St. Paul daily globe., 1892-03-20
THE TIN SHOP CORNER
Operated by a Man Of Many
Parts at the Orchestra
End.
Imitation Mysteries to Puzzle
and Amuse st. Paul Au-
dienees.
A Trip to the Mu sic Room Of
One Of the Local Thea
terS
To Unravel the Mystery OF
the Little Man in the
Tin Shop.

Tin Shop.
Just when eve rybody is tired OF wait
ing, and the ushers are rushing frantic
ally this way and that, and the gods up
under the roof are beginning to wriggle
and sQuirm and clap impatientiy now
and then, the leader of the orchestra
raps sharply with his baton, glances
around to see if Fritz and Emil and Carl
are in their proper places, mods, raises
his hands,and then down come the bows
across the strings, the cornet blares out,
the bass viol rumbles. and the little man
in the tin shop bangs away at the drum.
The orchestra might limp along with
out the first violin. 1t wouldn't be
wrecked by the loss of the trombone,
but without the little man in the tin
shop, it wouldn't be an orchestra at all.
He doesn't look half so important as
he really is, as he sits there quietly in
the corner Of the orchestra. Only the
men on the front row notice him, and TO
them he sometimes proves more power
full attraction than the SOubrette'S
ankles as his middle finger stitfens out
with the snare drums fortiSSimo, OF his
mouth twitches as he pounds the Xylo-
phone. He plays more instruments than
any other two men IN the orchestra. He
plays the bass drum, the cymbals, the
tambourine, the snare drum, the trl-
angle, the bells, the castaneJs, the sand
blocks. the clog mallets, fifteen or TWEEN
ty different whistles, and limitations Of
everything On earth. Of course, he
doesn't play all these in every com
position, but he knows them all.
At his right. with string to
it, hangs the large metal disk
that sounds like Chinese gong.
and is used in Wagnerian 0utbursts.
The snare drum is before him, and with
his foot he works pedal which plays
the bass drum and the cymbals. The
triangle hangs beside him, end in box
at his feet are the bewildering array of
minor instruments he manipulates. His
music is written just as is the score for
the violin or cello or trombone, but
there is lack of variety to it. and it
would be hard to understand if the
name of the instrument were not writ
ten in,
The tin shop corner is always crowd
ed with musical and unmusical instru-
mentS, but the bulk of this class of
noise producers is kept in the music
room, that retreat beneath the stage
whittier the men of the orchestra be-
take themselves when they crawl down
through the little door under the stage,
and if you can warm yourself into the
good graces of the conductor and have
all the paraphernalla explained to you,a
trip to the music room is intensely i'll
tereSting.
The dear public yearns for limitations.
1t prefers the counterfeit sound of a
clog-dance to Lisztrhapsodie, or
GOunod mass. That same clog is i'm
itated by the little man in the tin
shop with two mallets, to each OF which
is loosely screwed bit of metal, which
iingles as the dance is raped out.
The dances on sand are initiated by
rubbing together blocks OF wood fitted
with handles and covered with sand
paper. The bells so frequently heard
in orchestra selections are not bell S at
all, but bars of metal. The xylophone
is a wooden reproduction of the same
arrangement. and its hard rosewood
bars are laid Oh straw wisps. When a
Xylophone note drops, and needs to be
sharpened a half tone or so. a
piece is shaved off the end of the bar of
wood. If the note needs to be flatted a
bit, the tuner saws into the bar or cuts
a piece out of the under side. Why this
is done is an interesting problem for
students of natural philosophy. The
bells have a range of two octaveS of
notes in chromatic succession, and it
takes no small amount of agility to play
the instrument. Orchestra castanets are
fastened to handles.
Of simple limitations there is really no
end. t. p. Brooke is a popular leader,
and he. perhaps. has introduced more
''descriptive pieces" and limitations than
any other man alive. There was. for in
stance, his Gable Carr galop. The
cornet player struck the gripman's
gong with his foot. The viola
player rang the cash register, and
the rumble of the wheels was
simulated by heavy wooden wheel
with eight large iron castors beneath,
This was pinned to the floor, and as it
was rolled round and round onits heavy
castors the imitation of the noise of the
ears was perfect. One of the casters
turned rapidly supplied the noise of the
cable while the car is stopped. and the
drummer, industriously rasping row
of nails in the orchestra with a broken
/ corset Steel,gave marvelOuSly life-ike
representation of the noise the grip
makes as it closes on the cable in
starting.
The galiop of horse. so often heard
in descriptive music, is supplied from
the tin shop corner. The little man
there holds in each hand, bowl down,
the half of a cOcoanut shell. and with
these as hoofS gallopS. or trotS, or PAGES.
as he chooses, on slab of marble.
The erach of whip is simply the Strik-
ing together OF two hinged pieces of
hard wood. 1t is sometimes initiated
nv hn rtv nf lno hor hnlt
| Of bird calls there is no end. and every
sportsman knows them. The instru-
ment from which bubbles out the liquid
notes of the humming bird looks like
watering pct. 1t is filled with
water, and the imitator blows down
| the hollow whistle which represents
the handle. The cuckoo's two.
| toned cry comes from an organ pipe,
and by the way, the simple pipes Of the
organ are sometimes introduced with
marvellous effect in descriptive compost
! tions. The railroad whistle is simply
big organ pipe. The exhaust of steam,
as the train pulls out, is initiated by
| striking bundle OF coarse steel wires
against sheet iron.
| The grunt of pig is played by the
violins, with the bows against the tail
| piece. The squeal of the same interest
ing animal is played on the violin
strings back of the bridge. The sharp
| ening of scissors in Brooks Scissors
Grinder idyl, is simply the man in the
| corner of the orchestra Scraping sand
paper with bit of window glass. The
cackle of hen is most in
geniously duplicated. A small hole
| is cut in the bottom of
| baking powder can, and through this is
run a long cord, fastened by knot in
side the can. The player rosins his
fingers well, and slowly drawing the
cord through them, initiates the belle of
| the barnyard to the life.
| After all, everything about the thea
ter from the leading lady's diamond
| necklace to the low comedians bald head
is only sham and hollow mockery.
| The orchestra. too, falls under the spell,
and deceives the gullible public like the