Young Writers Society

In the story I'm writing at the moment I've got to a point where drums are introduced but cannot think at all what would be best for the sound they make Its crazy but my mind won't work!
Whats everyones ideas?

-onomatopias would be best Its the constant beat of drums in the lead up to something, so creating anticipation- something along the lines of thump thump thump but that doesn't sound right

I play drums, but (always wanted to boast about that) it's hard to describe the noise a drum could make. Maybe (wait for the effect) ' The roar of snare rattled throught the room'

Or were u looking for actual onamatpeia. I don't know.

*moved to Fiction Discussion*

What kind of drums are we talking? Bass drums? Snares? Timpani? Chimes? Tenors? Glockenspiels?

Honestly? Listen to this. This is how the drum sounds when it's beaten:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvgvN2EXq04

It does definitely depend on what drum your playing. For instance, the bass (my specialty as the only girl in the entire percussion section) is definitely more of "womp womp" and even then it sort of differs. We have two drums we use often in band. One, our other main bass players drum, makes a very short "fwump" and is a bit like the drums you hear at a pow wow, while mine is meant more for the purpose of marching and it rings out more.

Snares have their own noise too. It's a very quick "pwack" though it can be both high and low depending on whether its a regular snare or a tenor snare. Even our marching snares and our concert snares sound different.

And there's the timps (short for timpani). Timpani drums can have they're pitch altered but do have a way of resonating that is similar to that of the bass drum with the only exception being on whether it sounds high or low. I'm not so good at discribing the sound of timps only because we rarely use ours and I never play them, sorry.

Lastly, there are the quads. The sound of the quads can also differ in pitch but the way they resonate is very pinched "dwang" or "pwang."

Anyway, hope that could be helpful.

My advice? Avoid describing the actual sound. When I read laughter or a long "riiiiiing" to show a telephone ringing, I get jolted out of the story when I read the actual sound.

Instead, describe the effect the drums have on the crowd/your MC. Also, how it ties into dialogue. Like:

The drumming became faster, carrying Josh's words. Suddenly the stopped, and a slow grin spread across his face.

"Tonight, we celebrate!"

The drum started again, doubling the noise of the crowd.

And you continue like that.

Note- this was not an actual quote, I just put it between quotes to make it clearer.

That's my opinion, anyways.

~Rosey.

I sing in a band, and having practiced in a small room with a phenomenally excitable and passionate drummer, I can say that there isn't really an onomatopoeia (can't spell) to sum up the sound of drums. Also, I think that words to reflect sounds can often seem out of place in writing.

Anyway, your post said you need the sound for introducing drums. In this case, I would go for the sound of the base making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, or speeding up your heart, or feeling it in your gut or something. In my experience, that's the best bit about live music. might be worth exploring.