FILM NOTES: MUSICAL ENCOUNTER PERCUSSION

01. Student plays vibraphones on a famous jazz style song called "How High the Moon."

02. Percussion: Instruments that have to be struck in order to make a sound.

03. When one object strikes another object and creates a noise, sound, or tone it is termed a 
percussive sound.

04. Clapping is a percussive sound too and therefore everyone is a percussionist.

05. Percussion is not just drums but includes many other instruments that are played by striking or tapping.

06. Student plays Bach's "Violin Concerto in A Minor" on the marimbas accompanied by the piano.

07. Vibraphones and marimbas are both mallet percussion instruments but the vibraphone is 
made of metal and the marimba is made of wood.

08. Resonator tubes, found in the front and the back of both instruments, are placed there to make 
the sounds from the notes ring by echoing or magnifying the sound.

09. Percussion instruments are classified by those that have indefinite and definite pitches.
      a. Indefinite Pitches: Sounds or noise that do not give a definite pitch but gives an effect 
          or a sound.
      b. Definite Pitches: Tones you can actually hear in relation to one another as being distinct 
          with a certain sound wave length that will give an actual tone.

10. Indefinite instruments, such as drums, tend to be easier to play because emphasis is only put 
on the striking action and not on both the striking action and the pitch as in the definite pitch instruments.

11. Regular practice, approximately 1 hour daily and 2 hours per day on the weekend, really helps this
student perfect his skill.

12. Pedals on the vibraphone are used for sustaining a vibration on a note. Sounds decay or die 
quickly so in order to sustain a sound (keep the sound going) on a marimba the sound must be rolled. There is a  pedal on the vibraphone that, when pressed, will sustain the note without having to roll it.

13. Marimbas and vibraphones are definite pitch instruments.

14. Battery Percussion piece by Rick Tagawa called, "Inspirations Diabolique" is played on   
indefinite percussion instruments.

15. Need to get into the music and really learn about it in order to perform it well.

16. Different size drum sticks make different sounds; thinner drum sticks are "pingy" and more 
sharp sounding; thicker sticks have a heavier and fuller sound.

17. There is a large variety of percussion instruments to play.

18. Generally bigger instruments are lower sounding having bigger heads and taking up more room 
with the drum sizes arranged by pitch from low to high.

19. Bongos: Types of drums (often played by Latin or rock groups) which are higher pitched and played
with the hands.

20. Snare Drum: 

Has different sounds depending on whether you flip a switch or not. At the bottom of the drum there  
are little rasps (stretched strings called snares which cause a rattling against the drum head) 

that when not touching the instrument will make the drum sound like all the other ones but when 
you flip the switch on the instrument as a different sound like the one familiar with a drum roll sound.

21. Can use more than one stick on each hand at the same time making the sound fuller.

22. In indefinite percussive instrument note reading, each drum has its own line on the staff.

23. Indefinite percussion does not really need to be tuned but definite percussion drums 
(like the timpani) do. 

There is a pedal that, when pushed down or up, will contract or expand the drum head tension which will change the pitch.

24. Keys on indefinite pitch drum heads can be used to tighten and loosen the drum head tension. 
These keys are called "lugs." 

There is usually between 8 or 10 of them and the tightened lugs raise the pitch while the loosened ones   
lowers them. These pitches are not definite however.

25. Thickness of drum heads will change the tone color and texture of the sound of the drum.

26. Other percussion effect instruments mentioned:
       a.  Vibrasnap (also referred to as a vibraslap)

         b.   Flexatone 

         c.  Cabasa (Latin percussion instrument)

       d.  Slapstick (has a whip sound and can be heard in "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson

       e. Triangle

       f.  Tambourine [many ways to play it: shake, thumb roll (by stroking an often slightly wet 
thumb, or sometimes a finger, across the head of a tambourine, a sustained roll may be produced) 
or can also be played using the knee and hand]

      g.  Suspended Cymbals (cymbals that hang usually on a stand and are hit with a stick)

      h.  Crash Cymbals (cymbals held and played with both hands)

TERMS FROM THE FILM:
01. BATTERY PERCUSSION
02. BONGOS
03. CABASA
04. CLAPPING
05. CYMBAL
06. CRASH CYMBAL
07. DECAY
08. DEFINITE PITCH
09. DRUM
10. DRUM ROLL
11. DRUM STICKS
12. FLEXATONE
13. INDEFINITE PITCH
14. JAZZ
15. LATIN PERCUSSION
16. LUGS
17. MALLET PERCUSSION
18. MARIMBA
19. PEDAL
20. PERCUSSION
21. PIANO
22. PITCH
23. RASP
24. RESONATOR TUBES
25. ROLL
26. SLAPSTICK
27. SNARE DRUM
28. SNARES
29 SOUND WAVE
30. SUSPENDED CYMBAL
31. SUSTAIN
32. SUSTAINED ROLL
33. TAMBOURINE
34. TEXTURE
35. THUMB ROLL
36. TIMPANI
37. TONE
38. TONE COLOR
39. TRIANGLE
40. TUNED
41. VIBRAPHONE
42. VIBRASLAP
43. VIBRASNAP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrmCbsM6eyk