 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2004-10-14 15:13
Question:
Do any of you very knowledgeable musical sources know the derivation of the musical "terms":
BUTTON
BUMP NOTE
STINGER
Thanks for your research,
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-10-14 15:54
John - Only stinguendo [dying away] is shown in [one of] my 2 pocket "musical terms" books . Surely a good library having Groves, and a "big" Webster could give you more info. Luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2004-10-14 15:55
No, I know what you are looking for John - I know these terms (film and jazz stuff) but can't seem to find any of it on google so far.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2004-10-14 18:53
Thanks, guys:
It's a pit question that keeps coming up...and I'm supposed to know all the answers (ha ha!), and I don't. So, keep looking, as they are musical slang terms, and don't appear in any real source books.
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Todd W.
Date: 2004-10-14 20:10
JJM --
How are you defining them? "Stinger" I'm familiar with; not sure I know "button" or "bump note." If they're interchangeable, then we're talking marches for the most part, yes? Could they come from the circus milieu?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: CPW
Date: 2004-10-14 20:52
sound like Burlesque more than circus....Bump and Grind???
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2004-10-14 20:58
Hi Todd W. :
The terms are mainly from the pits and studios, but could have come from the circus bands. All the terms are the last notes, but played slightly differently.
The BUTTON is a short last note, usually after a long crescendo whole note.
The BUMP NOTE is a loud last note, usually accented at the end of a piece.
The STINGER is a very loud accented (often rude) last note, played very short.
So, there you have it. I need some help with their derivations. How did people come up with those words to explain what they wanted us to do?
Thanks again,
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-10-14 21:22
Well, A stinger [in the usage I know] is the last note of a band's march, have it? or not, its often a solo!! John, your def's of the other terms make good sense, my pit experience is in the stix, a diff language. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2004-10-14 22:53
Maybe Mozart started it when he said, "All Italian operas must end with a bang so that the audiences know when they are over".
(at least in the movie--I think it was Italian)
Now, what about the derivation of the term, "clam"?? (why not oyster??)
Post Edited (2004-10-14 22:57)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: LeeB
Date: 2004-10-14 22:53
Looks like nobody here has played a circus before.
A stinger is usually a loud chord to accent or punctuate the conclusion of some action or activity. For instance, as a performer is getting ready to do a trick there's a snare drum roll. When the trick is completed, the band plays a loud chord (usually Bb).
Stingers are used for all kinds of live events with bands. Anytime a nice, loud attention getting sound is needed, the leader will call for a stinger. It's the TA-DA! moment.
The button, as mentioned earlier, is that last extra note. Think of that last, unison note on the tonic (usually lower) at the end of a march.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: diz
Date: 2004-10-14 22:54
I'm afraid I only speak English ... and an Australian version at that ...
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2004-10-14 23:16
Hi,
So, where did the term a Texas Stinger come from? I really like to do these at the end of certain marchs.
HRL
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2004-10-15 00:29
Aha, the classic "Bb major chord", a mainstay of the circus band. I've only played one circus job, but I was told that it was the first thing that was reviewed with the subs. "If I round off suddenly, be ready to play your note in a Bb maj chord".
As for the others, I was taught (in Saint Louis in the 1960's that there were "punches", "hits" and "bumps" in swing style music. A punch was a profound marcato, hits were marcato, and bumps were slight, short notes (staccato). > + _ was the first, > was the second, and . was the third.
Of course, when I want a given effect in one of our charts, I use the proper Italianate term like "Punch this one" or "Drag that triplet out" (as in the wah-wah-wah-waaah sequence in Funny How Time Slips Away...the audience loves it). It works well enough, and face it, a lot of the jazz crowd wouldn't know a mordent if it bit them...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-10-15 02:03
Dear JJM
The term bump note is usually the last chord struck as an eight note in a regal march...this term is used a good deal in the UK in brass ensembles...
The first movement of the second suite in F by Gustav Holst ends on such a type of Bump[note!!!)..usually it is a chord that rings for precise eight...
as for the others I must admit I knew stinger but not the button one..
Regards
David Dow
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2004-10-15 03:55
Well guys, I'm getting lots of help on definitions and explanations, but what I really need is the derivations of the terms in question, if possible. It's all a bit silly, but the question of where the terms started and how they first came up is quite elusive?
Thanks for all your help.
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2004-10-15 11:36
John,
I know what you are asking for but this may be part of the Oral Tradition of Music (OTM) that we all perpetuate without really knowing it.
Finding the derivation of other words that we all use like chaser, gig, or axe may be also as difficult to determine. We all know pretty well what is meant but .....
HRL
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2004-10-15 12:00
Ah, the elusive "clam" which has various meanings, at least one of which shall remain closed. Clam or faux oyster contains no pearl and so, is a disappointment to the pearl fisher.
Bob Draznik
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-10-15 14:12
Very slightly off John's topic -- at least while I was there (1965-68), the West Point Band had a tradition, when playing marches in concert, of leaving off the stinger. It was very disconcerting to audiences to hear, say, the Stars and Stripes Forever without the stinger, and they often waited several seconds to applaud even that sure-fire piece.
To WPB players out there -- do they still do it that way? I always thought it was dumb.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
