Percussion Instruments Beat it Shake it Hit it Pound it Roll it

Percussion instruments form the oldest of the instrumental groups. Drums and other membranophones were introduced to ancient Greece and medieval Europe from the Orient but were generally limited to ceremonial and military functions and song accompaniment. The Kettledrum, which originated in the Middle East, was introduced into Europe before 1400 and first used in the orchestra during the 17th century. During the next two centuries such idiophones as the Cymbal and Triangle were increasingly used in orchestral works. It was not until the present century that composers started to explore the percussion family with sharply drawn rhythms and tonal colors. Percussion instruments have achieved an importance in Western music comparable to the status they have long enjoyed in other cultures.

The two major categories of percussion instruments are membranophones, which add timbre to the sound of being struck, (this includes the entire family of drums), and idiophones, ( made of such material such as wood, metal, or bone, examples are Bells, Gongs, Triangles, Marimbas, and wood blocks) which make a pitched sound by themselves. The tambourine is both a membranophone and an idiophone. Most percussion instruments have a distinct tone; even drums are tuned. However, the distinction is usually made based on whether the instrument can play a definite pitch or not. In fact, the division of percussion instruments is not always clear cut. Such indefinite pitched instruments as the triangle and temple blocks often produced well defined tones, but these will vary from instrument to instrument and are not standardized.

Membranophones, which have existed in some form for over 4000 years, are instruments that make sounds when a stretched skin vibrates. Usually a membranophone is a drum which makes a sound when the membrane is hit. Hands or drumsticks are typically used to strike the skin. Some drums can be set to different pitches by tightening or loosing the tension on the skin. There are four basic types of drums: Friction drums--the membrane vibrates when a string is pulled through it, the membrane is not struck Frame drums---one or two membranes are stretched over a frame such as the tambourine or bass drum Vessel drums--a membrane is stretched across a vessel such as the kettledrum Tubular drums--a membrane is stretched over one or both ends of a tubular form. Tubular drums are often classified by the shape of their body Barrel--a drum with bulging sides such as the conga drum Conical--a drum whose head is larger than its base Cylindrical--a drum with a long, narrow body and straight, even sides, like the timbales Waisted--a drum that is narrower in the center than at both ends Goblet--a drum that stands on a narrow base Footed--a drum with feet carved from its body Long--a drum whose length significantly exceeds its diameter

Idiophones are instruments made of naturally sonorous material. That simply means that those materials are naturally capable of producing sound vibrations. Their development began in the early days when man hit sticks, rocks, bones, and other items together to communicate. This often mimics the language of the people, and also emphasizes the rhythms of clapping your hands or stomping your feet. Idiophones are categorized by: Stamping: Sounded by banging them on the ground or another hard surface. Stamped: Sound comes from the surface on which the stamping takes place. Shaken: Sounded by shaking. Percussion: Also called 'struck idiophones'. Sounded by striking with an object (bells, gongs, xylophones) Concussion: Sounded when 2 or more similar parts are hit together. Friction: Sounded by rubbing. Scraped: A ridged or notched surface that produces tap sounds when rubbed. Plucked: One or more flexible tongues attached to a frame. They are sounded by plucking the tongues.

The snare drum Drums make use of circular membranes which have many modes of vibration. The excitation of the various tonal frequencies depends upon where the drum is struck. The timpani is struck near the side to excite certain preferred vibrations. By contrast, the snare drum is struck in the center and excites the 01, 02, 03, or fundamental tones. The snare drum is a two-headed drum, as is the bass drum and other orchestral and band drums used in Western music. On the snare drum, eight to ten wire- bound gut strings, or snares, usually are stretched across the lower of the two heads; they vibrate against the heads as the membranes are struck. The two membranes of the snare drum are acoustically coupled to each other, particularly at the low frequencies. This coupling via the enclosed air acts to double the modes. The lower frequency member of the mode pair involves both heads moving in the same direction and for the higher mode they move oppositely.

The timpani The timpani has a round head stretched over a sealed enclosure. The tension may be altered by means of a foot pedal which actuates tensioning elements. The pedal connects to the lugs which control the tension in the membrane. The choice of striking point emphasizes the preferred modes of the circular membrane. The resulting sounded frequencies are further influenced by the enclosed air cavity. The round head of a timpani can vibrate in a large number of vibrational modes. The fundamental is not preferred; it is a dampened, muffled sound and does not produce as pleasing a sound as when the head is struck a few inches from the rim. At this point, the timpani's fundamental mode is not excited. The player tries to excite the preferred frequencies of 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61. The head is struck about halfway to three quarters of the way out from the center. This is near the nodal line of several of the modes which minimizes their contribution to the sound. The actual sounded frequencies are further affected in a significant way by air damping to finally produce the sequence of frequencies actually heard from the instrument.

Definite Pitched Percussion The xylophone appeared in Southeast Asia about the 14th century. It became highly developed through use in the Indonesian gamelan, or percussion orchestra. The simplest xylophone were a pair of bars that laid across the player's legs. More complex instruments were developed that were mounted on a frame. The use of the xylophone spread throughout the continent of Africa, possibly by being imported through Madagascar. It became a prominent instrument in African music. It became introduced to Latin America by African slaves. There it became known as the marimba. The xylophone received its name from the Greek word xylon, meaning "wood", and the word phone, meaning "sound". The xylophone arrived in Europe around It became a widely used folk instrument in central Europe. The Polish and Russian performers had popularized the xylophone in western Europe by the 19th century. It was first used in the orchestra in Bell Lyre Celeste Chimes Crotales Glockenspiel Marimba Orchestra Bells Steel Drums Timpani Vibraphone Xylophone

Latin Percussion African Percussion World percussion Links to pictures of other percussion instruments A whole bunch of percussion instruments