Sounds of Music C

[AlphaTauri]

100% agreed, Z. My partner had to give up on making the lowest 5 notes or so (the ones below C4) because she couldn't get a decent sound out of the pipes. And at States I saw several percussion instruments that were so massive I was doubtful they could even fit through the double doors to the BAC, let alone a regular classroom door. In fact, I had to temporarily remove keys from my xylophone to fit it through the door. Now, excuse me while I rant about Sounds at States:

1. The event ran over time. Out of 9 teams in our slot, my partner and I were 4th, and we barely made it out of the testing rooms in time for our next event (infact, I had to leave my partner to put away our xylophone in order to make it my next event on time). The teams after us weren't so lucky, and I know that at least one team had to have someone sub in for an even at the last minute because their usual event person was still stuck at Sounds.
2. The event was not run as well as it could have been. The software used to check pitch didn't always pick up the notes that were played, especially on percussion because the pitches were so low. Also, my partner and I spent most of our time simply waiting for the judges to finish with the teams before us.
3. It was on the THIRD FLOOR. Of a building with no elevator. Yes, there was a loading dock in the back, but hardly any of the teams knew it was there until they had already hauled their instruments up multiple flights of stairs. Let's just say that large instruments + rather narrow stairwell =/= good things.

[boomtech]

Sorry if this is seems out of place in this thread...

but how are teams shipping their instruments over to Madison? Especially teams with large instruments?

[stevenrkeyes]

Our team is breaking down our large percussion instrument and then shipping it. For our wind instrument, we're packing it on our plane carry-on.

[newyork471]

what sort of questions in the interview do you guys think we should expect at nationals?

[Bogoradwee]

I'm guessing similar ones to what you recieved at states, assuming the event was understood and run properly. The physics behind your instrument, and such.

[stevenrkeyes]

I have a question about the percussion instrument clarification that it must be a "membranophone". I noticed at my local and state competitions that many of the percussion instruments were not membranophones. For example, I saw several xylophones and marimbas made of various materials. The blocks of these instruments make them ideophones. I also saw PVC tube percussion instruments that resembled tubular bells or the resonators on professional marimbas. At best, they may be ideophones, and they probably also have aerophonic character, but they're still not membranophones. I even saw guitar-like instruments, chordophones.

Have teams been penalized for this to anyone's knowledge? Will they be at World? Is membranophonic character too hard to judge, and most judges will be lax on this?

[AlphaTauri]

...Where is this clarification, that percussion instruments must be membranophones?

A percussion instrument (according to this) is a musical instrument where sound is produced by one object hitting another, and under Hornbostel-Sachs, both idiophones and membranophones are typified as percussion instruments. Therefore, xylophones/marimbas/etc. are perfectly legal. I believe there's even a National clarification that says anything listed under idiophone or membranophone on Hornbostel-Sachs is allowed.

The PVC instruments you mentioned are also considered percussion, as they are struck to produce sound through vibration of a column of air (which is caused by the vibration of the PVC). To be considered aerophones, the vibration of the air must produce the sound, and the instrument itself should not vibrate.

Teams should not be penalized for making ideophones, as they are perfectly within the rules (also, making 27 pitched drums to cover the entire range would be a HUGE pain). However, dulcimer-like instruments may or may not be legal, depending on the judge's interpretation of "percussion".

[Bogoradwee]

I believe dulcimers to be perfectly legal because it's like a piano, there are only two hammers. I've never heard of a piano being classified as a string instrument.

[AlphaTauri]

Pianos ARE considered string instruments/chordophones, though, because it's the vibration of the string that causes the sound, even though the string is struck. (With that logic, I guess dulcimers would be banned as well.)

[Bogoradwee]

Oh... good thing my brother didn't make a dulcimer then!