"Percussion" Question

[blackfbiv]

Doing a little noise making on a couple of tunes my little lounge trio is putting together.

For kicks I've had several of those little egg shakers in my gig bag forever.

I'm finding it's tough to use them though.

Simple question. Is it going to be easier to control a larger shaker? (sound I'm looking for is: Steely Dan - Do It Again)

The little ole eggs don't seem to be 'it'.

Any ideas?

If it's a simple matter of practice and technique, don't be afraid to say so.

TIA

Idioted to add: haven't gone shopping yet... thought I'd 'Ask the Experts' here first... ha!

[MCChris]

The little ole eggs don't seem to be 'it'.

That's because a guiro is 'it':

[blackfbiv]

The little ole eggs don't seem to be 'it'.

That's because a guiro is 'it':

Whale oil beef hooked....

See? That's why I love this place...

Hmmm... Never thought to search Youtube...

[JohnnyB]

Simple question. Is it going to be easier to control a larger shaker? (sound I'm looking for is: Steely Dan - Do It Again)

The little ole eggs don't seem to be 'it'.

Definitely a good pair of well-balanced maracas with handles are easier to control than eggs. With practice you can get the return stroke to sound as crisp as the forward one. It's harder and more tiring with eggs.

In school band we played these, and they're very crisp and put out good volume.

If you go to Musicians Friend and do a search for "maracas" you'll find a wide (and possibly confusing) selection. I still like the wooden style as offered by Ludwig over most, though these from Pearl offer a variety of sounds and styles:

Shaken these deliver a crisper sound than maracas, but you can also get other sounds by slapping or rolling the beads on the surface.

I have one of these, which is the most versatile single hand percussion instrument I know of. It can be shaken, stirred, slapped... and with metal beads across a rippled metal surface, it cuts through the mix.

[Hamer Bass Head]

I always thought the point of the egg was that they respond differently (time wise) depending on how you hold them...I guess maracas are the same, I'm not great at those things either..... perhaps you too got hit with the spaz-stick?

[blackfbiv]

I always thought the point of the egg was that they respond differently (time wise) depending on how you hold them...I guess maracas are the same, I'm not great at those things either..... perhaps you too got hit with the spaz-stick?

Ahhh some great ideas here...

I was just thinking that the larger the 'instrument' the less dynamic your movement needs to be... I can get a decent splashy sound with the egg but I have to make very sweeping arm movements... looks like I'm wanking it pretty severely!!!! Response time is dfinately the key.

The right tool for the right job as my dad would say. Possibly a little instruction in proper use is the key too...

I have a new-found respect for the oft denigrated percussionist...

[JohnnyB]

I was just thinking that the larger the 'instrument' the less dynamic your movement needs to be... I can get a decent splashy sound with the egg but I have to make very sweeping arm movements... looks like I'm wanking it pretty severely!!!! Response time is dfinately the key.

Absolutely correct. By contrast, maracas not only have handles, which co-opt a small wrist movement into a large excursion of the gourd. Maracas are also much larger and ring free, whereas the hand holding the egg is also dampening its sound.

The right tool for the right job as my dad would say. Possibly a little instruction in proper use is the key too...

I have a new-found respect for the oft denigrated percussionist...

Most people really don't know how to play maracas. There's a special technique for the return stroke to get the same sound as the forward stroke. When you do that you get a shake-shake-shake-shake sound. A sloppy return stroke gets a shake-swish-shake-swish. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the more control you have, the more you can decide just what sound you want for a given song.

You might want to rent some concert DVDs that show good percussionists in action. Brian Wilson's "Smile" concert tour had an outstanding band including a monster percussionist. Watching him work a cylindrical shaker on the concert DVD illustrates pretty well how you have to move to get various sounds.

You also have to start your movements ahead of the beat so the shot hits the inside of the gourd on the beat.

[tomteriffic]

Yup, that sound you're after is a guiro.

If you want a shaker egg sound only bigger, the Latin Percussion Rock, Studio or Live cylindrical shakers work well and are more controllable than maracas. Like Johnny noted, any of these will take some practice.

For a slightly more cutting egg shaker sound with the controllability of a maraca only easier, try the LP Chickitas. I give 'em to my nieces and nephews every year, just to annoy their parents

And, in case you get to wondering later, that rattling percussive sound that shows up once or twice in "Rikki, Don't Lose That Number" is one of these, A Latin Percussion Vibraslap

[MrGuitarguy]

Try adding compression to the track with with a fast/med fast (0.5-2ms) attack and a quick release (50-80ms) and moderately hard knee. The compression will keep the dynamic even and add a little sustain. Try 4:1 to start. Also, boost everything above 8k for some air and around 4-5k for some sizzle. I'd cut everything below 100-200Hz depending on mic placement. Go even higher to pull out any thump from larger shakers. Also, try putting the eq before the compressor to emphasize your eq curve.

A bright reverb will appear to add sustain. Try panning the verb about 50% to the other side of the shaker (if it's panned towards one side) for a cool stereo wash effect that keeps the shaker's pop, but still adds a sense of depth without pushin the shaker away from the listener.

Good luck!