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Looking for a deep rumbling drone instrument

kimarnesen

kimarnesen

Senior Member
The organ would be perfect, but we don't have that available for this project so I'm searching for other options.

Requirements:
1. It has to be acoustic
2. It has to be played continuously for 60 minutes (so no wind instrument, and a double bass player would start to bleed after 10 minutes)
3. It has to be deep and create a rumbling feeling in the space

Been looking at the tanpura and singing bowls, but not sure how loud they can be.
Click to read more...
 
Big tam tam, played with different sticks (soft to hard), bow it with a cello bow or draw circles non stop at the front or back with a soft stick to have a continuous sort of rumble (absorbs all frequencies though)

Bass marimba - play with 4 soft sticks in the lowest regions

Prepared piano - put all kinds of things in the piano, experiment with some metal things, might give the result you want

Didgeridoo - combine this with a tuba and let the didgeridoo resonate via the tuba by putting the end of it in the tuba (not kidding here)

Hang drums could maybe also worth looking into?
 
Tam tam, bass drum, thunder sheet. You could also have an ensemble of bass players. Strings really don't mind playing for long periods without rests although it would be an endurance challenge to play for 20-30 minutes without even a single break.
 
Bass wind chimes are available in many tunings and temperaments. All you need is some air movement.
 
Sorry for not having replied yet to your suggestions. I ended up using 2 double basses, as I learned they can play on an open string endlessly, so I'm having them play on the E string, tuned down to D :)
 
This is the kind of thing sample libraries are meant for! This would never have happened in the classical compositions! You should really look into orchestrating and dove tailing so your bass clarinet players (for example) are just stagger breathing seamlessly. It's unnatural for any acoustic instrument to play for that long, it's not just the strings who will be bleeding - your tam-tam player is going to lose all feeling in his arms after the first 10 minutes, and your 2 basses are going to hate you if it's for 60 minutes! It won't work to their strength as a bass section, and any instrument sound better and improves your mix when you wrote FOR them and their instruments. Seriously, just create a synth sound which, ironically, will sound much more "natural", or just load up a virtual instrument and program a 60 minute roll! No one has to know, plus it won't sound any more unnatural than the basses...
 
kimarnesen said:
The organ would be perfect, but we don't have that available for this project so I'm searching for other options.

Requirements:
1. It has to be acoustic
2. It has to be played continuously for 60 minutes (so no wind instrument, and a double bass player would start to bleed after 10 minutes)
3. It has to be deep and create a rumbling feeling in the space

Been looking at the tanpura and singing bowls, but not sure how loud they can be.
Click to expand...
How about take a bass drum+tam tam roll and then Paul Stretch that baby?
 
If it can be sampled, I have just sampled a rumbling double bass pizzicato library. It can shake paintings of the wall with the right speakers. The loop is only 8 seconds though. No player would agree to play the same note for 60 minutes for health reasons.

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