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That disco "PING" sound ...

SnagglepusSnagglepus 1,756 Posts
edited March 2007 in Strut Central
My friend cherishes that "PING" sound featured in songs like Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell" and she'd like to know anything and everything about it. I figured someone on here must know something.Does the sound have a name (besides just "that damned disco ping sound")?Is there a particular drum machine that is famous for it?Classic tracks? (I know there's a million ... favorites?)Any contemporary songs that have made good use of the sound?Was "Ring My Bell" the first song to use the sound?Unload your ping knowledge.

  Comments

  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,391 Posts
    It's just an electronic tom-tom isn't it?
  • 4YearGraduate4YearGraduate 2,945 Posts
    not sure if this is the exact one you need, but this was the firs thing that sprang to mind:
    Electroharmonix space drum:
    http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/d_machines/ehspaced.html

    and it's virtual!


    I know this was a favorite because it could be triggered via a microphone, as could the space clap.
  • deejdeej 5,125 Posts
    S.O.S. Band - "Take Your Time (Do It Right)"

    also isn't this just a triangle or a bell or something?
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    BOOOooooooooo.......
  • SnagglepusSnagglepus 1,756 Posts
    not sure if this is the exact one you need, but this was the firs thing that sprang to mind:
    Electroharmonix space drum:
    http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/d_machines/ehspaced.html

    and it's virtual!


    I know this was a favorite because it could be triggered via a microphone, as could the space clap.

    Whoa. Thanks. That's perfect. Time to annoy the hell out of anyone within earshot.
  • PABLOPABLO 1,921 Posts
    It's just an electronic tom-tom isn't it?

    I think so. I remember it being on my Herbie Hancock approved piece of crap Casio back in the mid-80's.
  • SnagglepusSnagglepus 1,756 Posts
    It's just an electronic tom-tom isn't it?

    I think so. I remember it being on my Herbie Hancock approved piece of crap Casio back in the mid-80's.

    Yeah ... I'm sure it was a very common sound on 80s keyboards. The pitch descends, so it isn't simply a synthesized triangle or something. Electronic Tom-Tom is probably the closest thing to a proper name that this sound ever got.
  • tjamestjames 156 Posts
    BOOOooooooooo.......

    Definitely a "BOOOOOoooooo" maybe even a combination of e, u and w following the B. But never a "Ping".

    P.S. I heart Onomatopoeia
  • 4YearGraduate4YearGraduate 2,945 Posts
    not sure if this is the exact one you need, but this was the firs thing that sprang to mind:
    Electroharmonix space drum:
    http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/d_machines/ehspaced.html

    and it's virtual!


    I know this was a favorite because it could be triggered via a microphone, as could the space clap.

    Whoa. Thanks. That's perfect. Time to annoy the hell out of anyone within earshot.

    Yeah! My dog nearly did a backflip when I hit it for the first time (i had the volume all the way up too, whoops)
  • BigSpliffBigSpliff 3,266 Posts
    BOOOooooooooo.......

    Definitely a "BOOOOOoooooo" maybe even a combination of e, u and w following the B. But never a "Ping".

    P.S. I heart Onomatopoeia

    There's also a silent "ng" at the end
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    It's just an electronic tom-tom isn't it?

    I think so. I remember it being on my Herbie Hancock approved piece of crap Casio back in the mid-80's.

    I think they were called Syndrums. According to Wikipedia, they were made by a company called Pollard originally. Dude from Joy Division used to use a Syndrum CM, a later model made by the company which bough out Pollard; this would have been around '79/'80, so it's roughly the same time frame as that Anita Ward record.

    BRAEK.
  • SnagglepusSnagglepus 1,756 Posts
    I think they were called Syndrums. According to Wikipedia, they were made by a company called Pollard originally. Dude from Joy Division used to use a Syndrum CM, a later model made by the company which bough out Pollard; this would have been around '79/'80, so it's roughly the same time frame as that Anita Ward record.

    BRAEK.

    Another juicy bit of info. Thanks.
  • SyminSymin 999 Posts
    not sure if this is the exact one you need, but this was the firs thing that sprang to mind:
    Electroharmonix space drum:
    http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/d_machines/ehspaced.html

    and it's virtual!


    I know this was a favorite because it could be triggered via a microphone, as could the space clap.
  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    not sure if this is the exact one you need, but this was the firs thing that sprang to mind:
    Electroharmonix space drum:
    http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/d_machines/ehspaced.html

    and it's virtual!


    I know this was a favorite because it could be triggered via a microphone, as could the space clap.

    Whoa. Thanks. That's perfect. Time to annoy the hell out of anyone within earshot.

    Yeah! My dog nearly did a backflip when I hit it for the first time (i had the volume all the way up too, whoops)

    Same here, my little pooch girl went nuts when I clicked on it.

    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak
  • HawkeyeHawkeye 896 Posts
    The "Ping" you refere to is a simple sine wave. It can easiely be done with a synth that got a sign wave, try it with a moog.

    The tone has to go from high to low, it has to switch trough a octave.

    You can create it with a sampler to. Sample a 808 bassdrum. Than loop one of the waves very short of the bassdrum.

    Pitch it very high, like 24-36 tones higher than the original. Now you got a high tone. Than program that the tone goes from one key to another while it plays, for example C3 - C2

    Now you got the starting point where it makes Piiiii --- and than it goes dowmn to --- iiiing

    Thats the whole secret.

    Those sounds where also often used as a sound effect in movies, that where the sounds of laserguns.



    Peace
    Hawkeye
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