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From: Christopher A Kent 
Newsgroups: 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
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