many ...
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What is the specific key and tuning for this tongue drum I just got? [duplicate]
I just got a tongue drum and I'm not sure how to look up music or tabs specifically for it. The numbers starting at 1 and going around clockwise are: 1, 6 with a dot below, 2, 5, 1 with a dot above, 5 ...
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How can I dampen the sound of maracas?
I bought these Meinl PM1BK Studio Maracas. They are way too loud for me. Just way too loud. I kinda need to wear ear protection to use them.
Now… is there a way to easily dampen the sound of the ...
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Strange cymbals notation in The Free Lance March
I'm currently playing cymbals for the arrangement of The Free Lance March by William D. Revelli with my high school band. However, I'm having trouble interpreting some of the notations in the music. ...
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Why is there a debate over whether or not percussion instruments are pitched?
Here is an excerpt from Introduction to the Study of Musical Scales by Alain Danielou.
The important part is in bold. I included the rest of the passage only to provide context:
It is the loss of ...
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How to notate orchestral toms?
I want to ask how are orchestral toms notated.
I Know how toms in a drumset are placed in the staff and there are only few of them but what if I want to use more toms with different pitches?
How to ...
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Notation for cymbal choke and cymbal stop?
First, what's the difference between a cymbal choke and a cymbal stop? Is it that a choke is immediate (as soon as possible) and a stop is after the predetermined length of the note (i.e., eighth note,...
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How loud are tubular bells?
I would like to score a climactic moment in a piece as follows.... a 40 person chorus, (assume a professional adult group) will be singing fortissimo clusters. Can I expect two notes struck ...
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Can one performer manage striking tubular bells and timpani simultaneously?
Assuming a professional performer with adequate equipment, can a single percussionist play a single stroke on both a timpani and a set of tubular bells at the same time (one with each hand)? The ...
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Identifying the instrument for pitched percussion in this track [closed]
I am transcribing all parts of “The Mighty Star Lion” from Between the Lions, and everything has been straightforward except figuring out what instrument plays the ostinato pitched percussion. To me, ...
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Fingerstyle - dead notes percussive technique help
Currently learning fingerstyle (acoustic), and learning "set fire to the rain (Adele)" by sungha jung.
Here is a link to the video of the song being played:
...
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Placement of articulation on middle of three voices
I have a drum part that looks like this (instruments shown are cymbal, tambourine, tom, and kick):
Whether splitting the upper voice this way is even standard in the first place I'm not sure, but it ...
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Notating hitting cymbal with shoulder vs tip of stick
I am writing a pep band piece (although the type of piece probably makes no difference) and the snare part is going to have syncopation between hitting the marching cymbals (as if they are ride ...
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15 tongue steel drum sheet music symbol meanings
The music has numbers ( 1 or sometimes more)that are underscored _ once and sometimes twice. Meaning??
Phrase marks?
Brackets connecting a group of numbers?
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What to play as auxillary percussion in "Take the A Train"?
I'm the auxiliary percussionist in my school's jazz band, and normally there's a part for me, or I double a melody on the vibraphone, if there isn't. Right now, we're doing the song "Take the A ...
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Multiple grace note snare drum ornament
I am looking at Sergei Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights (from the Romeo & Juliet ballet: Act I, Scene 2, No. 13) .
In mm. 9–10 (from rehearsal mark [77]) and also a few times later in the piece ...
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Why don't most high-tension marching snares have an inner hoop or any reinforcement on the snare side?
High-tension marching snares have an inner hoop where the batter head is placed to prevent its shells from collapsing—due to the high tension from Kevlar heads being tuned to higher pitches.
If this ...
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How do I count these rhythms for the shaker?
How do I count these rhythms for the shaker part? It is in 4/4 and I know it’s not difficult. But, I’ve never played shaker before and want to write in the counting in my score.
Also, the same for the ...
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How to notate single-line percussion staff using ABC notation?
I want to have this effect by using ABC notation:
In LilyPond, I can use \new RhythmicStaff to create such a staff. What's the equivalent in ABC notation?
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How quickly can a [skilled, professional] percussionist switch between tam-tam and bass drum?
Can a professional orchestral percussionist play tam-tam and bass drum together? Could he/she position the two instruments near enough that they can played one with each hand?
The passage...
is loud ...
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What is a "bass xylophone"?
In the instrumentation of the opera Turandot there is something called bass xylophone, but I couldn't find many things about it. What is it? And, since it doesn't seem to be a common instrument, how ...
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How to interpret this tuning description for a kalimba? a' c" c' a' A f' e' e" b'
This is the tuning description for my kalimba, but I have no idea how to read it. I don’t know the difference between capital letters and lowercase nor the meaning of the apostrophes.
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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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Tongue drum note symbols
I've been offered recently a tongue drum similar to this one:
Exploring the Stack Exchange answers, I think it is tuned to the pentatonic scale. However I cannot make sense of the symbols on 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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