Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-01-28
PA. WHAT MAKES MA cRY?|
THE TRAP DRUMMER, OF COURSES
THAT'S WHAT HE'S PAID FOR.
But It's lust as Easy for Him to Make
the Audience Laush-How George
Barton Produces IFS Noises
and Why.
From the Kansas city star.

The beautiful sonora is coming in 10
be stabbed by the bad bandi at the
orpheum. 1t is terrible. The man with
the bass viol 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 a
stiletto. She has many diamond rings
on her fingers. Will nobody save tho
sonora with the diamond rings on her
fingers?
Ali Down at the end of the orches-
ira pit a u man is bending over
something. working very rapidly. He Is
unscrewing some screws. Bravo!
Something will be doing in a minute.
1t 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 manner Cupidity is about
to receive what is coming to 1t. But
curses! Our hero is sitting down and
he is beginning to pound several things
excitedly. Shucksi 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 tha
theater, this genius of the traps. Ey-
erybody depends on him. The players
could not work without him. He gives
the orchestra its cues. He makes the
fun of the players funny. He is the
man who makes millions laugh. He
makes the manager pay him 500 q
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
to the box Office and ask for its money.
Witness:
Buckley, the lady monologist. comes
on. She gaZes intently on some spot
in the audience, embarra ssing most of
the men, who fancy she is looking at
them.
Gould you imagine anything more
diviner than spending a lifetime in a
Harlem fiat with them shoulders"
she asks. With a powder rag she
wipes her cheeks. The audience does
not laugh-not yet. Why? Because
the trap drummer is bending over his
music rack with his eyes close TO a
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, Mr.. Floorwalker, don't you
know | never use POWDER" says the
lady monologist, in an injured tone.
Again the busy trap drummer, ring
Ing a COW bell vigorously. This means
that what she said amt so. 1t seems
that the audience will never stop laugh
ing this time, the trap drummer is
SO funny. This is also the cue for the
orchestra TO get busy.
The lady monologist is reciting a
piece. THE girl stood on the railroad
track, the engine came along"
The trap drummer makes a noise like
an engine coming along, with seven or
eight different instruments. she knew
something was wrong, she ram" Slid
ing whistle, just like some one run
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 The
guard is really gone 1.-The switch was
gone" Noise like a switch going made
by a rosin can VIVA could the poor
girl do" Crash of many terrifying
cymbals, showing what the poor girl
probably did. "She took the switch
from her back hair-and the train went
safely through" Imitation by the trap
drummer of the train going through
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 straightforward, too.
Evidently the audience would need
some restoratives of some kind If the
trap drummer had not kept very busy.
The 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 PLAYING
the regular orchestra music. A few of
them are: Kettle drums, which must
be adjusted Is or 20 times in a single
act, snare drum, bass drum, Chinese
crash cymbal, Turkish cyrabal, light;
wood block, for wood drum effects; tri-
angle, an auxiliary instrument In the
light parts of the music; chime. for
church bell effects; tom toms, for In
dian drum and Chinese effects: gong.
for Chinese music; orchestra bells,
tambourine, sleigh bells, cow bells and
many others. Down in the basement Of
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 Empire
State express is crashing across the
pickering drop curtain at 40 miles an
hour. The great steam shovel is NOV
ing tons Of rock, and great boulders
come crashing down the curtain. The
trap drummer is restin. The trap drum
mer is reading-a novel, perhaps. Let
us see. Oh, it is the sheet containing
mis- business" for next week. How nice
tn be a trap