flexatone

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flexatone. Novelty instr., patented 1922, producing a weird tremolo. A flexible metal sheet is suspended in wire frame with handle. On each side of the metal sheet is a wooden knob on a spring of steel. Performer shakes the instr. so that knobs hit sides of metal. Pitch may be altered by varying pressure on metal sheet. Used by Schoenberg in his Variations, Op.31, Von Heute auf Morgen, and Moses und Aron, by Khachaturian (pf. conc.), and by Henze and Penderecki, among others.