The Battery proved to be a large circular building with only a few small windows and a single door. It reminded Alice of the New York Aquarium, which she had visited on several occasions; but this building evidently contained something very different from fish, judging by the extraordinary sounds that issued from it. Indeed, as they drew near, Alice began to fear that the Trumpet had made a mistake and was about to lead her into the midst of a battle or riot. From the interior of the Battery came a deafening uproar of exploding bombs, rumbling cannon, clashing metal, and clanging bells, which, as they approached the entrance, increased to such an alarming extent that Alice involuntarily shrank back and covered her ears with her hands.
”Don’t be afraid,” the Trumpet shouted reassuringly; “it’s only the Artillery at practice. Wait here a moment - I’ll soon put a stop to this racket.” Stepping inside the doorway, he cried at the top of his voice: “’Ten-
shun!“ and instantly the noises ceased.
Alice was astonished. “How on earth do you make them mind?” she asked, as the Trumpet reappeared to conduct her into the building.
”It’s quite simple,” he replied. “I merely give the word of command, and the habit of obedience does the rest. They’re good soldiers, you see.”
Alice did see, for as she passed through the doorway she beheld an impressive spectacle of order and discipline. In the center of an immense hall, drawn up in military array and standing rigidly at attention, were all the instruments of percussion. There were battalions of kettledrums, companies of bass drums, platoons of snare drums, and squads of miscellaneous instruments, such as cymbals, tambourines, gongs, and triangles.
The Trumpet led Alice to a point near the end of the first rank of instruments, where he halted and again shouted a command:
”Prepare for inspection! Open ranks - march!” and instantly each rear rank fell back two paces, leaving room for Alice and the Trumpet to pass between it and the front rank.
”Now,” said the Trumpet, “let us pretend that you are a visiting general inspecting an army. We will walk slowly along the ranks, and as we go I will explain the various units and what they do. These,” he said, as he led Alice along the very foremost rank, “are the
kettledrums - so called because they look like big copper kettles; now you see why some people call this place the ‘Kitchen.’ But the kettledrums are also know as
timpani, which is Italian for drums. They consist, as you see, of a large copper bowl over which is stretched a piece of sheepskin, called a ‘head.’ The head can be tightened by means of these six set-screws round the rim, so that it gives out a musical tone of definite pitch. That makes the kettledrum the most important and useful of all the percussion instruments, for the others - with a few exceptions which we will discuss later - can only produce noises.”
Beside each drum lay a pair of drumsticks with padded heads. Taking up one of these, the Trumpet struck a light blow upon the head of one of the kettledrums, which gave out a low, resonant “boom.”
”This one,” said the Trumpet, “is tuned to C; and the next one” - striking its neighbor - “is tuned to G, a fourth lower. That is how we generally find them in the classic orchestra; a pair of kettledrums, one tuned to the ‘tonic’ or keynote, the other tuned to the ‘dominant’ - the fourth tone below the keynote. For many years the work they had to do was very simple. All that was expected of them was to emphasize the rhythm with single strokes, or else to reinforce the bass by means of a ’roll’ - like this”: the Trumpet struck the drum very rapidly with two sticks alternately, which caused it to give out a soft, sustained rumble that sounded not unlike a low organ tone.
”Beethoven, however,” the Trumpet continued, “discovered that the kettledrums could do more than that. He promoted them to the rank of solo instruments, and wrote many interesting and dramatic passages for them; and ever since his day the kettledrums have been growing in importance. Modern composers often write for three or four, or even more, kettledrums, and they frequently make the drummer tune them to different tones during the performance of a piece.”
”That must be hard to do,” said Alice.
”It is,” the Trumpet agreed. “The kettle-drummer must have a very good ear to be able to tune his drums in a new key while the rest of the orchestra is playing in the old one. Now, watch carefully and I’ll show you how he does it.”
Again he struck the first drum a single blow.
”This one, you remember, is tuned to C. Now suppose we wish to change it to D---” With a quick motion of his wrist he gave each of the set-screws a half-turn to the right, and then, with one ear close to the “head” of the instrument, he tapped it gently with his finger. “It’s a little sharp,” he said, turning the screws back a little. “Now I think it’s about right.” He struck the drum, and it sounded a perfect D.
”How clever of you!” cried Alice, clapping her hands.
”Oh, that’s nothing,” said the Trumpet modestly. “It isn’t very difficult to tune one drum in a quiet place, but to tune three or four while a whole orchestra is playing all around you is quite another matter. If you watch the kettle-drummer the next time you go to a symphony concert you will see a very busy man. And now let us pass on to the next company.”
This company was composed of huge cylinders, as big around as a cart wheel and about eighteen inches long, with tightly stretched sheepskin over each end.
”These,” said the Trumpet, “are the
bass drums. There isn’t very much to tell about them. They only make a noise - not a musical sound - and they are used in the orchestra only occasionally, to give rhythmic thumps or to imitate such sounds as thunder or cannon shots. They are usually played with a single stick, but sometimes two kettledrum sticks are used for playing rolls.
”Those little fellows behind the bass drums are
snare drums or military drums. They are the same shape, you see, as the bass drums, but much smaller, and across the lower of their two sheepskin ‘heads’ are stretched several strands of cat-gut, called ‘snares.’ When the upper head is struck the snares vibrate against the lower head, producing a peculiar rattling sound. The snare drum is seldom used in symphony orchestra except for the performance of martial music.
”Next we come to the
tambourines. They look somewhat like small, flat drums, but they have only one head, and the rim is mounted with a number of small metal disks that jingle agreeable when the tambourine is struck or shaken. It is most often used to lend color to dance music - particularly to Oriental or Spanish dance music.
”The large round plates of brass, just behind the tambourines, are
cymbals. They are generally used to pairs, the player holding them by the straps which are fixed to their backs and striking them together. Thus played they give out a deafening metallic clash, very thrilling when heard at the climax of an exciting piece of music. Sometimes a single cymbal is played with a drumstick’ and a cymbal roll, played with two kettledrum sticks, is one of the strangest and most mysterious sounds the orchestra can produce.
”There is one instrument, however, that is even more awe-inspiring than the cymbal - the
gong. Do you see those great round trays of metal? They are gongs. They are made of bronze, and when struck with a padded drumstick they sound like an enormous, deep-toned bell. They fairly make you shudder.
”These little bars of steel, bent into a three-cornered shape, are
triangles. They are played with a small steel rod, and add a delightful silvery tinkle to music of a delicate character. When played
tremolo, very loudly, they intensify the most brilliant climaxes.
”The
castanets, which you see here, consist of a small shell of hard wood loosely attached to a wood plate with a short handle. By striking the plate against the palm of one hand the player causes the little shell to knock against it with a peculiar hollow click that is quite agreeable when heard in its proper place. Castanets were originally used by Spanish dancers to accompany their performances, but the original castanets were slightly different in form from those now used in the orchestra. They consisted of pairs of shells held together by strings which passed over the performer's forefinger. A pair was held in each hand, and the shells were clapped together by opening and closing the other fingers. In the orchestra the castanets are generally used to lend color to Spanish music.”
Alice and the Trumpet had now reached a row of instruments that looked like rather large toy pianos. They had keyboards like that of a piano, but with fewer keys - only four octaves. The Trumpet struck a chord on one of them, and Alice was entranced by its lovely, ethereal tone.
”Oh, how heavenly!” she exclaimed.
”It is indeed,” said the Trumpet; “which proves that the instrument is well named. It’s called the
celesta, and its tone, as you have just observed, is truly celestial.”
”What’s inside it?” Alice inquired, trying to peep into the case.
”Little bars of steel placed over wooden sound boxes that amplify the tone. The bars are struck by padded hammers, like the hammers of a piano, which are controlled by the keyboard. The celesta, you see, is one of those percussion instruments which, like the kettledrum, produce definite musical tones. Its use in the orchestra is quite varied, but it figures only in comparatively modern compositions.
”Now,
these instruments,” the Trumpet continued, leading Alice to the row next behind the celestas, “also consist of bars of steel; but they have no keyboard, no padded hammers, and no sound boxes. They are played with two sticks, like small kettledrum sticks, with hard knobs, and they sound like tiny bells - from which fact they derive their name, for they are called ‘bells.’
”In the next row we find the
xylophones. They resemble the bells in form, and are played in the same manner, but instead of bars of steel they have bars of wood, which produce a much less resonant and peculiarly hollow tone. They seldom appear in the orchestra, though they have won great popularity as solo instruments in vaudeville.”
Alice and her guide had now arrived at the last rank of instruments - tall racks from which were suspended rows of steel tubes of different lengths.
”These,” said the Trumpet, “are the
chimes. They are played with a wooden mallet and sound like church bells - only they are generally in better tune. They are often used in music of a solemn or religious character, sometimes singly, sometimes in groups of three or four, sometimes an entire octave.
”And now you have met all the members of the orchestra - so let us go, or we shall be late for the concert.”
”Don’t they get tired standing still for such a long time?” Alice ased the Trumpet as they passed the ranks of rigid instruments on their way to the door.
”They don’t mind,” he replied. “As I said before, they are good soldiers. However, we may as well give them a rest” - and just as he was leaving the building he shouted: “As you were!” whereupon the rattling and banging and clashing broke out again as furiously as before. As Alice and the Trumpet left the Battery farther and farther behind them the noise grew gradually fainter, until at last it was lost in the distance.
