Geophone (musical instrument) Geophone (musical instrument) The geophone is a percussion instrument, invented by the French composer Olivier Messiaen for use in his large composition for piano and orchestra entitled "Des canyons aux étoiles…" ("From the canyons to the stars…"). It consists of a drum filled with thousands of small lead pellets, and is played by swirling it around slowly so that the noise of the pellets resembles the sound of dry shifting earth. Messiaen commissioned a Parisian instrument maker to construct one to his design, and he carried this instrument worldwide to early performances of the piece (which was given its first
Rimshot bearing edges and the shaft of the stick is struck against the rim opposite the tip, thus creating a dry, high pitched "click" similar to a set of claves. The stroke is used to simulate claves in Brazilian bossa nova and also used for ballads in rock, pop, and country. Drummer Gene Krupa is credited with having invented the rimshot. The musical phrase played on percussion instruments used to punctuate jokes is known in percussion jargon as a sting. This is often called a "rimshot" although some versions of it do not include a rimshot in the technical sense. A