Acme siren

The Acme siren is a musical instrument used in concert bands for comic effect. Often used in cartoons, it produces the stylized sound of a police siren. It is one of the few aerophones in the percussion section of an orchestra.

The instrument is typically made of metal and is cylindrical. Inside the cylinder is a type of fan-blade which, when the performer blows through one end, spins and creates the sound. The faster the performer blows, the faster the fan-blade moves and the higher the pitch the instrument creates. Conversely, the slower the performer blows, the lower the pitch.[1]

Iannis Xenakis used it in the 1960s in his works Oresteia, Terretektorh, and Persephassa.[2] A siren was used in Bob Dylan's classic album, Highway 61 Revisited. One is also heard in Stevie Wonder's song "Sir Duke" just before the second chorus. Dan Zanes also uses a siren in his version of "Washington at Valley Forge."

Acme is the trade name of J Hudson & Co of Birmingham, England, who developed and patented the Acme siren in 1895. It was sometimes known as "the cyclist's road clearer".[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Acme Siren". Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Archived from the original on 28 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  2. ^ Xenakis, Iannis; Olivier Messiaen (1985). Arts-sciences, Alloys: The Thesis Defense of Iannis Xenakis, Oliver Messiaen, Michel Ragon, Olivier Revault D'Allonnes, Michel Serres, and Bernard Teyssèdre. Pendragon Press. p. 118.
  3. ^ "Acme Referee's or Teacher's Whistle". Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
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