A "slightly" different kind of percussionist. I hope he doesn't have an accidental discharge...also, is there a requirement to have an OSHA mandated armourer among the orchestra support staff? Just sayin'. I would have thought that revolvers would have been a better choice of instrument...and how does one tune the report of a discharging pistol?...these are profound musical conundrums worth investigating.
Your comment caused me to ruminate on a previous life years as an audio engineer in a big performing arts complex. Wow some of the stuff we mic'ed back then. "New music" composers writing "classical" stuff including 12 tone and all that crap seemed to want to out do each other in the strange and different department. Some of the stuff I got to mic: Basket of dried leaves Hair dryer Cactus (they plucked the spines) Wind machine Jack hammer Wet balloons Mayo jar with water tapped with mallet Styrofoam ice chest Handgun (with blanks) Gas mask with 20% O2 and 80% helium flowing for "singer" Percussionist who used his body as drum set Sirens Boxes with gravel (folks stepped in them kind of like Folly track artists) And more I am sure I've forgotten. Funniest was a "classical" new music composition for percussion ensemble and professional wrestlers titled War or Wargames or something like that. Yep, they even brought in a full size ring with ref and two big guys out of Kansas (as I vaguely recall) to wrestle in sync (sort of) to the music. Yep, had to mic the ring too! Quite a change from stuffy opera type audience in suits and ties to a more rambunctious college crowd that cheered, "Kill em!" at the later performance. The composer sat by my sound board and the more the crowd jeered the more he laughed. I think the whole thing was a bit of satire on "new music" back in the 70's and into 80's. This video certainly possesses a sense of humor too. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. AT
