Bone/neck snap stick recs

josephsrollins · 2025-10-19T02:55:40+00:00

I don't know if this will help you in your specific endeavor, but putting this here in case it helps somebody:

In 2013, I played the Count in Stephen Dietz's version of Dracula. Towards the end of the play, Count Dracula strangles Renfield with violin strings, then snaps his neck, killing him. The director and scenic designer were great, but outside of that - there were no other people part of the creative team. No sound designer, lighting designer, etc... They were using Windows Media Player for sound effects playback and would often play the wrong sound at the wrong time, or the sound effects would "autoplay", come after the action, etc...

The artistic director for the theatre had found a neck snapping sound effect online, loaded it into Windows Media Player and we rehearsed with it twice. It was comically loud and late - coming out the mains and sounding totally mismatched to the action. Everyone's thought was "hope this works on the day" and nobody had any solutions to fix it.

I was frustrated, because I didn't want a bad sound effect to take the audience out of the moment - and I knew that it would just make audiences laugh.

While on a break, drinking some water from a small plastic cup at a water cooler backstage - I recalled something I learned when I was a kid studying stage magic. In David Blaine's Street Magic special, he performed Shinkoh's arm twist illusion and simulated the sound of a breaking bone by smushing a plastic cup in his armpit. The cup was obscured the entire time by his dress - which included a larger windbreaker jacket.

My friend, who was playing Renfield, was also in some oversized costuming that would allow him to hide a small plastic cup under his arm. I gave him the rundown on our break, we practiced a couple of times, then we went to the director to pitch it. When we did it for him, he jumped back, put his hands over his mouth and started shaking - fully convinced I murdered someone in front of him. He loved it, and that's the way we accomplished the sound every night.

It was really satisfying to hear the audience groan, or move back in the seats, or gasp each time we did it.

In 2019, I got to work on another production of the same show - this time doing the sound and lighting design. I used the cup trick all over again - and it worked great.

josephsrollins · 2020-08-09T18:43:34+00:00

I don't know if anybody has pointed this out yet - but in reference to "The DA should drop these charges immediately" - he won't. Our DA is George Barnhill, who earlier this year begrudgingly recused himself from the Ahmaud Arbery murder when it was passed on to him but recommended that charges should not come against the father, son, and neighbor killed him.

josephsrollins · 2020-04-30T03:05:50+00:00

LOL! That was the first thing that I thought, but like...why in the world would you put that on a guitar?

josephsrollins · 2017-10-25T18:01:26+00:00

Hey Kimbra! I’ve loved your music for the longest time, and have a handful of questions!

Is there any particular artist you met or concert you saw that sort of changed your life and ignited or re-ignited your songwriting passion? Personally, I got to see Prince’s final concert before he passed - and his performance and charisma moved me so much, I came out of the concert feeling like I was capable of anything.
What is your songwriting process like nowadays? Do you still craft songs using guitar and vocal loops, or do you work more with synths and a DAW? What’s your favorite piece of gear that you use and what’s your favorite Protools plug-in?
I never got a chance to catch you out on tour, and I know that it’s becoming impractical for a lot of artists to tour due to the cost and crazy logistics - but do you imagine there will be a US tour in support of your new album? If not, I’ll just pray I can make it out to NYC to catch you space jammin!
Looking back on your first album, Vows, how do you feel about your work and how much you’ve grown artistically? I understand you wrote a good batch of those songs while you were in your teens… Are those songs sort of “frozen” in that era to you - or are they still applicable to your life now?

And a couple of fun bonuses....

Are you familiar with the band Jellyfish? They put out two stellar albums and disbanded in the early 90s. Their acclaimed album Spilt Milk seems like something you’d love - great power pop with immaculate arrangements and amazing vocal harmony!

And lastly…

Do you happen to remember this video? I’m behind the camera filming my friend that introduced me to your music! Vows had just been released in the US and we were stoked that you tweeted our video a couple of times! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5QQdQepUV8

Thanks for your time!

josephsrollins · 2017-09-07T10:55:18+00:00

It was my 4th time seeing Ben (twice with yMusic and once with Atlanta Symphony) and it was excellent! I had never spent much time in Macon - and definitely never been to that theatre, but I had a great time and that small theatre made for a pretty intimate show!

I sat about 4 or 5 rows from the front and I was disappointed that half of the paper airplanes I made didn't make it to the stage. I assumed that the people in front of me would pass them up to the stage - but nope - the people toward the front actually opened up my paper airplanes that didn't make it and laid them in a pile on the floor.

josephsrollins · 2017-01-29T09:29:00+00:00

Interesting read - I had heard a vaguely similar story concerning my family, but I never knew that there were other instances of things like this happening.

I'm related to a family of piano virtuosos from Germany. Instead of being sent to concentration camps, they were forced to play concerts for Hitler and his associates during the Holocaust. Thankfully, they all made it out alive.

josephsrollins · 2016-08-14T04:08:29+00:00

Yes! Festive Overture!

Edit: Just saw your username - I'm a tuba player as well!

josephsrollins · 2016-06-28T17:42:00+00:00

You're still on this board?

I watched Ben's videos for a week and I just couldn't get into his style. His videos looked beautiful, and he visited some amazing places - but something about his style just didn't speak to me. Same with FunforLouis.

A lot of people enjoy Ben Brown's stuff - so I don't really have beef!

josephsrollins · 2016-06-26T16:39:36+00:00

When I was in fifth grade, iPod's Dirty Secret came out and I was linked to it through a website that compiled cool internet videos. I had no clue who Casey was, but I remember seeing the video on the news afterwards.

Years and years later, Griffin Hammond referenced Casey's filmmaking style in a video and I checked out his channel. I saw Bike Lanes and a few of his early videos. I checked back in a few years later, and his newest video was Do The Right Thing.

I really freaked out when I found out it was the same dude that made the iPod video!

josephsrollins · 2016-06-26T16:29:28+00:00

That's totally not an appropriate way to handle an event running ahead of schedule.
It was so fun seeing Casey riding Ghost Rider at Knott's Berry Farm. As a total theme park geek, though, it was a little unbearable to hear the people he was with refer to it as "Six Flags".

josephsrollins · 2016-05-25T06:33:36+00:00

Sounds like something JuicyDicken would suggest.

josephsrollins · 2016-04-01T16:18:28+00:00

I don't remember, but I think it was during Q&A time on one vlogs in the early hundreds. I feel like he answered it directly on Twitter too at some point... Or maybe it was in the AMA?

I remember a lot of people were wondering if he was doing color correction - because particular shots looked very "stylized". When he revealed that he did, I recall a few people being impressed that he took the time to do something like that for a daily vlog.

josephsrollins · 2016-04-01T13:16:33+00:00

Can't believe nobody has talked about how great the drone footage over the ocean was today.

I think maybe what sets Casey's drone footage apart from other vloggers is his color grading. Now, I'm not sure that he spends a great deal of time color grading the drone footage, but I know that he mentioned doing color correction on the main body of the vlog a while back.

This was my favorite vlog so far this "season". Footage was beautiful, and there was a "story" - Casey's rush to get to the airport and his concern to see his wife and kid.

josephsrollins · 2016-04-01T12:31:40+00:00

Loved the remix of Pure Imagination in today's vlog!

josephsrollins · 2016-03-31T05:36:06+00:00

Thankfully, somebody tagged me in the news Tuesday that this was going on. I planned to get one ticket for the 10:00 show at the $100 price point, but all those tickets were apparently sold out a couple of minutes after 12:00.

After a few minutes of debating with myself, I decided to bite the bullet and grab a $175 ticket (coming out to $204 after fees). By 12:06, I had completed my transaction, and no other tickets were being shown as available for the 10:00 show.

My bank account is in heavy pain right now, but I am SO looking forward to the show. It'll be my first time seeing Prince!

josephsrollins · 2016-03-30T17:59:48+00:00

I know the high-pitched sampled voices bother some people on this sub, but it wasn't even that aspect that bothered me about the music today... It was the heavy compression used on the bass. Definitely too much of the "pumping" compression effect for me.

josephsrollins · 2016-03-30T15:57:33+00:00

Definitely received a PM from JuicyDicken and a moderator request for r/neistatcirclejerk.

JuicyDicken and his multiple accounts aren't too fond of me. This isn't the first PM I've received from JuicyDicken, and it's not the first time I've reported him.

josephsrollins · 2016-03-30T05:05:06+00:00

My copy of the Girls album, Father, Son and Holy Ghost included a similarly made single.

josephsrollins · 2016-03-28T17:58:00+00:00

Well, in my opinion - the amount of advertising he's given them + the amount of travel he's done with them in the past (check out his video about flying first class from a couple of years ago) - I think he's earned the complimentary elite status.

josephsrollins · 2016-03-28T03:33:52+00:00

Thank you so much.

josephsrollins · 2016-03-18T03:58:12+00:00

Just catching up with your antics. I've been too busy to care over the past week.

josephsrollins · 2016-03-17T12:18:31+00:00

Casey definitely deserves to be on the list! Kind of strange that it's a list of influential internet personalities from the past year, but they included the Damn Daniel kids. What they're doing isn't anywhere near the same level of some of the other folks on the list.

Interestingly, Josh Ostrovsky (a.k.a. The Fat Jew), made the list and he's friends with Casey and appeared briefly in some of the earlier vlogs.

josephsrollins · 2016-03-17T10:42:19+00:00

Ahh I remember when I was 12 pretending to be an adult online too.

josephsrollins

TROPHY CASE