Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site brl-tgr.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!teddy!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!brl-tgr!tgr!cak@PURDUE.ARPA From: Christopher A KentNewsgroups: net.music Subject: Re: A Unique Sound Experience Message-ID: <7396@brl-tgr.ARPA> Date: Wed, 16-Jan-85 08:34:29 EST Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.7396 Posted: Wed Jan 16 08:34:29 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 20-Jan-85 05:59:36 EST Sender: news@brl-tgr.ARPA Organization: Ballistic Research Lab Lines: 17 For those that don't have access to Ron's office, a flexatone is a large piece of spring steel mounted in a frame, with a smaller piece of steel with a ball on the end. Imagine a Y. You hold the base of the Y in your hand. The large piece of steel is attached across the top, free at the bottom; you can move the bottom end in and out of the frame with your thumb. The small piece of steel is also attached at the top of the Y, such that the ball strikes the large piece when shaken. By changing the thumb pressure, you change the pitch. You've almost certainly heard a flexatone used -- probably in the 70s, if not more recently. (Same goes for the vibraslap, which is popular in latin music, and had a small, deranged following in the disco scene.) It's the sort of sound that one might expect a flying saucer to make when lifting off in a 1950's SF movie... chris ----------