From Scrapyard to Concert Hall: The Evolution of Found Object Percussion
- Nathan Coles
- Jul 3
- 7 min read
How industrial noise became a staple of modern music, and how new innovations are helping student percussionists make intentional sonic choices.
Anyone who has spent time in a percussion ensemble or a steel band knows the piercing, unmistakable sound of a car brake drum. It is raw, industrial, and has served as a foundational heavy metal color in modern literature for nearly a century. Yet, as iconic as that sound is, hauling a fifteen-pound piece of rusty, greasy cast iron to a rehearsal is far from ideal. Understanding how these industrial artifacts transitioned into the concert hall can transform how you approach modern repertoire and inspire you to look at your instrument choices through a purely musical lens.
Table of Contents
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The Roots and Philosophy of Found Object Percussion
Percussionists have always been the ultimate resourcefulness experts. When a composer writes for an unpitched metallic sound, they are not just asking for volume; they are asking for a specific color, texture, and character. Utilizing found object percussion requires a blend of historical context and acoustic awareness.
Every object tells a story. When we incorporate non-traditional sound sources into our setups, we are actively connecting the performance to a legacy of musical rebellion and cultural adaptation. This ethos remains central to found object percussion today, as modern instrument designers look for ways to honor these historical sounds while addressing the logistical realities of contemporary players.
From Carnival Streets to Avant-Garde Stages
The musical life of the automotive brake drum began out of cultural necessity in Trinidad and Tobago during the early 20th century. Following the emancipation of enslaved people, Afro-Trinidadian communities used hand drums as a central part of Carnival celebrations. However, British colonial authorities banned drumming in 1884 in an attempt to suppress native traditions.
In response, musicians created tamboo bamboo bands, cutting dried bamboo stalks to different lengths and striking them together or pounding them on the ground. When the colonial government outlawed tamboo bamboo in 1934 to crack down on the population, musicians refused to stop playing; they transitioned directly to whatever metal scrap they could find.¹
According to historical accounts of the era, a musician affectionately known as "Mussel Rat" of the Gonzales Place tamboo bamboo band is widely credited with introducing a discarded car brake drum—which they called the "brake iron"—to the street in the mid-1930s.² The brake iron provided a sharp, penetrating, high-pitched pulse that kept the entire band locked in.
This rhythm section eventually became known as the "Engine Room," the unpitched percussion core that drives a modern steel orchestra.³ As documented by steel band journals, the driving, syncopated engine room relies on the brake iron to cut through acoustic environments as loud as busy street corners.⁴
A traditional Engine Room consists of:
The Brake Iron (played with a heavy steel rod for a piercing tone)
The Shak-Shak (a shaker)
The Scratcher (a textured metal guiro)
The Toc-Toc (claves)
The Cowbell
The Bottle and Spoon
While Trinidadian musicians were transforming Carnival, a parallel musical revolution was happening in the late 1930s on the West Coast of the United States. Radical young composers, led by John Cage and Lou Harrison, began to reject the traditional boundaries of Western art music. In his landmark essay, The Future of Music: Credo, Cage famously wrote:
"Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise. When we ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it fascinating." ⁵
Working on shoestring budgets, Cage and Harrison could not afford expensive orchestral bells or European-forged anvils. Inspired by their industrial environments, they visited local scrapyards and junk shops, collecting flower pots, iron pipes, galvanized wash tubs, and brake drums.
Lou Harrison in particular became fascinated with the specific acoustic properties of what he termed "bowls, bells, and brake drums," hand-selecting items for their complex internal resonances.⁶
In 1939, Cage premiered First Construction (in Metal), which explicitly scored for four graduated brake drums.⁷ Two years later, Cage and Harrison co-composed their famous collaborative piece, Double Music, which featured graduated muted brake drums, forever cementing the instrument's place in Western classical percussion literature.⁸
The Practical Dilemma of Automotive Scrap
As rich and historic as this instrument is, living with an actual automotive brake drum as a modern student percussionist is incredibly challenging.
First, brake drums are manufactured to stop two-ton vehicles, not to express musical nuances.⁹ To get a graduated set of three or four, you have to drive to a scrapyard, bring a mallet, and hit dozens of dirty car parts until you find some that have a distinct pitch and do not just sound like a dead, muddy thud.
Second, they are heavy and dirty. Transporting a set of these to a gig is a literal safety hazard for your back, as a standard cast iron car brake drum can easily weigh anywhere from 12 to 20 pounds.⁹ Finally, they rust, stain your hands, and instantly chew through your expensive mallets.
Entering a New Era: The Black Swamp Anvil Gong
At Black Swamp Percussion, designers wondered how to preserve that dense, complex, cutting metallic sound while adapting the instrument to the lifestyle of a modern performer. In collaboration with percussion artist Matthew Lau, Black Swamp developed the Anvil Gong and Disc Bell Sound Plates.
Instead of heavy cast iron, these plates are precision-machined from unpitched stainless steel. They are engineered to produce those same dense, multifaceted overtones you want from a brake drum, but without the dead weight or unwanted grease. It represents another step on the historical timeline, meeting modern performers and repertoire exactly where they are.
Acoustic and Practical Comparison
Feature | Traditional Automotive Brake Drum 9 | Black Swamp Anvil Gong |
Material | Cast Iron (heavy and prone to rust) | High-Grade Stainless Steel |
Weight | 12 to 20 pounds per drum | A fraction of the weight (fits in a cymbal bag) |
Sonic Character | Harsh, wild overtones, slightly muddy low-end | Bright, clear fundamental, brilliant cutting overtones |
Decay Control | Unpredictable, ringing, or dead thud | Cleaner, more controlled decay |
Maintenance | Rehearsal residue, can ruin yarn/felt mallets | Matte patina finish prevents rust and protects mallets |
Mounting | Requires heavy-duty stand or trap table. | Universal center hole, suspension holes, flat table play |
Gear Tour: Maximizing Your Setup
The way you mount and strike a piece of metal alters its acoustic properties. The Anvil Gong addresses this by offering three dedicated mounting styles out of the box, letting you choose the behavior of the instrument based on the piece you are playing:
The Cymbal Stand Mount: A universal center hole allows you to mount the plate directly onto any standard cymbal stand. This is ideal for multi-percussion setups where space is tight and stability is required.
The Suspension Holes: Two precision-drilled holes at the top let you hang the plate with an included mounting cord, allowing it to vibrate freely like a traditional gong. This approach brings out the maximum sustain and a shimmering array of overtones.
Flat Table Play: You can lay the plate flat on a trap table with minimal contact points. This dampens the ring and produces a dry, fast, articulate response—perfect for fast, rhythmic passages that would otherwise get washed out.
Sound Design Tip: Each Anvil Gong comes with a set of rivets. You can insert them into pre-drilled sizzle holes to add a beautiful, trashy sizzle effect to the instrument's natural sustain. For contemporary chamber music or film scoring, you can even draw a cello bow across the edge of the suspended plate to create haunting, vocal-like textures.
Student Action Plan: Developing Your Sonic Voice
To apply these insights to your own practice, follow this three-step action plan the next time you encounter a metal placement in your repertoire:
Step 1: Analyze the Context. Is the piece inspired by the driving, syncopated pulse of a Trinidadian Engine Room, or the avant-garde textures of John Cage? A piece mimicking an Engine Room requires a bright, piercing fundamental that cuts through the ensemble, while an avant-garde piece might benefit from the complex overtones of a suspended or bowed plate.
Step 2: Balance Logistics and Music. Consider the performance venue and transportation. If you are playing a multi-percussion piece that requires a graduated set of four pitches, hauling 60 pounds of scrap metal might hinder your performance focus. Choosing a lightweight, precision-machined alternative lets you save your energy for the music.
Step 3: Audit Your Implements. Do not just reach for a brass mallet by default. Experiment with hard yarn, acrylic, or wood to see how the object responds. Notice how different contact points alter the balance between the fundamental pitch and the overtones.
Think about the found sounds in your current ensemble repertoire. How can you look beyond the gear available in your band room to create a more compelling, historically informed sonic experience for your audience?
Footnotes & Historical References
¹ Goddard, George "Sonny". Forty Years in the Steelbands: 1939–1979. Karia Press, 1991, p. 38. Detailed analysis of the systemic transition from tamboo bamboo to metal scrap following colonial bans.
² Blake, Felix. The Trinidad and Tobago Steel Pan: History and Evolution. Felix Blake, 1995, p. 120. Documentation of Gonzales Place band member "Mussel Rat" and the origins of the "brake iron."
³ Wesleyan University Virtual Instrument Museum. "Engine Room (Steelband Auxiliary Percussion)." Detailed historical analysis of auxiliary instrumentation lists, accessible via: Wesleyan VIM.
⁴ Pan Podium. "Engine Room in a Steelband: Keeping the Rhythm and the Music Flowing!" Explains the essential rhythmic function and acoustic projection of engine room instruments, accessible via: Pan Podium.
⁵ Cage, John. "The Future of Music: Credo." Silence: Lectures and Writings by John Cage, Wesleyan University Press, 1961. This foundational text outlines the musical philosophy of integrating noise and industrial artifacts.
⁶ Becker, Bob (NEXUS Percussion). "Bowls, Bells, Brake Drums and Lou Harrison." 2021. Review of Lou Harrison's custom scrapyard sound collection techniques, accessible via: NEXUS Percussion.
⁷ Cage, John. First Construction (in Metal). Edition Peters, 1939. This is documented as the earliest published Western classical score explicitly requiring automotive brake drums.
⁸ Harrison, Lou, and John Cage. Double Music. Edition Peters, 1941. Landmark collaborative work utilizing a graduated, muted set of brake drums alongside water buffalo bells.
⁹ Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection. "Brake Drum / Iron." Evaluation of the physical construction, industrial intent, and subsequent acoustic repurposing of vehicle brake drums, accessible via: Grinnell College Collection.
¹⁰ Wikipedia contributors. "Drum brake (Use in music)." Technical breakdown of drum brakes and their integration into the marching arts and contemporary concert setups, accessible via: Wikipedia.
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