Damping sounds
Have you watched a drummer in a rock band? They are usually surrounded by bright shiny cymbals and drums of many different sizes. They seem to wave their arms around a lot and sometimes you can see their feet stamping on pedals. Playing drums in a rock band can look very complicated but the basics are quite simple and there are plenty of opportunities for damping sounds.

If you follow these instructions you will have the basics of how a rock drummer plays. Tap your right foot and left foot alternately. If you were playing the drums your right foot would be pressing down on a pedal to make a beater hit the bass drum. When you lower your left foot it would be pressing down on a pedal which would clap two cymbals together. These cymbals are set one on top of another on the left-hand side of the drummer and are part of an instrument called the hi-hat. Now tap with your finger on the table every time you tap the floor with the left foot. If you were a drummer you would hold a drumstick in your left hand and beat a drum called a snare drum every time you clapped the cymbals of the hi-hat together. You should now have two feet and one hand moving. Now comes the tricky bit.

Tap on the table with the index finger of your right hand. Tap every time you tap with either your left foot or your right foot. You can see drummers using their right hands to beat a cymbal in this way or to beat the two cymbals clamped together tightly on the hi-hat. Your right hand should be making a continuous tapping sound while your left hand should be making a tapping sound on every other beat. When some people try this at first they get both hands tapping all the time. Perhaps you have just done that. If you have successfully got both hands and feet working correctly, you can try one last thing to make you sound more like a rock drummer. Double the speed of tapping with your right hand! Instead of tapping once with each hand try tapping twice (but keep your feet tapping once). If you can get to this stage you have got the basics of being a rock drummer.

Drums and cymbals are percussion instruments. They are struck when they are played. Most percussion instruments are not used for making tunes but for keeping time. When a sound is used for keeping time it needs to have a definite beginning and end. Imagine if you were trying to keep time with an instrument, which went ooOOOOoooo, every time you played it. The other people in the band would not know which part they had to use to keep time - it could be the oo or the OOOO or the oooo. If different musicians decided to use different parts the band would soon be playing everything out of time.

When you strike a drum, the drum skin vibrates to produce the noise but the rest of the body of the drum vibrates too. This can produce a ringing sound, which lasts for a short time after the drum has been struck. This is a bit like the ooooo in the imaginary instrument in the last paragraph and makes the beating of the drum less precise than the rest of the band needs. The lingering vibrations of the drum are reduced by using a damper. This is a piece of felt that is clamped onto the drum skin. It presses against the drum skin and stops the whole drum from continuing to vibrate after the drum has been struck. This gives the rest of the players in the band a definite sound for the beat of the music and they can all keep time.

When you hit a cymbal it rings for a short time afterwards and gradually becomes quiet. For most pieces of music a cymbal can be left to quieten on its own but sometimes, if the music ends abruptly, the cymbals need to be stopped from ringing. When this is needed you may see the drummer hit the cymbal then immediately get hold of the edge of the cymbal to damp the sound.

Have you still mastered the basics of rock drumming? If you have, try putting a double tap in when you tap your right foot. This is like a double beat in a bass drum. Now try double tap with your left hand this is like a double beat on a snare drum. Watch a video of a rock band or listen to a CD for the sounds of the percussion and tap along. You should soon find out where the basics fit in.

What kinds of drums are there?
There are many kinds of drums. In the drum kit of a rock band there is the bass drum which rests on the floor. There are one or more tom-toms mounted on the bass drum and one or more large tom-toms on legs on the floor. The snare drum is mounted on its own stand and has a much shallower body than a tom-tom. Other drums that you may see elsewhere are bongos, conga drums and kettledrums.

How is a snare drum different from a tom-tom?
A snare drum has a number of wires, called snares, strapped to the lower drum skin. These make a rattling sound when the drum is hit. If the snares are only loosely fastened beneath the drum they produce a great deal of rattle when the drum is struck. The snares are pulled tight against the drum skin to damp their movements and make the rattling sound crisper. A tom-tom does not have any snares on its lower drum skin. In fact some tom-toms do not have a lower drum skin.

Do all cymbals ring for the same length of time after they have been struck?
No. Some cymbals are called crash cymbals. They make a great deal of noise when they are hit but they are designed to damp their own sound quickly so that it dies away fast. Some cymbals can keep ringing for a long time and may be used in a piece of music to fade out the sound. Some cymbals of this type have rivets in them. They make a swishing sound and the vibrating rivets keep the cymbal ringing long after it has been struck.

Why are cymbals clamped together on a hi-hat?
The cymbals on a hi-hat can be made to clash together at the same time as the snare drum is hit but sometimes they are used just for beating time. When this is needed the cymbals are clamped together to damp their vibrations. This means that instead of then making a ringing sound they make a 'tick tick' sound when they are struck.

Are the sounds of other objects damped?
Yes, they are. In the kitchen you may have a fridge with a noisy motor. It causes the whole fridge to vibrate. Some people put a piece of card under the fridge to stop it vibrating so strongly and make it quieter. This way of damping an object may be used with washing machines and clock radios, which hum in the night. An aquarium pump is fitted with rubber studs underneath it. They damp the vibrations made by the motor.