The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1920-10-29
The Tympani
By A, H. Hackett.


Why don't we use the machine drum
more in America? In most of the big
symphony orchestras they use ma
chine kettle drum. The Chicago Or
chestra has a fine set. They are worked
by the feet from one key to another.
| OF course, they have screw drums also,
numbers. For stationary work the ma
chine drum is great, but not good for
travelling or job work. While playing
in vaudeville at Amsterdam, Holland
at the Remembrance Theatre, in 1905,
noticed the kettle drummer whirling
his drums around with slight twist of
the wrists. He was using a kettle that
worked like swivel office chair. After
| playing there month and testing the
drums, | liked them so we'll that
bought set and had them sent to Lon
don. Later, brought them to Amer
lea. In London many drummers were
using one and two screw kettle drum.
They are very fine and durable and
easily handled for jobbing or travelling.
| had big laugh handed to me in
Amsterdam that is worth while telling.
had a special low pitch conductors
score with all the cues written in Ger
man for my Continental trip q was
using high pitch instruments at the
time). | stepped down to the conduc-
tors stand and handed my band parts
out. The first violinist (concertmaster)
took the books and passed them around.
l was already to start with my trumpet
the opening number, when a voice In
broad Scotch spoke up and said ::
Have you another first violin book?
| We use six first violins" 1t was the
conductor who spoke. He was from
Edinburgh, and had been in Holland
twenty-six years. To say I was sur
prised and pleased is putting it mild.
A few musicians are gifted with a
perfect ear for sound-that is, they can
tell the exact notes that are played or
struck on any instrument For tym-
PAM work this would be great aid.
know of two cases that l tested out
myself where the parties could tell any
note that was played on the piano or
kettle drum. One was a drummer and
the other piano and violin player.
like to tell these experiences, for
know they will interest you as they
have myself In 1902, while playing in
the Empire Music Hall, Edinburgh, I
met the drummer of the theatre, an
o1d-timer. He invited my wife and
myself to his home to hear his daugh-
ter and son play. The boy was eight
| years old, and played small size violin,
also piano. The girl, six years old,
hute), also piano. She could also dance
the schottische sword dance like fairy.
The girl played Kinlock, brilliant solo
for piccolo; the boy accompanied her
on the piano; then the boy played a
violin solo and the little girl played the
piano accompaniment How she did it
with her little baby fingers I am sure
I don't know. Her little bare legs stick
| ing out from her kiltie skirt hardly
reached half way down the piano stool.
After several numbers the father said
to the boy: Stand in the corner and
call out the notes l play on the piano"
AS fast as the father struck the notes
he called the name, single notes and
chords. Now he said: go out into
the hall, and you, Mr.. Racket, play any
notes at random" The door was
closed, but it made no difference; he
called out each and every note correct
ly that l played. These marvellous
children were given special permission
to play one concert each week in pub
lie by the Scottish authorities.
The only other person I knew who
had the same accurate ear for telling
the notes you played was my younger
brother-tny first pupil on drums. He
outstripped me as an all-around drum
mer tympani, bell xy1ophone soloist. I
have tested him in every way to fool
him, but could not He would stand in
another room, and as fast as could
tune the kettle drums he would call out
the notes and keys I played. l would
ask him to tune the drums to certain
keys while l played discords on the
clarinet, but it made no difference; he
always tuned correctly. | would test
the drums with the correct notes on
my clarinet each time
Another test | put him to and always
found him perfect was in the orchestra
room, when the string players would
ask me to sound A on my clarinet. |
would turn to my brother and say:
Give them the A. Ernie" and he would
sing a perfect A. He could do this
any time and always get it perfect. l
think that the fact that he was a
schoo1ed baritone singer aided him. He
could sing all scales, making the proper
intervals without the aid of a piano
In the early SOS the xylophone was just
coming to the front. Ny brother took
to it like a duck to water. In two
months time he was playing all of
Dave Braham's xylophone solos, writ
ten for his Irish overtures to Harrigan
and Harris musical comedies. When he
had no music left to play, he would take
my clarinet solos and exercises, also
violin parts, overtures and anything he
could find around the house in the shape
of music. He always practiced the xyl-
ophone with black cloth over the notes
and could tell by the sound any note
that was struck. He was the first one
| ever saw play the bells with the four
hammers in four-part harmony. 1t is
commonly done now. Jess Lebonati
and Lou China "Friscoe" both are
claiming to be the first to successfully
manipulate four hammers at once. AS
they are both young men and the world
is very, very old, their claim is ridicu-
lous, to say the least. In 1883 in
Quincy, ILL.,, my brother played four
part harmony written for the bells in an