VINTAGE PERCUSSION SOUND EFFECTS
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This site was last updated on July, 1st 2024
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WELCOME
Nick White is the owner of the world's largest collections of sound effect instruments. Used by drummers during the silent film era, these instruments are a delight to see and hear. As a performer and lecturer on the topic, Nick is known for his expertise in recreating this forgotten art form

For anything at all, please contact me at [email protected].

Thanks for visiting,
​Nick White
A Brief Explanation of These Wonderful Instruments

Sound effect instruments were often used by drummers and were called "traps."  The term came to mean any sort of "contraption" meant to make a unique sound. During the silent era, drummers were often called upon to provide drums and sound effects for silent films. Dramatic scenes with trains crashing, hurricanes bellowing, or even lion's roaring, played best to the audience when there was a sound effect that matched their ear's expectations. The need for the instruments faded away with the advent of films with sound, often known as "talkies."  The silent film "trap" instruments directly inspired the sound design of early Disney talking cartoons, and the radio dramas of the golden age of radio.


Watch This Quick Video Introduction. It explains it all!


Performing my sound effect instruments, I  was recently on screen in the Martin Scorsese film "Killers of The Flower Moon."

My Interview with DrumHistoryPodcast.com

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The Nick White Collection

Each instrument is 95-110 yrs old, and owned formerly by "trap drummers" of a bygone era


The Nick White Collection

 Traps & Sound Effects

Early 20th Century Ludwig & Ludwig Train Imitation (10 springs in resonator box with scraper) Go to the Videos section to hear it played!
Go to the Videos section to hear it played!
Walberg & Auge large sized train imitation
Horse Hooves
Early Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" light service sized railroad imitation.
Circa 1911 Walberg & Auge train imitation. Originally owned by Earnest Pickford.
1920's Leedy anvil
Klaxon Horn
Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" machinery imitation (for cranes, dericks, construction, etc.)
Early buzzer/alarm/telephone ring effect
1920's Ludwig & Ludwig Lion's Roar. Go to the Videos section to hear it played!
Early dog bark imitation
1920's Leedy Dog Bark. Go to the Videos section to hear it played!
1920's Dog Bark Imitation.. Unknown maker
1920's Barry Drum Co. automatic dog bark machine. same materials as the Barry snare drums
1920's Barry Drum Co. automatic dog bark machine
Circa 1922 Ludwig & Ludwig 4-in-1 whistle (type 2 style with bellows)
Early 1920's Ludwig & Ludwig 4-in-1 whistle (type 2 style with bellows)
1920's Ludwig 4in1 whistle owned by Dale Wimbrow
Early 1920's Ludwig & Ludwig 4-in-1 whistle (type 1)
very early circa 1913 Ludwig & Ludwig 4-in-1 whistle
Early 1920's Ludwig & Ludwig cuckoo whistle
Leedy, Indianapolis 3-tone train whistle
1920's Walberg & Auge Generic/"Perfection Brand" clustered 3-tone train whistle
Early "ACME" train whistle made by the Acme drum co. of New Jersey
Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" medium-sized train whistle. circa 1920's - 1930's
Early Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" small-sized train whistle
1920's Walberg & Auge 2-tone locomotive whistle.
1920's Leedy Mfg. Co. 2-tone locomotive whistle.
1920's "20th Century Gretch" 2-tone locomotive whistle.
WALBERG AND AUGE OCEAN LINER LOW F WHISTLE
1920's Leedy Tugboat whistle
20th Century (Gretch) and Walberg & Auge tugboat whistles
Large double cuckoo whistle
Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" cuckoo whistle
Very Early circa 1910 Yerkes Mfg. Co. cuckoo whistle with tunable plunger to specific chromatic pitches
pre-1920 Walberg & Auge cuckoo whistle
Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" cuckoo whistle #2
1912-1926 Nokes & Nicolai "Choo-Choo and R.R. Whistle".
Early large-sized tin steamboat whistle #1
Early large-sized tin steamboat whistle #2
Ludwig & Ludwig all-metal train whistle circa 1928
2-tone all-metal whistle
2 interurban train whistles
Early horse hooves imitation with makers mark "Hawes"
Walberg & Auge Horse Hooves Imitation
"Acme Chicago" sand jigs
early Duplex (most likely) clog mallets with steel washer jingles. Each marked "xxx"
1912-1926 Nokes & Nicolai maple and bamboo clog mallets (originally named "Chinese wood drum clogs" aka woodblock clogs)
Pre-1912 Dodge clog mallets
Nokes & Nicolai wooden police rattle with bass drum mounting bracket
Walberg & Auge "economy model" wooden ratchet
Walberg & Auge wooden rattle
1920's Ludwig slapstick
1910s-20's Walberg & Auge Sleigh Bells
1910's Duplex sleigh bells
1920's sleigh bells
very early set of 5 iron sleigh bells on leather strap. Originally owned by Earnest Pickford
Nokes & Nicolai "money chink" imitation for creating the sounds of coins, keys, etc.
Early Bicycle Bell (door bell, telephone imitation) sold by Nokes & Nicolai. Sounds like the alarm of a wind-up alarm clock. Originally owned by Earnest Pickford.
1920's Walberg & Auge typewriter or telegraph imitation
Cicada "clicker" for typewriter and telegraph sounds. Made by the Whitehead & Hoag Co.
"Sheep" imitation on the left and Yerkes cow bawl/ pig grunt (originally owned by Earnest Pickford) on the right.
Two Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" wooden imitations. baby cry and "bantam rooster"
Early Duplex "Shanghai Rooster Crow" Imitation.
Early Duplex "Dung Hill Rooster Crow"
Early Duplex jaybird imitation
Early jaybird imitation. unknown maker
"Allen's" duck quack
2 Elam Fischer duck calls formerly owned by trap drummers
Jas. H Ward Co. reeded imitations (cow bawl, rooster, baby cry, hen cackle, and duck quack)
Early circa 1909 Ward reeded imitations
Early Ward rooster call #2
Full set of Walberg & Auge imitations. Dung Hill Rooster Shanghai Rooster Bantam Rooster Hen Cackle Baby Cry
Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" wooden Cow Bawl. Originally owned by Earnest Pickford.
Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" Cow Bawl Imitation
Early Ludwig & Ludwig Cow Bawl Imitation
Ludwig & Ludwig rooster crow and baby cry
Two Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" baby cry imitations with sanitary caps
Gretsch's "20th Century Brand" hen cackle imitation (unmarked)
Pre-1912 Dodge "combined rooster crow & hen cackle"
with reed packed for storage
Walberg & Auge 9-inch "steam exhaust" slide whistle
Circa 1930's Walberg & Auge bob-white whistle
Very early Duplex "Bob White" quail imitation. The slide only extends enough to span a Perfect 4th musical interval
Pre-1912 Dodge "Bob White" quail call.
early Walberg & Auge's Generic/"Perfection Brand" quail call
Early Jas. H. Ward pop gun
circa 1909 Jas. H. Ward Co. mockingbird whistle
Early 1920's Ludwig & Ludwig mockingbird whistle
Early 1920's Ludwig & Ludwig mockingbird whistle
1930's Metal Cuckoo Whistle
Several mockingbird water whistles with a Duplex robin call
circa 1920-1922 Acme, England siren whistle
1920's Acme, England siren whistle
1920's Ludwig slide whistle
Pre-1930 Leedy triple castanets
circa 1928 Ludwig "bock-a-da-bock" jazz cymbals
early "squawker" sound effect for cricket and frog sounds
circa 1910 Duplex police whistle
1920's Duplex double castinets
1920's Ludwig Bock-a-da-bock cymbals and gladstone sock cymbals
"Dill Pickles Rag" for Solo Xylophone
$20.00
$20.00
"Ivory Kapers" for Solo Xylophone
$20.00
$20.00
"I Found A New Baby" Arr. for Solo Vibraphone
$15.00
$15.00
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