Bock-a-da-bock

Last updated
Bock-a-da-bock
Classification

Hand percussion

Idiophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification 111.142

The bock-a-da-bock is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of two small cymbals attached to each other by a set of metal tongs. They are typically played in a pair by one percussionist, much like the castanets. However, several other instruments of this type are also referred to as bock-a-da-bocks, such as the squash cymbal and the hand-sock cymbal.

Contents

Origin

The predecessor of the bock-a-da-bock, the Ludwig Gladstone cymbal, was invented by Billy Gladstone and produced by the Ludwig Drum Company. Both the Ludwig Drum Company and their competitors elaborated upon Gladstone's design and produced a diversity of hand-held cymbals, including the bock-a-da-bock. The bock-a-da-bock is listed as a product of the Ludwig Drum Company in their 1928 catalog. [1]

Technique and use

The bock-a-da-bock is typically played in a pair like castanets, with one set of cymbals in each hand. There are other instruments like the bock-a-da-bock, such as the squash cymbal and hand-sock cymbal in the Ludwig Drum Company line. Though they are similar in construction, each are played differently. The hand-sock cymbal is mounted on spring loaded scissor tongs and is played by squeezing the tongs together. The squash cymbals, which are mounted on a simple fire tong, are held in one hand and hit with a drumstick in the other hand. [1]

Due to recording limitations in the 1920s, the bock-a-da-bock was sometimes used as a substitute for a trap kit. As the trap kit developed into the modern drum kit around the 1930's, the bock-a-da-bock lost favor with the musicians of the time when compared to foot pedal operated hi-hats. [2]

Players

Noteworthy players of the bock-a-da-bock are Kaiser Marshall, who played it on several Fletcher Henderson records, and Zutty Singleton from Louis Armstrong's Hot Five who played a bock-a-da-bock on Armstrong's 1928 recording of "Sugar Foot Strut" (featured prominently in the introduction and ending) and "West End Blues". [3]

Examples of bock-a-da-bock use in charts

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cymbal</span> Unpitched percussion instrument

A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a definite note. Cymbals are used in many ensembles ranging from the orchestra, percussion ensembles, jazz bands, heavy metal bands, and marching groups. Drum kits usually incorporate at least a crash, ride, or crash/ride, and a pair of hi-hat cymbals. A player of cymbals is known as a cymbalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drum kit</span> Musical instrument

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The drummer typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks, and uses their feet to operate hi-hat and bass drum pedals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hi-hat</span> Percussion instrument

A hi-hat is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist of a matching pair of small to medium-sized cymbals mounted on a stand, with the two cymbals facing each other. The bottom cymbal is fixed and the top is mounted on a rod which moves the top cymbal toward the bottom one when the pedal is depressed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percussion instrument</span> Type of musical instrument that produces a sound by being hit

A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excluding zoomusicological instruments and the human voice, the percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments. In spite of being a very common term to designate instruments, and to relate them to their players, the percussionists, percussion is not a systematic classificatory category of instruments, as described by the scientific field of organology. It is shown below that percussion instruments may belong to the organological classes of idiophone, membranophone, aerophone and cordophone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Oliver</span> American jazz cornet player and bandleader

Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver was an American jazz cornet player and bandleader. He was particularly recognized for his playing style and his pioneering use of mutes in jazz. Also a notable composer, he wrote many tunes still played today, including "Dippermouth Blues", "Sweet Like This", "Canal Street Blues", and "Doctor Jazz". He was the mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong. His influence was such that Armstrong claimed, "if it had not been for Joe Oliver, Jazz would not be what it is today."

"West End Blues" is a multi-strain twelve-bar blues composition by Joe "King" Oliver. It is most commonly performed as an instrumental, although it has lyrics added by Clarence Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percussion mallet</span> Object used to strike or beat a percussion instrument

A percussion mallet or beater is an object used to strike or beat a percussion instrument in order to produce its sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic drum</span> Musical instrument

Electronic drums are a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sounds and a set of pads, usually constructed in a shape to resemble drums and cymbals, which are equipped with electronic sensors to send an electronic signal to the sound module which outputs a sound. Like acoustic drums, the pads are struck by drum sticks and they are played in a similar manner to an acoustic drum kit, albeit with some differences in the drumming experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One-man band</span> A musician who plays various instruments

A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical or electronic contraptions. One-man bands also often sing while they perform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocktail drum</span> Portable drum kit

Cocktail drums are a type of portable drum kit which combines bass drum and snare drum sounds in a single drum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krakeb</span> Moroccan musical instrument

Qraqeb or garagab, in English often transliterated as krakeb, are a large iron castanet-like musical instrument primarily used as the rhythmic aspect of Gnawa music. Gnawa today is part of the North African culture and is inherent in the Maghrebi soundscape. The word qraqeb is a plural form, with an unclear etymology, as the word does not occur in Standard Arabic with this meaning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Keeler</span> American drummer

James Patrick Keeler is an American rock music drummer from Cincinnati, who is best known for playing in The Greenhornes, The Raconteurs, and The Afghan Whigs. He plays with both traditional and matched grips.

Struck idiophones is one of the categories of idiophones that are found in the Hornbostel-Sachs system of musical instrument classification.

Orghici Cosmin, born William Goldstein, was a Romanian-born drummer, percussionist, drum builder, inventor, and drum teacher who performed in New York theaters, including the Capitol Theatre and most famously Radio City Music Hall in the 1930s and 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drum stick</span> Type of percussion mallet

A drum stick is a type of percussion mallet used particularly for playing snare drum, drum kit, and some other percussion instruments, and particularly for playing unpitched percussion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions</span> Album

The Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions were recorded between 1925 and 1928 by Louis Armstrong with his Hot Five and Hot Seven groups. According to the National Recording Registry, "Louis Armstrong was jazz's first great soloist and is among American music's most important and influential figures. These sessions, his solos in particular, set a standard musicians still strive to equal in their beauty and innovation." These recordings were added to the National Recording Registry in 2002, the first year of the institution's existence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unpitched percussion instrument</span> Percussion instrument played to produce sounds of indeterminate pitch

An unpitched percussion instrument is a percussion instrument played in such a way as to produce sounds of indeterminate pitch, or an instrument normally played in this fashion.

Walberg and Auge is a United States drum kit and hardware manufacturer established in 1903 in Worcester, Massachusetts by Barney Walberg. Walberg and Auge is considered by some to be, "the biggest unknown name in the history of twentieth-century American percussion." The brand is credited with several innovations in musical instruments and associated hardware including the development of the modern hi-hat stand and shell-mounted tom-tom holder. The magazine Modern Drummer detailed the origin story of the modern hi-hat configuration: "After months of experimenting, Walberg's company extended the inner rod and outer tube of his low hat stand to about waist high so he could play the cymbals with his hand as well as his feet." The pivotal innovation was sold by every major drum company under the rubric "Perfection Hats."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heavy metal drumming</span>

Heavy metal drumming is a style of rock music drum kit playing that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United States and the United Kingdom. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic/acid rock drum playing, heavy metal drummers play with emphatic beats, and overall loudness using an aggressive performing style. Heavy metal drumming is traditionally characterized by emphatic rhythms and dense bass guitar-and-drum sound.

References

  1. 1 2 Bally (April 22, 2019). "Instruments #4: The 'Bock-A-Da-Bock' or Hand Cymbal, 1927-9". Drums In The Twenties. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  2. Aldridge, John (1994). Guide to Vintage Drums. Centerstream Pub. p. 23. ISBN   9780931759796.
  3. 1 2 Brennan, Matt (2020). Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit. Oxford University Press. p. 91. ISBN   9780190683863.
  4. A Student's Guide to AS Music by Paul Terry and David Bowman. Rhinegold Publishing LTD, 2005; ISBN   978-0-946890-90-3