The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1910-01-27
PA, WHAT MAKES MA CRY?
THE TRAP DRUMMER, OF COURSE;
THAT'S WHAT HE'S PAID FOR.
But It's just as Easy for Him to MAKE
the Audience Laush-How George
Barton Produces 175 Noises
and Why.
From the Kansas city star.

SGNH~f
and Why.
From the Kansas City Star.
The beautiful sonora is coming In to
be stabbed by the bad bandit at the
Orpheum. 1t is terrible. The man with
the bass VOL is about to cry. The stage
lightning is flashing ominously. The
orchestra is playing awe inspiring mu-
sic. The bandit is dancing about the
helpless sonora. He is brandishing g
s~tiletto. She has many diamond rings
on her fingers. Will nobody save the
sonora with the diamond rings on her
fingers?
All! Down at the end Of the orches-
ira pit a young mar is bending over
something. working very rapidly. Hesis
unscrewing some screws. Bravo!
Something will be doing in a minute.
It Is taking a long time. But how our
hero works! He is the busiest man In
the theater. See him jump about in a.
distracted manne Cupidity is about
to receive what is coming to it. But
curses! Our hero is sitting down and
he Is beginning to pound several things
excitedly. Shucks He is not our hero
at all, but only the trap drummer. He
Is engaged In making stage terror.
He is the most important man in tho
theater, this genius Of the traps. Ev-
erybody depends on him.. The players
could not work without him. He gives
the orchestra it's cues. He makes the
fun of the players funny. He is the
man who makes millions laugh. He
makes the manager pay him $500 a
week. (This is not so humorous, the
manager fancies.) And he makes the
tragedy more tragic. The sonora is
about to be stabbed. The trap drum
mer makes a trembling noise. The gall
lery is crying; 1t is sobbing convul-
sively.
But suppose the trap drummer
shouldn't be as busy as can be? The
show will break up. Nobody will laugh;
nobody will cry; the audience will go
Witness:
Buckley. the lady monologist, comes
on. She gazes intently on some spot
IN he audience, embarrassing most OF
the men, who fancy she is looking al
them.
Gould you imagine anything more
diviner tina spending a lifetime in a
Harlem fiat with them shoulders? p"
she asks. With a powder rag she
wipes her cheeks. The audience does
not laugh-not yet. Why? Because
the trap is bending yer his
sheet of paper. All, the sand paper.
The trap drummer gets in action as
the powder rag touches the monolo-
gist's cheeks. Swish! SWISH! The au-
dience almost laughs itself to death.
why, MI. Floorwalker, don't you
lady monologist, in an injured tone.
Again the busy trap drummer. ring
lnga COW bell vigorously. This means
thai what she said amt so. 1t seems
that the audience will never stop laugh
ing this times the trap drummer is
SO funny. This is also the cue for the
orchestra to get busy.
The lady monologist is recfting a
piece. The girl stood on the railroad
track, the engine came along"
The trap makes a noise like
an engine coming along, with seven or
eight different instruments. sShe knew
something was wrong, she ram" Slid
ting whistle, just like some one rum
ming away, along the railroad track,
the guardsman to awake, SO he could
switch the train off, before it was too
late The trap drummer causes the
whole works to crash for some reason.
which the audience seems to under
stand, judging from the crash it makes,
The guard was gone two beats
from the bass drum, showing that he
guard is really gone. "The switch was
gone" Noise like a switch going made
by a rostn can. ''Wha could the poor
girl do" Crash Of many terrifying
cymbals, showing what the poor girl
probably did. She Q the switch
from her back hair-and the train went
safely through" Imitation by the trap
drummer of the train going trough
safely. This is produced by the train
whistle and the swish, swish Of sand
paper, as the train goes safely through.
The act has gone safely-through, too.
Evidently the audience would need
some restoratives Of some kind If the
trap drummer had not kept yery busy
Ihe trap drummer Is entirely sur
rounded by Instruments He is busy
every minute. He snatches and seizes.
always getting the right one. But this
Is really not a very busy week for
the trap drummer. He is only using
Is or 20 instruments, besides playinp
the regular orchestra music. A few Of
them are: Kettle drums, which must
be adjusted 10 or 20 times in a single
act; snare drum, bass drum, Chinese
crash cymbal. Turkish cymbal. light:
wood block, for wood drum effects. fri.
angle, an auxiliary instrument In the
light parts Of the music; chime. for
church bell effects; tom toms, for In
dian drum n Chinese effects: gong
for Chinese music; orchestra Bells
t~ambourine, sleigh bells, COW bells and
many others. Down in the basement ~
the Orpheum he has six trunks full.
With them he can make more than IT'S
noises and effects. Most Of them he
uses in the course Of a season.
There is one time when the tran
drummer rests. Yes? The Emnire
State express is crashing across the
pickering drop curtain at 40 miles an
hour. The great steam shovel Is NOV
come crashing down the curtain. The
tran is restin. The trap drum
mer Is reading-a novel. perhaps. Let
US see. Oh, it is the sheet c~ontainine
his business" for next week. How nice
to be a trap drummer.
~.