Scraping, rubbing, metal on metal

Another fun aspect of percussion is scraping or rubbing various instruments, either together, or against other things. I like the sound of metal on metal. I often rub cymbals against each other, against drums, against Gongs. This combined with bowing can create some truly insane sounds that will surely make the animals in your neighborhood show up at your door.

The video is The Temple of Jokang from July 23, 2006, at the NOW Lounge in Toronto. I’m using 2 Tibetan cymbals that I rub in a circular pattern, hit together, let clang together, and just make a lot of noise with.

I'll do this same sort of thing with 2 Wuhan Chinese cymbals. I'll also scrape a small cymbal/Gong/wood block/etc. on the face of a large Gong. Don't be afraid to experiment.

~ MB
