A Tambourine foot rest

There are some issues I've always wanted to address when I played a certain accessory. Of course it happens when I'm playing and usually forgotten when the rehearsal is over. The mount for the ratchet was the longest running issue that I ever had. It was probably when I was a junior in high school that I first thought about it. That was about 1964 and I made the adapter in 2019. That was either the ultimate in procrastination or the lack of memory. And it was only after watching one of the percussionists in Canyon Winds struggling to switch from xylophone to ratchet during a quarter note rest that I decided to do something about it. The tambourine foot rest is a relatively new issue, it started when I was in college (1966).

To play fast and articulate passages on a tambourine the player inverts the instrument resting on a knee and uses either both hands or alternating between one hand and the knee to play the passage. The problem arises when looking for something to rest the foot at the proper height. Normally the rung of a chair is too low, the seat of the chair is too high and if either were the correct height the chair itself takes up too much space in the already limited area given to the percussion section. One can always just raise the foot off of the floor while balancing on the other making it look like a scene from The Karate Kid. I've tried that and loosing my balance so close to the other instruments turned The Karate Kid into an unexpected percussion concerto during a performance of the Nutcracker Ballet. You would think that episode would have convinced me to come up with a better solution.....but no it didn't.

Starting this past New Years Day my thoughts turned to this problem again and interestingly because of the same percussionist from Canyon Winds. I spent the next 2 weeks playing tambourine with my foot resting on foot stools, waste paper cans, and finally stacks of books that I could easily adjust. I decided that 13" was a good height for me. Next was to make a design that was small and portable.

Using aluminum shelf supports, threaded rod, and cabinet hardware I finished the project in about 4 days. It's portable, can be quickly unfolded and takes up minimal space.