{{short description|Modern percussion instrument}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox instrument | name = Flexatone | names = | image = Flexatone 2005.jpg | image_capt = | background = Percussion | classification = Percussion | hornbostel_sachs = 112.12 | hornbostel_sachs_desc = Frame rattles | inventors = the Playertone Company of New York, Although we do not have any record of who exactly invented the flexatone | developed = 1922 |range={{Plain image with caption|Range flexatone.png| '''E<sub>4</sub>–G<sub>5</sub> / E<sub>5</sub>–E<sub>6</sub>'''<ref name="Solomon">Solomon, Samuel Z. (2016). ''How to Write for Percussion: A Comprehensive Guide to Percussion Composition'', p.170. Oxford University. {{ISBN|9780199920365}}.</ref> '''E<sub>2</sub>–G#<sub>4</sub> / D#<sub>3</sub>–D#<sub>5</sub>'''<ref name="Kolberg">"[http://www.kolberg.com/products/en_GB/917/group/429.html Flexatones]", ''Kolberg.com''.</ref>|130px|center|bottom}} | pitch = medium | timbre = bright, metallic | volume = medium | attack = fast | decay = slow | related = musical saw, ondes Martenot, slide whistle, vibraphone, water gong | musicians = | builders = Playatone, Kolberg Percussion<ref name="Kolberg"/> Steve Weiss Music | articles = }} [[File:Flexatone notational guidelines.png|thumb|Suggested notation of music for flexatone, using roll symbols for the tremolo and approximate pitch<ref name="Miller">Miller, R.J. (2014). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=L3nfBQAAQBAJ&q=flexatone&pg=PT787 Contemporary Orchestration: A Practical Guide to Instruments, Ensembles, and Musicians]'', p.34. "The instrument has traditionally been used to create a comic glissando effect." Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-74190-3}}.</ref>]] [[File:Flexatone rhythm pattern notation.png|thumb|Rhythmic<!--rather than melodic--> pattern easily playable on the flexatone<ref name="Kalani">Kalani (2008). ''All About Hand Percussion: Everything You Need to Know to Start Playing Now!'', p.27. "The flexatone is primarily use as a sound effect, often heard in classic cartoon sound tracks. The sound of this instrument can be compared to that of the musical saw, a 'flexible' tone that changes smoothly in pitch." {{ISBN|9780739049648}}.</ref>]]
The '''flexatone''' or '''fleximetal''' is a modern percussion instrument (an indirectly struck idiophone) consisting of a small flexible metal sheet suspended in a wire frame ending in a handle.<ref>"[http://www.compositiontoday.com/sound_bank/percussion/flexatone.asp Flexatone Sound Samples]", ''CompositionToday.com''.</ref> Used in classic cartoons<!--presumably such as Warner Bros. but unspecified in Kalani (2008).--> for its glissando effect, its sound is comparable to the musical saw.<ref name="Kalani"/>
==History, construction and technique== {{Quote|[The] flexatone [is a] percussion instrument; shaking it causes two wooden balls, one on either side, to strike a metal blade subject to thumb pressure, which thereby can produce spooky glissando effects.<ref>Griffiths, Paul (2004). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=04vDuG_pElwC&dq=flexatone+antigone&pg=PT897 The Penguin Companion to Classical Music]'', unpaginated. Penguin UK. {{ISBN|9780141909769}}.</ref>}}
An invention for a flexatone occurs in the British Patent Records of 1922 and 1923. In 1924 the 'Flex-a-tone' was patented in the USA by the Playatone Company of New York. "An instrument called the 'Flex-a-tone' was patented in the U.S.A. in 1924 by the Playertone Company of New York. It was introduced as a new instrument, making 'jazz jazzier' and announced as combining the tone effect of musical saw, orchestra bells, and song whistle."<ref>Blades, James (1992). ''Percussion Instruments and Their History'', p.393. Connecticut: The Bold Strummer, Ltd. {{ISBN|978-0-933224-71-1}}. Quoted in Keller, Renee E. (June 2013). "[http://www.pas.org/docs/default-source/thesisdissertations/kellerre.pdf Compositional and Orchestrational Trends in the Orchestral Percussion Section Between the Years of 1960-2009]", p.102, n.166, ''Pas.org''.</ref> "Small sheet of spring steel in a frame with wooden strikers mounted on either side. The player shakes the beater while bending the steel in order to change the pitch."<ref>Beck, John H. (2013). ''Encyclopedia of Percussion'', p.29. Routledge. {{ISBN|9781317747680}}.</ref>
The instrument was first used in 1920s jazz bands as an effect but is now mainly and rarely used in orchestral music.<ref name="Holland">Holland, James (2005). ''Practical Percussion: A Guide to the Instruments and Their Sources'', p.23-4. {{ISBN|9781461670636}}. "Perhaps the most famous example is probably still Khachaturian's Piano Concerto (1946)...However, when Khachaturyan came to the London Symphony Orchestra in the early 1970s he immediately ruled out the flexatone on sight, before a note had been played, and wanted a musical saw or nothing! Just how the flexatone came to appear in the score in the first place remains a complete mystery."</ref>
{{Quote|The flexatone is a small, thin, flexible metal plate fastened to its frame at one end. The plate is hit alternatively on each side by rubber or wooden beaters mounted on a clock spring. A tremolo is the normal effect, and thumb pressure on the free end of the plate alone changes the pitch, resulting in a glissando from note to note...It is usually employed as an abstract effect, since it is notoriously difficult to play specified pitches with any accuracy—the thumb pressure to sharpen or flatten is extremely subtle and difficult to gauge...The sound is quite clangy, a cross between the smoothness of a musical saw and a poor glockenspiel.<ref name="Holland"/>}}
Wooden knobs mounted on strips of spring steel lie on each side of the metal sheet. The player holds the flexatone in one hand with the palm around the wire frame and the thumb on the free end of the spring steel. The player then shakes the instrument with a trembling movement which causes the beaters to strike the sides of the metal sheet. While shaking the handle, the musician makes a high- or low-pitched sound depending on the curve given to the blade by the pressure from his or her thumb: "As the thumb depresses the vibrating metal sheet, the relative pitch of the instrument ascends; as the thumb pressure is released, the relative pitch of the instrument descends."<ref name="Miller"/> A vibrato is thus produced. While the instrument has a very limited dynamic range, volume can be controlled by how vigorously or delicately the player shakes the Flexatone.<ref>Peinkofer, Karl and Tannigel, Fritz (1976). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=rN4IAQAAMAAJ&q=flexatone Handbook of Percussion Instruments]", p.75. Mainz, Germany: Schott.</ref>
{{Quote|sign=|source=|It cannot be pretended that its scope or range are wide, but such as it is, it is quite irreplaceable. Its curious penetrating whine is created by rapid oscillation of the little wooden knob at the end of the thin flexible strips against the broad curving metal plate, whose curvature—and hence pitch—is controlled by the thumb. This effect cannot be emulated by any other means except possibly the Ondes Martenot...or perhaps the musical saw.<ref name="Anatomy">Del Mar, Norman (1983). ''Anatomy of the Orchestra'', p. 427-8. University of California. {{ISBN|9780520050624}}. Right after mentioning that, "the latter [the musical saw] is orchestrally wholly unknown," he mentions Khachaturian's use of the flexatone in his Piano Concerto.</ref>}}
"Vibes generally make a perfectly acceptable alternative, especially when the music is somewhat indeterminate anyway."<ref>Spiegl, Fritz (1984). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pjDaAAAAMAAJ&q=flexatone+antigone Music Through the Looking Glass: A Very Personal Kind of Dictionary of Musicians' Jargon, Shop-talk and Nicknames, and a Mine of Information about Musical Curiosities, Strange Instruments, Word Origins, Odd Facts, Orchestral Players' Lore, and Wicked Stories about the Music Profession]'', p.123. Routledge. {{ISBN|9780710204011}}.</ref>
An alternate technique involves removing the two wooden knobs and their mounting springs, and then using a small metal rod (e.g., a triangle beater) held in the free hand striking the strip of spring steel. The pitch is altered in the same manner as the previous technique. "This method give the player greater control of the sound of the flexatone as it eliminates the need to shake the instrument."<ref name="Miller"/> This method of playing results in a different, more constrained sound. The flexatone may also be bowed along its edge with an orchestral string instrument bow.
The flexatone is notated using tremolo lines (rolls) to indicate shaking the instrument and lines to indicate the desired direction of the glissando or a wavy line (chevron) to indicate alternating thumb pressure. If using the instrument with the balls removed, indicate strikes with single notes followed by arrows indicating the direction of the glissando (similar to a guitar tab pitch bend). It is recommended that pitch designation should only be approximate,<ref name="Miller"/> as, "specific pitches are difficult but possible; glissandi without specific pitch are easily executed."<ref name="Solomon"/>
==Double meaning of the term "Flexatone"== In contemporary music of the 20th century between around 1920 and 1970 the term "Flexatone" has been used on one hand for the instrument flexatone, on the other hand for the musical saw. Composers who used it for the musical saw were: Arthur Honegger (Short opera ''Antigone'', 1924/1927),<ref>{{YouTube|id=CeYBANlsfgA|title=Musical saw in Honegger's opera "Antigone" starting from minute 27'23}}</ref><ref>Spratt, Geoffrey K. (1987). ''The Music of Arthur Honegger'', p.124. Cork University. {{ISBN|9780902561342}}. Act 2, Scene VIII, "opens with a long treble melismatic line of quite astounding expression and profundity—qualities in no small way attributable to its scoring for saxophone and musical saw."</ref><ref>Halbreich, Harry (1999). ''Arthur Honegger'', p.464. Hal Leonard. {{ISBN|9781574670417}}.</ref> Ernst Krenek (opera ''Jonny spielt auf'', 1927),<ref>{{YouTube|id=9700q1Y6_pc|title=Excerpt of a recording of "Jonny spielt auf" with musical saw playing from 2'30, from 2'54 and from 3'48}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=April 2017|reason=Not a citation but a direct reference.}} Dmitri Shostakovich (''The Nose'' (1929),<ref name="Nardolillo">Nardolillo, Jo (2014). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=gDsfAwAAQBAJ&dq=shostakovich+the+nose+musical+saw&pg=PA90 All Things Strings]'', p.90. Scarecrow. {{ISBN|9780810884441}}.<!--source doesn't mention flexatone--> "Khachaturian included a musical saw in the score for his first piano concerto, a part now usually played by a violin."</ref><ref>Conway, David (2004). "{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20041216185427/http://www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk/blog/archives/000193.php Gogol in St. Petersburg]}}", ''SocialAffairsUnit.org.uk''. Report of a performance of "The Nose" in St. Petersburg 2004: "intriguing duet for balalaika and musical saw".</ref><ref>Micada, Katharina. "[http://www.singende-saege.com/shostakovich-the-nose.html The flexaton (Musical saw) part in Shostakovich's opera 'The nose']", ''Singende-Saege.com''.</ref> ''Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District'' (1934), and film music for ''The New Babylon'' (1929)), Aram Khachaturian (Piano Concerto 1936),<ref name="Nardolillo"/><ref>Micada, Katharina. "[http://www.singende-saege.com/khachaturian-piano-concerto.html The flexaton (Musical saw) part in Khachaturian's piano concerto]", ''Singende-Saege.com''.</ref><ref>Clements, Andrew (2014). "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/21/lpo-vanska-royal-festival-hall-review LPO/Vänskä – review]", ''TheGuardian.com''. "The piece is memorable for including a musical saw in the slow movement..."</ref> and Hans Werner Henze (opera ''Elegy for young lovers'', 1961).<ref>Bachmann, Claus-Henning (1961). "[http://www.degruyter.com/abstract/j/omz.1961.16.issue-jg/omz.1961.16.jg.388/omz.1961.16.jg.388.xml Henze: "Elegie für Junge Liebende” Uraufführung bei den Schwetzinger Festspielen]", ''DeGruyter.com'' {{in lang|de}}. Report of the premiere of "Elegy for young lovers" with mention of the musical saw<!--Singende säge-->.</ref>
==Uses== The flexatone is sometimes heard in funk music, and occasionally in pop music for special effect. It is occasionally used in the soundtracks of films or cartoons to represent "ghosts" or other paranormal phenomena. The instrument is also typical and common in G-Funk music.
The instrument is not often used in classical music, but it appears in the work of Arnold Schoenberg, Hans Werner Henze, Sofia Gubaidulina, György Ligeti and others.<ref name="Holland169">Holland (2005), p.169.</ref> Schoenberg employed it, "unrealistically...accurate bursts of widely spaced sounds being hardly obtainable with such abruptness,"<ref name="Anatomy"/> in his ''Variations for Orchestra Op.31'' (1928) and his unfinished opera ''Moses und Aron'' (1932).<ref name="Holland169"/> The cellist in Sofia Gubaidulina's ''The Canticle of the Sun'' (1998) plays a bowed flexatone before the final section.<ref>von Rhein, John (2002). "[https://www.chicagotribune.com/2002/07/30/gubaidulina-the-canticle-of-the-sun-music/ Gubaidulina: The Canticle of the Sun]" review, ''ChicagoTribune.com''.</ref> Alfred Schnittke used it in his ''Faust Cantata'' (1983), in the ''Tuba Mirum'' movement of his ''Requiem'' (1975), in his Viola Concerto (1985),<ref>"[http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/1389/32385 ''Concerto for Viola and Orchestra'' (1985)]", ''MusicSalesClassical.com''.</ref> and in his score for the ballet ''Peer Gynt'' (1987), the flexatone represents the sound of the moaning wind. György Ligeti used it in many of his works, such as his 1988 concerto for piano<ref>Steinberg, Michael (2000). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=T2XnBwAAQBAJ&q=flexatone The Concerto: A Listener's Guide]'', unpaginated. Oxford University. {{ISBN|9780190286071}}.</ref><ref>Lochhead, Judy and Auner, Joseph; eds. (2013). ''Postmodern Music/Postmodern Thought'', p.134. Routledge. {{ISBN|9781135717780}}.</ref><ref>Joseph Henry Auner, Judith Irene Lochhead (2002). ''Postmodern Music/Postmodern Thought'', p.134. Psychology. {{ISBN|9780815338192}}.</ref><ref name="Holland145"/> second movement and his opera ''Le Grand Macabre'' (1977).<ref name="Holland145">Holland (2005), p.145.</ref> Peter Maxwell Davies uses it in the third movement of his Symphony No. 1 (1976),{{citation needed|date=April 2017|reason=Specific claim (third movement) without citation.}} as well as three of them at the climax of his opera ''The Lighthouse'' (1980).<ref>"[http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer?category=Works&workid=11071 ''The Lighthouse'' (1979)]", ''MusicSalesClassical.com''.</ref> Vivian Fine owned a flexatone,<ref>Cody, Judith (2002). ''Vivian Fine: A Bio-bibliography'', p.168. Greenwood. {{ISBN|9780313254741}}.</ref> and used flexatone music in compositions such as ''The Race of Life'' (1937).<ref>{{IMSLP|work=The Race of Life (Fine, Vivian)|cname=''The Race of Life''}}</ref>
===In popular culture=== A Flexatone can be heard in the track "Sing Swan Song" by the band Can, from their 1972 album ''Ege Bamyasi''. It is also used in the theme song of ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' (2004), as well as a recurring sound effect in the anime ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' and its sequels.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dong |first1=Bamboo |title=Experience Your Own Newtype Flash with a Flexatone |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-02-10/experience-your-own-newtype-flash-with-a-flexatone/.84284 |website=Anime News Network |publisher=Anime News Network |access-date=6 June 2025}}</ref>
They Might Be Giants utilize a Flextone in their song "Stalk Of Wheat", from their 2004 album ''The Spine''.
Josef Škvorecký incorporates the Flexatone as a narrative device in his story, "Oh, Maytime Witch!" in his 1975 book, ''Prima sezóna'', published in English translation, in 1982, as ''The Swell Season''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Skvorecky |first=Josef |title=The Swell Season |publisher=Lester & Orpen Dennys |year=1982 |isbn=0-88619-038-X |location=Toronto |pages=39–93}}</ref>
==Samples== {{Listen|pos=left|filename=Flexatone01.ogg|title=Sound of a flexatone|description=Playing 1|format=Ogg}} {{Listen|filename=Flexatone02.ogg|title=Sound of a flexatone|description=Playing 2|format=Ogg}} {{Listen|pos=left|filename=Flexatone03.ogg|title=Sound of a flexatone|description=Playing 3|format=Ogg}} {{clear}}
==See also== * Nutty Noah * ''Heliogabalus imperator''
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==Further reading== * Rossing, Thomas D. (2000). ''Science of Percussion Instruments'', p. 105<!--"Another instrument that depends upon a stressed plate is the flexatone."-->. {{ISBN|9789810241582}}.
{{Percussion}} {{Shaken idiophones}}
Category:Continuous pitch instruments Category:Idiophones Category:Pitched percussion instruments Category:Hand percussion Category:20th-century percussion instruments