A Percussionist's Notebook

 In my continuing quest for sound isolation I tried another variation with The Nickster. I glued leather to the inside and outside of the holder. My logic here was since the vibration is canceled when I placed my fingers on it while it's mounted on the music stand the vibration actually stops. I spent 1 day experimenting with the proper glue to adhere the leather to the aluminum and another 2 days gluing it.  EURICA! And just like the spelling above, it didn't work. After 3 days I had a Nickster clad in leather that allowed the same amount of vibration to travel through the music stand. Yes it didn't work, but on the bright side I can call it the 2021 Anniversary Edition!

 Everyone has an opinion for their 'go to' or 'default' triangle and many hours can be spent arguing about them. When the Alan Abel triangle was first introduced it was considered one of the best on the market. Over the years companies started to focus on making different sizes, designs and metals. This has raised the standard for the quality of sound while increasing the confusion over what a 'good sound' is. This has caused the Abel triangle to be shunned by many people, the most common reason is it's purity of sound.   The triangle sound should not produce a specific pitch, it's shimmering quality is what makes it stand out from the rest of the instruments. This 'shimmering' is caused by the many different overtones as it vibrates. So for this discussion I'm using a standard 6" Alan Abel triangle keeping in mind that no 2 triangles regardless of make or model will sound exactly the same. The first 'default' position that band ...

9",12", 21" Rebar Triangles with an Alan Abel triangle to show perspective In the late 80's I found 3 sections of rebar in a dumpster. At the time I was teaching instrumental music at a middle school and one of my classes was teaching world music through percussion. We had explored some music of the United States and this time I wanted to teach Jazz. In our school the students were very much into Rock, Hip Hop, Country and some Reggae, but I was amazed that very few had any knowledge of Jazz. This rebar provided the solution. I measured the length of each piece and marked them to form an isosceles triangle (thanks Euclid). Using a torch, I heated and bent them as close as I could to the proper angle. After each bend I quenched them in water. I now had a 9", 12", and 21" triangle and because of the water quenching, each had a relatively long sustained sound. A coating of silver paint finished the project. The player would hold them in their hand ...

Many things that I have made go through an evolutionary process. Sometimes they are subtle changes but more often the final design has very little to do with the original concept. The Nickster was one of those projects that had a common thread from the beginning. The 1st appearance 'circa 2008' shows a strong resemblance to the later versions. I had the right idea but I didn't aggressively follow through with it until 2014 (see The Nickster post 7/22/19). I used a bicycle rear mount support, heat shrink tubing, rubber grommets and nylon cord. 2014 the Nickster 1.0: I wanted to use a semicircle of aluminum to fit in the space between the thumb and index/middle finger. I had hoped this would make the design intuitive to someone who has experience only with the 'glue clamp' designs. It wasn't intuitive to many students and it was  only playable for right handed players. 2015 the Nickster 2.0: I continued to use the semicircle but I made a version for l...

In 2016 the YS programed a piece that had a fast intricate triangle part. Using a traditional triangle holder on a music stand for this purpose would create unwanted resonance. I designed a holder that would lay on a trap table keeping the triangle in a horizontal position. Parts: 9" shelf supports (2).  1"x 8"  board.  1 bicycle rear carrier support.  Nuts, bolts, washers, sheet metal screws, poly tubing and zip ties. I did some creative bending on the shelf supports, bolted the  bicycle rear carrier support (the slotted silver strap in the photo) and used longer #10 bolts through the washers and poly tubes. The right side bolt had a wing nut in the rear to adjust for horizontal spacing. The zip ties were strung through the washers to provide support for the triangle. The Reitiesher worked well for the concert and the tour later in the year, but there were problems:  It was bulky and difficult to pack safely.  It was difficult to a...

I started to think about the design for a different triangle holder in 2008 but the first version of the Nickster didn't appear until 2014. At the 2013 Winter Concert a percussionist in the younger band of the Y/S was trying to remove the triangle from his music stand. It almost looked like a comedy routine as he tried to release it with 1 hand and then both hands and was still struggling nearly missing his entrance. At the time we were using the traditional small glue clamp purchased at a hardware store and modified to hold a triangle. I was proud of his persistence but I also realized that he should  not have to go through all of the contortions to play a triangle. For the next 3 nights I would wake up at 3AM and spend about 2 hours thinking about this issue and started drawing some ideas in my notebook. I wanted to design a holder that was stable on the stand, easily removed with one hand and isolate the vibrations to the music stand if needed to play mounted. The picture a...

I have been making triangle beaters for years but success rates have been mediocre at best. I eventually designed a tubular beater that met my criteria*. Materials: 1. Handles- fiberglass wire running rods. 3/16" in dia. cut to 8". 2. Beater heads- 'spring pins' in 1/4", 5/16" and 3/8"  lengths of 1 1/2" and 2" (using the 1/4" pin required a 1/8" steel rod) 3. Adhesive- Shoe Goo® or silicone adhesive. 4. Handle grip- various diameters of vinyl and rubber tubing. Over time the fiberglass handles could be nicked or chipped causing small splinters that could be embedded in the skin so I covered them with nail polish or used heat shrink tubing (added benefits here is they could be color coded). * My criteria is: 1. Make it as close to a 'professional' sound as possible. 2. Simple and straight forward to use. 3. Use materials that are readily available with simple hand tools.