How magical is it to control the timbre on the drum with your feet?

When the drummer picked up the drumstick, the left foot wearing white socks pressed the drum surface of the foot pressure drum, the mouth chanted softly, the eyes were slightly closed, the left foot rhythmically controlled the drum surface, a second has entered the play, the knocking is not the foot pressure drum, the knocking seems to be the soul of the pear garden play. This instrument that controls the timbre with the feet is called a foot pressure drum.

The foot pressure drum debuted at the 2017 Xiamen GOLDEN BRICK Meeting, as a unique instrument in opera, it has an irreplaceable dominant position in puppet plays, pear garden plays, and city play, and the "foot pressure drum" has the effect of fixing the tone, but it is not a timpani drum. Its timbre is thick, elegant and delicate, it can not only render the atmosphere, set off the plot, but also accurately portray the character of the character, reveal the emotional changes and psychological activities of the characters, the drummer will press the heel on the drum surface when playing, using the movement of the heel and the weight of the transport, knock out the ever-changing drum.

Speaking of the foot drum, we have to talk about an old story. In ancient times, the traffic was inconvenient, all the drama classes did not buy the drum this musical instrument, the drama class traveled a lot of people, a performance often takes several days, according to the rules, invite the owner of the drama class to entertain the actors, in advance to prepare the wind stove, teapot, stove, coarse paper, oil, rice and other daily necessities. At that time, there were temples in the villages, and every day the staff in the temples had to beat gongs and drums to inform the villagers of the time. As soon as the drama class arrived, the host's family went to the temple to borrow drums. Borrowed drums are often old drums, some have broken holes, the drum master has to use paper and grass to bake the drum surface every day, so that the drum sound has improved, but the performance often lasts from the afternoon to the second half of the night, the drum surface of the whole day often appears to be relaxed to the scene of the emergency, and can not let the play stop to repair the drum, how to do? Once, in the course of a performance, an experienced drum master was in a hurry, beating the drum while pressing his foot on the drum surface. This pressure, the effect is not bad, with the movement of the press foot position, the drum sound also changed a new pattern, the performance can be carried out smoothly. As a result, the way of playing with the feet and feet has been passed down from generation to generation.

　　The basic drum methods of the seven-gang drum and the eight-gang drum have musical scores to learn, and the drum method of pressing the foot cannot be written into the musical score. Feet fat, thin feet, foot length, foot short press in the position of the drum surface is different, the drum sound can not be the same, wear white socks pressed on the drum surface to control the timbre of the drum, the drumstick in the hand also needs to control the rhythm, all the drum scores of the foot pressure drum can only rely on the drum master to feel the experience, there is no written record, this is the most authentic appearance of the Pear Garden Drum Master to create the musical score.

Don't underestimate the small drum surface with a diameter of about 20 centimeters, it is the "commander of the ten thousand armies" of the pear garden drama, which plays an important role in shaping the role of the pear garden.