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Noisemakers vs. Instruments
By Deborah Lee | December 6, 2008
A few years ago, my sister got my son what seemed like a cool Christmas present. It was a drum full of various rhythm instruments in cool colors and shapes. There was one major problem. They really weren’t instruments, they were noisemakers.
What’s the difference?
Well, noisemakers make noise. They thud and clink, but the sound doesn’t really go anywhere. Musical instruments, on the other hand, produce a sound that resonates. That means the vibrations move and carry through the air. They don’t just stop like the clinking of a rusty pipe laying on the ground.
The sound is also heard upwards through something called harmonics or overtones. I’ll try not to get too technical about it, but basically a good musical note will activate other notes in its harmonic/overtone pattern and create a tower of sound. It’s usually only heard by those with a trained ear, and only then if the person is listening for it.
Just because you can’t consciously hear it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. It matter’s greatly. It separates a poor quality sound from a high quality sound. A high quality instrument will be crafted in such a way that the sound will be at it’s best through the harmonic/overtone series and lots of others factors which boil down to rules of physics and acoustics.
Please don’t get sucked into some non-musical marketing scheme that tries to sell you a pile of noisemakers being passed off as instruments. The best way to know is to listen to them. If the monster of modern day packaging is preventing that, make sure you get a referral or be sure to buy from a trusted name like Remo for drums or Hohner for harmonicas.
When looking at reviews on Amazon and other places, don’t assume that 4 or 5 stars is necessarily good. A lot of people don’t know the difference. Read the reviews from people who say they are musicians. Also, look for descriptions of their sound quality.
The instrument set I told you about before actually has 4 stars on Amazon, but if you read the reviews carefully, those that praised the set never mentioned the sound quality and it was apparent that their kids were using it as a noisemaker. I’d like to encourage you to strive for higher goals in your instrument selection.
There are good choices even in student quality and other less expensive instruments. I’ve found some noisemakers at music stores and some good sounding instruments at Wal-Mart, Cracker Barrel, and Hobby Lobby. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Take it slow. Consider it an exercise in learning how to hear music.
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