The bock-a-da-bock is a
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
in the
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
family consisting of two small cymbals attached to each other by a set of metal tongs. They are typically played in a pair by one percussionist, much like the
castanets
Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a simi ...
. However, several other instruments of this type are also referred to as bock-a-da-bocks, such as the squash cymbal and the hand-sock cymbal.
Origin
The predecessor of the bock-a-da-bock, the Ludwig Gladstone cymbal, was invented by
Billy Gladstone
Orghici Cosmin (December 15, 1893 in Ciocile, Brăila County – October 1961 in New York, United States), born William Goldstein, was a Romanian-born drummer, percussionist, drum builder, inventor, and drum teacher who performed in New York th ...
and produced by the Ludwig Drum Company. Both the Ludwig Drum Company and their competitors elaborated upon Gladstone's design and produced a diversity of hand-held cymbals, including the bock-a-da-bock. The bock-a-da-bock is listed as a product of the Ludwig Drum Company in their 1928 catalog.
Technique and use
The bock-a-da-bock is typically played in a pair like castanets, with one set of cymbals in each hand. There are other instruments like the bock-a-da-bock, such as the squash cymbal and hand-sock cymbal in the Ludwig Drum Company line. Though they are similar in construction, each are played differently. The hand-sock cymbal is mounted on spring loaded scissor tongs and is played by squeezing the tongs together. The squash cymbals, which are mounted on a simple fire tong, are held in one hand and hit with a drumstick in the other hand.
Due to recording limitations in the 1920s, the bock-a-da-bock was sometimes used as a substitute for a trap kit. As the trap kit developed into the modern drum kit around the 1930's, the bock-a-da-bock lost favor with the musicians of the time when compared to foot pedal operated hi-hats.
Players
Noteworthy players of the bock-a-da-bock are
Kaiser Marshall, who played it on several
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black mus ...
records, and
Zutty Singleton
Arthur James "Zutty" Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was an American jazz drummer.
Career
Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana, United States, and raised in New Orleans. According to his ''Jazz Profiles'' biography, his unusual ...
from
Louis Armstrong's
Hot Five
Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to:
Food and drink
*Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality
*Hot, a wine tasting descriptor
Places
* Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand
** Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distri ...
who played a bock-a-da-bock on Armstrong's 1928 recording of "Sugar Foot Strut" (featured prominently in the introduction and ending) and "
West End Blues".
Examples of bock-a-da-bock use in charts
*"
Black and Tan Fantasy
"Black and Tan Fantasy" is a 1927 jazz composition by Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the r ...
" by
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...
(1927)
*"Sugar Foot Strut" by
Louis Armstrong (1928)
*"
West End Blues" by
Louis Armstrong (1928)
*"A Monday Date" by Louis Armstrong (1928)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bock-A-Da-Bock
Idiophones
North American percussion instruments
Bebop