Metal

 
 
To me a lot of percussion is about metal. Not just Gongs & Cymbals, but any sort of metal that can be beaten, shaken, rubbed, scraped, bowed - anything. Metal is the best part of percussion. Suffice to say, this is not the stuff you do while playing in a pop band! But this is serious weird stuff. Not for the faint of heart! The 1st photo shows the 3 main pieces of sheet metal I use. The largest is 24”x36” and was found over 30 years ago at a club I was playing at that was remodeling. It’s just corrugated/textured aluminum. The other 2 are basic sheet metal, like you find in ducting. They are 32”x14” and 27.5”x9” and were taken from a construction dumpster. The smaller one is real thin and flexible. The other one is a bit thicker. None of these create a tone, like anything made of bronze. Instead, it’s a short white noise sound that makes a great alternative to the longer, resonating bronze ones. In the track above, I play the large one just by shaking it in one hand, creating a thunder type sound. This is what they did in films and stage back in the old days, shaking large sheets of metal to create thunder effects. I’m also playing a REMO Spring Drum in the other hand. This is a small tube with a head at one end with a long, thing spring running through it. You shake it, or hit the spring to get some wild sounds. The tube amplifies the sounds. The track is Harbinger, part 2 of When Worlds Collide, recorded live in Chicago in 2004. The smaller ones work great by holding them and flexing them up & down, creating a modulating/wobbly sound.  You can also grasp both sides and get a sort of snap flexing sound, sort of like woop-woop.   You can also flex it against the floor and play it with a mallet or play 2 sheets on top of each other- be creative! The idea here is to create noise sounds or noise rhythms. Since I play a lot of improv/experimental music, these sounds are perfect.   So by now you either think this is the coolest stuff, or complete rubbish - to each their own. I also love to flex the metal on the edge of a floor tom or gong bass drum, in an up & down motion.   I love this type of thing, but you need to be careful NOT to cut your hand on the sheet metal! I have cut my palm while of flexing away in exuberance. Another thing I do is lay the sheet metal across a drum. I can put other objects on top of it, and also hit the end hanging off the drum. This will flex and give a great wobbly sound.  Top Photo, Metalworks, and all other photos, © 2008 Michael Bettine BackThe_Sound_Chamber.htmlfile://localhost/unnamed-5shapeimage_3_link_0

The Noise of Metal