Where do I find a cannon for the 1812 overture?

[bob_2]

Setting off some black powder at the same time would add to the effect.

[Ruken]

@MikeS

Honestly, amateur orchestras (and even professional ones) will just pipe pre-recorded cannon shots into the sound system at the appropriate moments. If you have a PA system in the hall where you’re playing, just crank up the volume and it’ll still startle/thrill people but good.

@Francis_Vaughan

For a youth orchestra performance you would probably do best by giving the percussionist a laptop with an appropriate percussion performance program and a sample of cannon shot. Thus the cannon is actually played by an orchestra member, and they will be able to keep the timing exactly correct. As described above, there is zero chance of using real ordnance.

With a suitably beefy PA system, and bit of care in the crafting of the frequency response and maybe some echo, you could get a very nice and realistic sound of nearby cannon. Mixing it with the orchestra may been a bit of care. Easy to overwhelm the proceedings.

During my short-lived adventure as a professional musician, the symphony I was in went this route and used a stack of subwoofers. I was disappoint.

[mbh]

Some military units have a small cannon that shoots blanks, specifically for the purpose of firing ceremonial salutes.

If your local college has an ROTC program, or your local high school has a JROTC program, they might have one, or know where you can get one.

[LSLGuy]

No recording compares with the real thing. You can’t get the attack, the volume, or the visceral thump-in-the-chest.

It’s a darn good thing nobody has written a symphonic piece to commemorate the last moments of the Hiroshima Philharmonic. Staging that with full sound effects would be especially challenging, even for pros.

[MikeS]

Oh, and be sure to have your son listen to P.D.Q. Bach’s 1712 Overture at some point before the concert. Anyone with a bit of familiarity with the 1812 Overture should find it amusing.

[K364]

@Dewey_Finn

Are you also scheduling churchbells for the performance?

and a big choir, and a military band. But no kitchen sink.

[Rick]

Off topic
In the first car I ever worked on with a high end aftermarket CD player system installed, the owner had a CD of the 1812. The CD had a warning on the cover that said it contained digitally recorded cannon fire and could damage you system.
It was marvelous. The cannon fire was from channel to channel. Left then right.

[Marion_Wormer]

Practice! you need practice!

Here’s a chance to practice–

[Pixel_Dent]

@figure9

My son’s youth orchestra will be playing the 1812. Does anyone know where to find a cannon playing musician?

I’ve often seen it done with someone popping hydrogen filled balloons with a flame at the end of a long pole. (Standing outside the hall of course). It’s easier to time correctly than a cannon.

[Mr.Miskatonic]

@Joey_P

You might try contacting a local Civil War Reenactment Group. I have no idea how many there are in any one area, but the first one I hit on in your area (Chicago, right) was this one and they appear to have a working cannon. Considering that this thing probably spends 350 days a year in someone’s garage, you might be able to coax it out if you wave a few bucks around. $100 might be a good starting point. IMO, anything under $150 or so isn’t too much to pay to be able to say you have ‘a cannon guy’ and your kid’ll be a hero for the next few days at school…especially if you can get the guy to let him light the fuse once.

Seriously? That money won’t even pay for the gunpowder! Let alone the transportation.

[Dewey_Finn]

@MikeS

The problem with using actual cannon for the 1812 Overture is that at performance tempo, you need five shots in the span of about ten seconds at one point towards the end, and then another dozen shots in a period of less than a minute at the very end. Live performances with actual cannon like this one use multiple cannons, and given the amount of time required to reload 19th-century cannon, you’d probably need more than just the four that are shown in the video. Moreover, you probably can’t time the shots of period cannon precisely enough to sync up with the music as Tchaikovsky wrote it, though that’s perhaps a worthwhile compromise if you want to have real live cannons.

One result of a Google search suggested that you’d need sixteen guns, because of the amount of time needed for reloading and the close timing of the shots.

[Dendarii_Dame]

Years ago, Mike Royko wrote a column in which he suggested performing the 1812 Overture with people who lived in Chicago using handguns, slang for which at the time was “cannons”. Instead of church bells, he suggested car alarms and anti-rape whistles.

Sorry, I wasn’t able to find a link.