Thunder sheet
{{Short description|Percussion instrument}}
{{redirect|Thunder machine|the fictional vehicle|Thunder Machine (G.I. Joe)}}
{{Infobox instrument
| name = Thunder sheet
| names =Thunder machine; machine à tonnerre (fr); Donnerblech, Donnermaschine (de){{Cite Grove |last1=Blades |first1=James |last2=Holland |first2=James |author-link1 = James Blades|author-link2 = James Holland (percussionist)|title=Thunder machine|name-list-style=amp}}
| image = Macchina del tuono.jpg
| image_capt = A thunder sheet at the Teatro della Pergola
| background = percussion
| classification = Percussion
| hornbostel_sachs = 111.221+112.1
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = Individual percussion plaques, or the player makes a shaking motion
| inventors =
| developed =
| range =
| related =
| musicians =
| builders =
| articles =
}}
File:Terry Bozzio drums.jpg thunder sheet at the rear of Terry Bozzio's very large drum kit.]]
A thunder sheet is a thin sheet of metal used to produce sound effects for musical or dramatic events. The device may be shaken, causing it to vibrate, or struck with a mallet. It is also known as a thunder machine, though this can also refer to a large drum used for a similar sound effect.{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.onmusic.org/terms/3573-thunder_machine|title=Thunder machine|publisher=OnMusic Dictionary|access-date=22 December 2014}}
Thunder sheets are available from some cymbal makers including Paiste and Sabian, or can easily be made out of any scrap metal sheet. The thinner and larger the sheet, the louder the sound. The thunder sheet needs to be "warmed up" before sounding. The player(s) will need to start slowly shaking the sheet a few seconds before quickly shaking the sheet.
Usage
Dramatist John Dennis devised the thunder sheet as a new method of producing theatrical thunder for his 1709 tragedy Appius and Virginia at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.{{cite book|authorlink=Nigel Rees|last=Rees|first=Nigel|title=Why Do We Say ...?|year=1987|isbn=0-7137-1944-3}} His invention was stolen by another theater play, and that gave rise to the phrase: "stole my thunder".{{Cite web|last=Dent|first=Susie|date=|title=The surprising history of 'stealing someone's thunder'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/the-surprising-history-of-stealing-someones-thunde/p08g1krn|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=}}
Notable orchestral works in which the instrument has been used include the following:
- Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie and the opera Die Frau ohne Schatten
- Giuseppe Verdi: Otello
- Richard Wagner: Der Ring des NibelungenRichard Wagner - Page 404 The thunder machine is used only in Das Rheingold, but Wagner's score does not specifically include it by name. Instead, the score states that, when Donner strikes the hammer in Das Rheingold, "Ein starker Blitz entfährt der Wolke; ein ... and Parsifal.
- Mozart: The Magic FluteHoward E. Smither A History of the Oratorio: The oratorio in the nineteenth .- 2000 -.. - Page 537 \3The orchestra, with threatening, theatrical effects of brass and thunder (a thunder machine is required), powerfully and dramatically sounds out the Gregorian "Dies irae."Jessica Waldoff Assistant Professor of Music College of the Holy Cross - Recognition in Mozart's Operas 2006 - Page 45 "... in C minor (complete with thunder machine) is transformed into the music of Sarastro's stately proclamation in E-flat major."
- Ignacy Jan Paderewski: Symphony in B minor "Polonia" (1903–08)
- Alan Hovhaness: "Invocation to Vahakn No. 3"
- Engelbert Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel
The American rock band The Grateful Dead also used thunder machines.Rock Scully - Living with the Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia ...2001 - Page 33 "The Thunder Machine is huge, like something you'd put in a children's playground. It's also a musical instrument.You can get inside it and bang on the different panels with wooden mallets and hammers. It's like a huge steel drum, so big that ..."John M. Rocco, Brian Rocco Dead reckonings: the life and times of the Grateful Dead -- 1999 Page 55 "That has Kesey a little nervous, because in just a few weeks the Thunder Machine is going on its first tour.
Theatre
Simpler machines were employed in the theatre, such as rolling a ball down a trough striking wooden cleats.The Production of Later Nineteenth Century American Drama Garrett Hasty Leverton - 1936 "The most modern thunder machine is a long, narrow trough with a cannon ball rolling in it. Wooden cleats impede the ball along "Hopkins, op. cit., p. 301. 21 Logan, op. cit., p. 628. the way, and it may be rolled very fast for STAGE AND OFF ..." It is called the "thunder run."{{Cite web |last=Ltd |first=Supercool |date=2025-05-13 |title=The Thunder Run |url=https://bristololdvic.org.uk/archive/thunder-run |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=Bristol Old Vic |language=en}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- "[http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.27913 Thunder machine, thunder sheet]", OxfordIndex.oup.com.
{{Shaken idiophones}}
Category:Percussion idiophones
Category:Shaken idiophones or rattles
Category:Musical instruments played with soft mallets