Collection: Vibra-Slap, Slapstick, Wah Wah

Vibra-slaps, slapsticks and wah wah tubes, each built to produce one specific effect.

A vibra-slap is a wooden box of loose pins on a bent metal rod, with a wooden ball at the other end. Striking the ball sends the shock down the rod and sets the pins rattling inside the box, giving a long dry buzzing rattle that decays slowly. It replaced the jawbone of an ass in Latin music, which is what it was designed to imitate. EMUS and MEINL models are both stocked.

A slapstick is two hinged boards brought together sharply, producing a crack indistinguishable from a whip. It is the sound written into Sleigh Ride and into a good deal of cartoon and film scoring. The Timber Drum Co. model is solid hickory and designed for one-handed use.

A wah wah tube is a resonant tube played by covering and uncovering the open end while it sounds, which bends the tone in the way the name describes. MEINL stocks a large model and NINO a smaller one.

None of these keep a rhythm. They exist for a single moment in a piece, and they are the reason a class listens for their entry.