Vocal •
Sprechstimme (speech-singing) •
overtone singing (harmonic singing, or vocal
multiphonics) •
ululation •
beatboxing (vocal percussionists) •
growling •
screaming and shouting •
whispering • panting •
whistling • hissing • clucking •
barking •
sucking Bowed string instruments • playing with a plectrum or pick • playing with percussion sticks, mallets, or other objects • bowing on the "wrong" side of the left hand fingers • bowing behind the bridge • bowing non-string parts of the instrument • parallel rather than perpendicular bowing • exaggerated
vibrato •
snap pizzicato, also called
Bartók pizzicato • tapping or rubbing the
soundboard of stringed instruments • string scrapes with finger, nail, or object • percussive effects on body of instrument •
tapping on the fingerboard • "seagull" harmonic effects • detuning a string while playing • preparation • resonance effects
Plucked string instruments •
using a bow • playing with percussion sticks, mallets, or other objects • playing on crossed strings (called "snare drum effect" on guitar) • snap pizzicato, in which a string is pulled away from the fingerboard until it snaps back and strikes the fingerboard • string scrapes, a technique especially associated with electric guitar and electric bass, as played with a pick • percussive effects, such as drumming on a string instrument body • palm and finger muting ("pizzicato") •
tapping on the fingerboard • string pops and slaps (fingerboard instruments) •
preparation of a guitar by inserting screws or pieces of metal in the bridge or between the strings • detuning a string while playing • "
3rd bridge", a guitar technique using the part of the string between the nut and the stopping finger; see
Xenakis'
cello piece
Nomos Alpha for a similar effect.
Piano •
prepared piano, i.e., introducing foreign objects into the workings of the piano to change the sound quality •
string piano, i.e., striking, plucking, or bowing the strings directly, or any other direct manipulation of the strings • resonance effects (whistling, singing or talking into the piano) • silently depressing one or more keys, allowing the corresponding strings to vibrate freely, allowing sympathetic
harmonics to sound • touching the strings at node points to create
harmonics • percussive use of different parts of the piano, such as the outer rim • slamming piano lid or keyboard cover • microtones • use of the palms, fists, or external devices to create
tone clusters • use of other materials to strike the keys • pedal noises
Woodwind instruments •
multiphonics •
harmonics • pitch bends ("lipping") • noisily activating keys without blowing • combination of a
mouthpiece of one instrument with the main body of another, for example, using an alto
saxophone mouthpiece on a standard
trombone •
flutter-tonguing • breath noises • blowing a disengaged mouthpiece or reed • singing through the instrument while playing • internal muting • key or tone-hole slap – percussive sound made by slapping a key or keys against their tone holes •
circular breathing •
slap tonguing Brass instruments •
singing through the instrument while playing • exaggerated brass head-shakes • noisily activating
valves without blowing • pitch bends ("lipping") • combination of a
mouthpiece of one instrument with the main body of another, for example, using a
French horn mouthpiece on a standard
bassoon •
flutter tonguing •
circular breathing •
double buzz • half-valve playing • unconventional mutes or other foreign objects in the bell (e.g. plumbing parts) • breath noises • blowing a disengaged mouthpiece
Percussion • rudimental or "dynamic" double bass on the drum set, using hand rudiments such as
double stroke rolls and
flam taps and playing them with the feet • stacking two or more
cymbals, one on top of the other, to change the sound properties of the instrument • bowed vibraphone, cymbals, and gongs • resonance effects (e.g., cymbal played on a timpani; cow bell struck against a bass drum, etc.) • pitch bends on mallet percussion • harmonics • custom-built
percussion mallets, occasionally made for
vibraphone or
tubular bells (and other pitched-percussion in increasingly rare circumstances) which feature more than one mallet-head, and so are capable of producing multiple pitches and difficult chords (though usually only the chords they were designed to play). These mallets are seldom used, and percussionists sometimes make them themselves when they are needed. When implemented, they are usually only used once or twice in an entire work, and are alternated with conventional mallets; usually they are used only when playing a different instrument in each hand. • striking a gong and then inserting the vibrating metal into a tub of water, creating a glissando • placing a cymbal on a timpani head
Electronic • added
electronics or
MIDI control •
Turntablism, such as
scratching records or otherwise manipulating a record or turntable platter, often done in combination with a
DJ mixer, to create unique sound effects and rhythms • using a "
kill switch" on an electric guitar to create quasi-scratching rhythmic sounds •
circuit bending:
DIY experimenting with electronic keyboards and electronic toys • playing electric instruments unplugged, or amplifying acoustical parts of normally electronic instruments (e.g. finger noise on the keys) • exploitation of inherent equipment "defects" (e.g., deliberately driving digital equipment into
aliasing; exaggerating hum or hiss coming from speakers,
acoustic feedback, key click on a
Hammond organ etc.)
Organ Playing on stops that are partially drawn (has an effect only if the stops are on purely mechanical action, with a slider windchest). Manipulating stops while holding one or more notes (possible on most organs, but most effective if the stops are on purely mechanical action, with a slider chest).
Other instruments • unusual
harmonics •
glissandi, tuner glissando == Notable composers ==