Pitch Modulated Drum

Blaze Launcher · Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 9:21 pm Post subject: Pitch Modulated Drum

Ok so I went to this concert where a band called Onedrum was performing. It was held in someone's barn, so I was expecting to hear some mildly interesting music, and I was completely amazed. I was blown away by the amazing musicianship these people had, and I would never have expected to find it in a shabby barn in slightly sub-suburban Wisconsin on a cool autumn night. The atmosphere was just as powerful. The band, probably 6-8 people (a guitarist, bassist, and the rest playing various drums and flutes), had great chemistry and interacted with each other and the crowd.

Anyway I'm getting too far into the details, but there was one specific sound I heard the first time and for the rest of the concert I was eagerly listening to hear it again to try to figure out what it was. It was a very loud deep drum sound with a long sustain and had a steady pitch drop throughout the decay. I narrowed it down to who was playing it, and i kept hearing it throughout the music: "DOOOOOOOOOOOM". I'm fairly sure it wasnt a talking drum, but i could be wrong. I say this because he didn't have a drum under his arm (this is the only way I have seen talking drums played) and I don't know if there are other techniques for playing talking drums, so pardon my ignorance if that could have been it. I just couldn't pinpoint the drum that made the sound, and i didn't get a chance to talk to the drummer after the show.

So here's my question for you guys: does anyone know what kind of drum could have produced this sound, or any other drums with modulation capabilities flexible enough to produce a sound that could mimic this drum?

deadhead · Newbie Alert Joined: 27 Nov 2006 Posts: 1

Blaze,

Its hard to know what instrument he was playing without seeing it. My first guess would be a talking drum, but most likely you would have seen him squeezing it with his arm or knees. There is a brazilian drum called a cuica that changes pitch by rubbing a cloth along a stick that is inserted in the head, however this drum usually produces a more high pitch sound like a record scratch. The only other drum I know of that changes pitch would be a tympani, you probably would have seen it though as they are huge, but possibly something similar in design. There are lots of techniques used to change pitch when playing conga drums, and can really be applyed to any drum with a head. I hope this helps.