Flexatone

The flexatone is a modern percussion instrument (an indirectly struck idiophone) consisting of a small flexible metal sheet suspended in a wire frame ending in a handle. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1944x2592, 1492 KB)Flexatone Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1944x2592, 1492 KB)Flexatone Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Percussion instruments are music instruments played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped, hence the percussive name. ... An idiophone is any musical instrument which creates sound primarily by way of the instrument itself vibrating, without the use of strings or membranes. ...

History, Construction and technique

An invention for a flexatone occurs in the British Patent Records of 1922 and 1923. In 1924 the 'Flex-a-tone' was patented in the USA by the Playatone Company of New York. 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

A wooden knob mounted on a strip of spring steel lies on each side of the metal sheet. The player holds the flexatone in one hand with the palm around the wire frame and the thumb on the free end of the spring steel. The player then shakes the instrument with a trembling movement which causes the beaters to strike the sides of the metal sheet. While shaking the handle, the musician makes a high or low-pitched sound due to the curve given to the blade by the pressure from his thumb. A tremolo is thus produced. Tremolo is a musical term with two meanings: A rapid repetition of the same note, a rapid variation in the amplitude of a single note, or an alternation between two or more notes. ...

An alternative technique involves removing the two wooden knobs and their mounting springs, and then with a small metal rod (eg triangle beater) held in the free hand strikes the strip of spring steel. The pitch is altered in the same manner as the previous technique. This method of playing results in a different, more constrained sound. A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a two-dimensional figure with three vertices and three sides which are straight line segments. ...

Uses

The flexatone is sometimes heard in funk music, and occasionally in pop music for special effect. Funk is a distinct style of music originated by African-Americans, e. ...

The instrument is rarely used in classical music; Arnold Schoenberg employed it in his Variations for Orchestra and his unfinished opera Moses und Aron, and Aram Khachaturian wrote for it in his Piano Concerto (though here the flexatone is now often omitted). The cellist in Sofia Gubaidulina's The Canticle of the Sun plays a flexatone in the middle of the piece. Dmitri Shostakovich also uses a flexatone in his rarely performed suite Hypothetically Murdered. Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1938 For the American music critic and journalist, see Harold Charles Schonberg. ... Aram Ilich Khachaturian (Armenian: Արամ Խաչատրյան, Aram Xačatryan; Russian: Аpaм Ильич Xaчaтypян, Aram Ilič Hačaturjan) (June 6, 1903 – May 1, 1978) was a composer of classical music. ... Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, (Russian София Асгатовна Губайдулина, Tatar Sofia Äsğät qızı Ğöbäydullina) (born October 24, 1931) is a Russian-Tatar composer of deeply religious music. ... The Canticle of the Sun is a song-poem by Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order, in the early 13th Century. ... Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich (help· info) (Russian: , Dmitrij Dmitrievič Šostakovič) (September 25 [O.S. September 12] 1906–August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ...

Image File history File links Flexatone01. ... Image File history File links Flexatone02. ... Image File history File links Flexatone03. ...

Alternative uses of the name

There are at least three music groups or organizations that have taken the name flexatone. There is the indy rock band flexatone, the super human science project dr.Flexatone, and the music, software, and research of composer Christopher Ariza at flexatone hfp.