I want people's thoughts on metal items, for instance, brake drums, scuba tanks, sound plates, propane tanks, and others. Also, I'm looking for a new metal sound if anyone has something else other than what I listed please let me know!<P>Ryan

I think metal sounds are great in the pit. I personally think it accentuates the high points in the music performance. But I really hate it when I see a pit use a whole lot metal for gimmicks sake.<P>Most of the metal you've mention are the best used, because of it's sound, pitch, and projection. The only other metal I can think of that would be great for pit use is a thunder sheet.<BR>Hopes this helps....<BR>

me like break drum... i think break drums are awesome...i remember one year my high school band had the whole drumline come into the pit and they all did a breakdrum solo on like 7 different breakdrums...it was flarkin dope... but all else i could think of (besides those mentioned0 is a trashcan lid...theres not too much litterature for them..but i have seen it!!!...speaking of brake drums...what do <B>you</B> use to play on them? we use these hardware tack hammers that are usually 3-5 bucks a piece...<P>------------------<BR>-Kevin<BR><B>NHS Percussion</B><BR> <A HREF="http://www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums" TARGET=_blank>www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums</A> <BR> punk@drumlines.org

You can use hard phinolic or lexon mallets when playing brake drum.

What the heck is a brake drum???<BR>-----------------------------------------<BR>"Bow to Monkey Man"<P>------------------<BR>Sean Sicher<BR>Moorefield High School,WV<BR>Tenors 2000

its essentially the big metal piece of a car wheel...im not all big on cars, but im pretty sure thats what it is, its the base of a car wheel...<P>------------------<BR>-Kevin<BR><B>NHS Percussion</B><BR> <A HREF="http://www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums" TARGET=_blank>www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums</A> <BR> punk@drumlines.org

I prefer the hammers to the hard mallets. I have a big brake drum part at the end of our show and we need it to be psycho loud, and the hammers certainly are that! I'm not looking forward to doing that in a performance cuz I won't be able to wear my earplugs. The main problem with the hammers that it's kinda hard to play fast passages with 'em. I guess I just need to build up my brake drum chops! Oh, and the best thing about brake drums- they really annoy the woodwinds! <P>------------------<BR>pit_girl1<BR>------------------------<BR>NHS Perc. Co-Section Leader<p>[This message has been edited by pit_girl1 (edited 09-15-2000).]

If you're looking for a unique metal sound, try a garbage can lid like kevin said. It sounds crazy, but we played a Holsinger song with a garbage can lid centered on a hi-hat stand. It really made the piece exciting, and, if you know Holsinger, that's exactly what he wanted.

hey anybody out there...<P>ok, i know a few corps, if not atleast one or two have used this, and many high school bands ive seen.<P>what makes that loud high pitched, almost supersonic sound that goes "screetch!", sound like your scraping some type of metal surface, but i still havent figured it out yet, and if its easy to make such a sound, then we could use it as an awesome effect at the end of our show, so, what makes htis noise....anyone? (i thought either scraping a propane tank of a scuba tank, but i still dont know, what and how...help!)<P>------------------<BR>-Kevin<BR><B>NHS Percussion</B><BR> <A HREF="http://www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums" TARGET=_blank>www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums</A> <BR> punk@drumlines.org

Kevin, scrape a stick or mallet horizontally across some chimes. Ya know the ones I'm talkin about, the brass ones (although sometimes silver I believe), about 6 feet tall, pedal to release the damper. But don't depress the pedal when you scrape. Keep it dampened. But I don't recall seeing any chimes in your pit.<P>I know Great Mills has a set. So like, if yer ever down in St. Mary's, you just walk in and ask the band director, "Can I scrape your chimes dude?"<P>------------------<BR>Webmaster, Drumlines.org<BR>AIM: Drumlines

Chime Scrapes....<P>1. use lexon or phenolic mallets (I perfer lexon)<P>2. depress the pedal so that all the chime bars ring..this is the effect you want<P>3. scrape the chimes rapidly or any speed desired<P>4. scrape on the middle of the chimes<P>

josh<BR>ok, we got a set of Premier silver one, wont this hurt the chimes? and exactly how are you supposed to scrape it and with sticks like john said work best? so basically, i need to know technique, hehehe, if this works im gonna annoy the hell out of my instructor tommorow.<P>------------------<BR>-Kevin<BR><B>NHS Percussion</B><BR> <A HREF="http://www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums" TARGET=_blank>www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums</A> <BR> punk@drumlines.org

If it hurt the chimes, then I don't think all those corps and marching bands would be doing it.<P>I've never done it myself though. Go with John's suggestions for what to use, or try something else if you dont have either of those. Just don't go and use a butcher knife or anything like that. That MAY damage the chimes.<P>As far as technique, I would say if you're a righty, quickly run the mallet/stick across the chimes horizontally from left to right in the middle section. Like I've said, I've never done this before, but it sounds right to me. John pretty much laid it out for you.<P>------------------<BR>Webmaster, Drumlines.org<BR>AIM: Drumlines

ok, i tried it today, and well, THATS NOT THE SOUND!!!... chimes, or atleast, our chimes, are to deep to do that, theres gotta be some other way cuz i dont see how chimes could make such a sound. are y ou sure we are talking about the same sound? its like almost supersonic like the highest note of a bell set, just really flarkin loud and more of a "screeeeeech". whats the use for scuba tanks? like how are they used?<P>------------------<BR>-Kevin<BR><B>NHS Percussion</B><BR> <A HREF="http://www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums" TARGET=_blank>www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums</A> <BR> punk@drumlines.org

Did you try just scraping the high notes?<P>------------------<BR>Webmaster, Drumlines.org<BR>AIM: Drumlines

yep, still too deep...i mean, if you do it, it sounds like the chimes itself, just the tones changed slightly<P>------------------<BR>-Kevin<BR><B>NHS Percussion</B><BR> <A HREF="http://www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums" TARGET=_blank>www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums</A> <BR> punk@drumlines.org

hey kevin--- <BR>i know what sound youre talking about. i heard it today at COC. good grief!! how do they do that?????<P>------------------<BR>I am drummer woman........hear me RRRROOOOOOLLLLL!!!

GRRR i want to know!!! atleast for the benefit of knowing, its too late to add it now, but maybe next year, itd just be nice to know...<P>------------------<BR>-Kevin<BR><B>NHS Percussion</B><BR> <A HREF="http://www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums" TARGET=_blank>www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums</A> <BR> punk@drumlines.org

Well I dunno what the heck u are talkin bout kevin, but maybe you could try to scrape a brass mallet across the high end of some bells (the ones with a damper handle, a little deal u can turn on that chokes the sound, not vibes)? I mean if chimes could have been one of the possible "suspects", I would think bells surely could to... <P><p>[This message has been edited by Tenor2004 (edited 10-29-2000).]

The only screeching sound I can think of...is taking a nylon tipped drum stick and holding it vertical and placing it firmly on a cymbol....then taking your other hand..and rotate the cymbal around....this produces a really high screeching sound.<P>Is this maybe it...

Try scraping near the top of the chimes.<P>------------------<BR>Webmaster, Drumlines.org<BR>AIM: Drumlines

Something I always thought was kinda cool is using trash can lids. They have a nice metal sound.

i said this earlier, but Im gonna say it again because David Holsinger is awesome. I played a concert piece (concert, of all things) that incorporated a trash can lid several times into it. We put it on a hihat stand, and hit it with normal drumsticks. It was great. It was called........dang it I cant remember. Ill think of it though. Its starts wth a B, i think.

I dont get why the hihat stand? Why not just a boom stand or something? I mean it would give you more versatility, a hihat stand just seems so small for a trash can lid...

We put a hole in the top of the lid and placed it on a hihat stand just like a suspended cymbal. It worked well. It stayed at the right height-about waist level like a snare drum, so it wasnt bad. Plus this was last minute planning before a performance with limited materials. the college was renovating.......all of the GSFTA summer program was crazy because everything was unorganized..........but it doesnt really matter.<P>------------------<BR>I am drummer woman........hear me RRRROOOOOOLLLLL!!!

I've been reading these posts about a screeching sound and if it's not the chimes.. then could it be the gong? taking a key or something and scraping it across the gong? I don't know.. just a thought. Hehe

Welcome to the forums bassgal!!<P> <P>Another Murfreesboro person. [img]http://www.drumlines.org/ubb/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

i know where to get that screeching sound:<P>get a bell disk, a china, a splash, the edge of a vibe bar, etc... put it so the edge faces up or straight out... then get a bow, like for violin... it takes a little bit of experimenting, but if you run the bow perpendicular, you can get the hightest pitched, most hideous sound... we did it for concert band a few times, & it was by FAR my favorite part... just seeing everyone cringe when they heard it was AWESOME

Hmm, the search is on for a violin bow. Where the h#ll am I suposed to get a violin bow in marching band (that is rhetorical)? Hmm, do those things stretch like a hunting bow? I mean could you say, launch... err "shoot" an object from them, like a *cough* *cou-sharpened-gh* *cough* brass bell mallet?

nah, i don't think you can launch anything w/ a bow... just ask an orchestra person for an old used bow, but be sure it has plenty of hair on it... the thicker the better, in my experience... but be careful w/ them, they are easy to crack, stretch out & break

Is that really how they do it. wow.<BR>Carolina crown did it this year and <BR>it was an unbeleivably high pitched<BR>ssscwweeeiiiiing.<P>------------------<BR>-------------------------<BR>Michael Baker<BR>I play everything.<BR>why, because I can.<BR>AIM:spydrummer

Hey take some clear acrylic mallets for bells and scrape them back and forth on the pipes of your chimes. It sounds wicked on our chimes......its scary and really loud.<P>Also, have you guys ever seen someone roll on an upside down cymbal on top of the lowest tympani while moving the pedal up and down.? We did it one year....just wanted to tell you of it....its neat....we used it for our "monster" show....scary sound effects<P>------------------<BR>I am drummer woman........hear me RRRROOOOOOLLLLL!!!

yea ive heard of the cymbal on timpini thing before, pretty neat... theres lots of wierd stuff to do with them, theres even this thing sabian makes that goes right on top of a normal snare drum batter head that adds a cymbal tambre to the snare sound...never heard, sounds like itd be kinda wierd...<P>------------------<BR>-Kevin<BR><B>NHS Percussion</B><BR> <A HREF="http://www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums" TARGET=_blank>www.drumlines.org/nhsdrums</A> <BR> punk@drumlines.org

ahhh, the bowed instrument. we bowed a vibraphone one time for a song in HS. really cool.<P>yes, brake drums are great. hammers are the best to use on them.<P>people have used scuba tanks? where are you procuring these tanks from? as a scuba diver, i would like to make a public service announcement....<P>"hi, i'm a scuba diver and a percussionist. i know how much we all like to bang on things. big, metal, loud things. however, if you do decide to use your scuba tank in a marching band show, please, don't use it for diving again unless you take it to your local diveshop to get rechecked for damage. otherwise, bad things can happen. thank you."<P>speaking of metal tanks, has anyone gone past a place that sells propane and seen their huge, 50' tanks that hold it. i SO want to take a pair of sticks to a tank like that....<P>------------------<BR>Christopher Tebbens<BR>Oberlin College<BR>Christopher.Tebbens@oberlin.edu

We used 5 oxygen tanks cut to different lengths so they produced different pitches, they sounded good last year, but in this year's show they sounded like a$$ and they hurt your ears really bad..we also used these metal plates with holes in them for the opener, the snares used Zildjian EarthPlates, and the tenors had these thin metal disks attached the their drums that they played. Personally I'm a fan of break drums, I think they sound good w/ lexons, and of course the ever-popular chime scrape, which also sounds cool with lexons.

One of our band parents owns a body shop and he hooked us up with some old parts: brake drums, bumpers, tanks,other crap. Pretty cool.

We bowed a cymbal this year, w/ a bass bow, it sounded SO cool! (Too bad we kept forgetting the bow and had to make all our band parents run and get it for us...) We also used A LOT of the tanks, brake drums, chime scrapes and a firebell, and another HUGE firebell, I mean it had a diameter of like a foot and a half or something, it was HUGE and sounded so loud...I got to play it at the beginning of the show w/ a balpine hammer, great fun. Of course our show was depicting the end of the world, so it needed lots of loud metal stuff.

A bow on Crotales sounds superb. Especially if it is a minor second. It has more screech than 'Saved By The Bell'. Sorry.

use a steel drum!!! haha. those are so awesome.

For Bowing I'd recommend using a double bass bow. I'd try and find one that has black hair, its easier to tell when it has the right amount of rosin on it. How much rosin is enough? When the bow is WHITE. Then depress vibes peddle, drag across a pretty high key. The shorter the key the easier it is to get going. This will give you a horribly high screeching sound. This is actually written into some band literature. Ex: Council Oak but I forget who its by.

just like anything else in the pit or any musical instrument in the show, it all depends if it fits in the show.

Another example of bowing in concert literature is "Sound Prisms" by Brian Balmages.