Cymbals

A while ago I mentioned the snare drum. It's not that I exactly dislike percussion but... Another case in question is the cymbal the use of which I noted, in our church praise recently, was particularly dominant. These remarks are entirely my own personal opinion which I feel at liberty to express this being my blog - it is not my intention to offend. For me the cymbal, sometimes called a splash and epitomised by the exclamation mark, should be used about as often as that punctuation mark is used in normal text. To use it every other beat is to me way OTT. Don't get me wrong: unlike the snare drum I happen to like the sound of a cymbal (of any size). I like pepper too, but prefer it to be piquant and in small quantities. Overuse of anything is like:

Looking at a fine cluster of the bubbles which hung above his head he thought how easy it would be to get up and plunge oneself through the whole lot of them and to feel, all at once, that magical refreshment multiplied tenfold. But he was restrained by the same sort of feeling which had restrained him over-night from tasting a second gourd. He had always disliked the people who encored a favourite air in an opera - 'That just spoils it' had been his comment. But this now appeared to him as a principle of far wider application and deeper moment. This itch to have things over again, as if life were a film that could be unrolled twice or even made to work backwards... was it possibly the root of all evil?  Perelandra 

An example antithesis is in Bruckner's seventh where there is a disputed cymbal crash at a major climax in the slow movement. The dispute is as to whether the composer intended it or was it imposed by one of his many editors. And even this lone cymbal crash sounds somewhat unnecessary IMHO.

Snare drums and tinnitus

Snare drum

As CCM goes our church is relatively innocuous. We don't rely on amplification. Many of the songs we sing are our own. The praise leader generally has an acoustic guitar, we have a grand piano and several excellent pianists, the possibility of bass guitar and trumpet depending on availability of players, a congregation that sings well. And a drum kit (next to the piano).

I experience mild tinnitus and loud sounds can distort. This is partly age related and partly due to angle grinders in my earlier years of stupidity. In retrospect I earnestly tell the youngsters to look after their bodies - we don't generally get replacement ears (or eyes or backs) and they can be so easily permanently damaged.

Looking at this diagram, and adding the blood and gore that doubtless accompanies it, it is frankly amazing that my or anyone else's ear works at all. I am so very thankful that I can hear as well as I can, and for my other senses too.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

The cacophony of noise that is our praise is bad enough on my ears but the snare drum beats it all. One internet sufferer writes from bitter experience: The sound of a snare-drum hit is one of the worst types for the ear.  The fast attack comes too quick for the ear to defend itself by closing down a bit, so the ear closes too late. Bad news for the ears. This guy recommends that all drummers wear ear plugs. Not that I am telling anyone to do anything in this post - I am merely relating my own feelings and I do not intend to offend.

The "snare" is a number of springy wires that are stretched across the lower drum "head" and thus jangle against it when the drum is hit. There is a lever that adjusts the tension and thus allows the snare to be disengaged.

It's not that I dislike drums per se. But to my ears the snare drum sounds a bit like a drawer full of metal pots and pans being tipped from about head height onto a concrete floor. On every beat. I don't particularly like this sound, let alone its volume. And whilst on this hobby, I hate the way the snare resonates when I play the piano (outside of meetings) and generally get annoyed enough to warrant getting off the stool and disengaging it. I've toyed with somehow permanently crippling it but I think this would be noticed.

Maybe I should wear ear plugs. But I don't want to make it obvious. Instead I tend to stand as far away from the drum kit as I can.