High quality ethnic percussion stereo recordings. All files are original recordings or sound designs from the Sudden Sound Studio instrument collection.
Sudden Sound: about the Ghanan Marimba
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This is a simple 10 key marimba from Ghana. It's about 26x16x8 inches, made of wood. The keys, which are relieved in the middle to bring out the fundemental, are attached to the frame/resonator with twine. This instrument lacks the usual gourd resonators, and was probably made for the tourist trade. It was purchased at the Cost Plus store in San Mateo, California.
Note that the given pitches are very approximate; while the instrument is reasonably in tune with itself, it is not at standard A=440 pitch.
Sudden Sound: about the India Hatheli
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This is a jignle stick from India. It's about 10x2x0.5 inches, made of wood with flat brass jingles. It was purchased at Cost Plus in San Mateo, CA, USA.
The samples include single sharp hits, some of which have multiple bounces of the jingles, as well as softer hits made by twisting the stick. There is also a digitally reversed sample, and a loop of 1/8 notes accented in 4/4 at 120 BPM.
Sudden Sound: about the Kenyan Box Rattle
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This is a rectangular shaker or rattle from Kenya. It's about 10x5x0.5 inches, made of reeds bound together with nylon thread, wooden end pieces, and probably filled with pebbles. It was purchased in the Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World.
Most of the samples are single hits, either short (with the rattle held vertically) or long (with the rattle at an angle for a rainstick-like effect). Samples 20 and 21 are long looped shakes at no particular tempo.
Sudden Sound: about the Kenyan Kpoko Kpoko
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This is a double-ended wooden bell from Kenya. It's about 15x3x2 inches, carved from a single piece of wood with two small clappers in each bell tied in place with wire. It was purchased in the Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World.
Samples 01 to 04 are long looped shakes at no particular tempo, the rest are shorter unlooped hits.
Sudden Sound: about the Kenyan Sistrum
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This is a forked rattle from Kenya. It's about 16x5x1 inches, made of a natural forked branch. Two wires strung across the fork hold a number of rusty, flattened metal bottle caps, which act as jingles. It was purchased in the Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World.
Most of the samples are single hits, either short (with the rattle held vertically) or long (with the rattle at an angle). Sample 19 is long looped shake at no particular tempo.
Sudden Sound: about the Thailand Ching
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This is a pair of small hand bells from Thailand. They are about 2x2x2 inches, and made of bronze. They were purchased in Thailand.
The ching is the timekeeper for traditional Thai ensembles (eg. pi phat or mahori). It plays a repeating pattern of alternating closed and open tones. In contrast to tradional European music, the accents (marked with the closed tone of the ching) are on the second and fourth beats in the measure, with the strongest emphasis on the fourth beat. This pattern usually starts slowly, with one "ching" per measure, and repeatedly doubles in speed as the piece progresses. This information on the ching comes from the essay "The Music of Thailand" by David Morton.
The samples include open and closed strokes, as well as some longer open rings. There are also digitally reversed and looped tones. Note that the pitch is very close to a standard western "C". Finally, there is a loop of the traditional pattern at 120 BPM.
Sudden Sound: about the Tongue Drum
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Offically the Catania Bass Bamboo Tong Drum. It's made from a large half-cylinder of bamboo with a padauk top/keys. It was purchased from Elderly Instruments.
Note that the given pitches are approximate, due to the interaction between the tongues, the notes are more like chords with one tone slightly predominating.
Sudden Sound: about the Vietnamese Cricket (Sanh Sua)
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This is a Sanh Sua, a frog/cricket noise maker from Vietnam. It's about 11x6x2 inches, made of wood bound with cane and inlaid with abalone. It's shaped somewhat like a pair of tongs; gently squeezing the handles pushes the two almond-shaped ends together, causing them to rattle against each other. It was purchased at Lark in the Morning in San Francisco.
Sudden Sound: about the Vietnamese Fish Scraper
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This is a wooden scraper/rasp and woodblock from Vietnam. Stroking the stick along the "fins" on the fish's back produces a slightly ascending noise somewhat like a frog. The stick stores neatly in the fish's mouth. It was purchased at Lark in the Morning in San Francisco.
The samples include up and down strokes as well as some single hits. The pitch is approximately an "f". Note that single hits and some of the scrapes work quite well as pitched sounds in a sampler -- the Reason Refill of this instrument includes a few examples.