Percussion instruments

A percussion instrument is any musical instrument that creates sound by the act of striking, shaking, or scraping against the instrument. Percussion instruments are struck by hand or with clubs, batons, sticks, or brushes—any implement that produces a unique sound. Drums, maracas, cymbals, gongs, and a variety of other traditional and improvised instruments are percussion instruments.

In many styles of music, percussion instruments are used to keep rhythm for other instruments. Modern-style drum kits, which are arrangements of a wide variety of percussion instruments, are commonly used for this task. In orchestral arrangements, percussion instruments are often used for dramatic emphasis.

Background

Predating recorded history, percussion instruments are some of the oldest musical instruments in existence. The oldest percussion instrument ever discovered was a Chinese drum dating back to 5,500 BCE. It featured a wooden shell and a striking surface made of stretched alligator skin. This initial design spread to other continents, where each culture developed its own form of the drum.

While popular in Asia and the Middle East, drums were not used in Europe until after the Crusades. Returning armies brought back drums that closely resembled those played today. Over time, these drums were incorporated into the first orchestras. European artisans crafted new types of percussion instruments for various purposes, making the percussion family one of the most varied families of musical instruments.

Early jazz music advanced the design of percussion instruments. The Ludwig Company created the first foot pedal for the bass drum, allowing jazz musicians to play one drum with their foot, and one with their hands. Over the following decades, this setup expanded to include multiple drums, cymbals, and a wide variety of personal percussion instruments all attached to a singular frame. This arrangement, called the drum kit, allowed a single musician to play many percussion instruments at once. It has remained a staple of pop, rock, blues, and jazz music.

Overview

The percussion family is the largest orchestral musical family. The most common percussion instrument is the drum, both in classical music and more modern genres. A drum is a hollow body with one side open and a membrane tightly stretched over the other. The membrane is struck, either by a hand or another object, causing it to vibrate. The vibrating membrane is amplified by the hollow body, and the sound exits through the open bottom of the drum.

Drums come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles. The largest is the bass drum. It is not tuned to any particular pitch. In orchestral arrangements, the bass drum is often placed in a horizontal stand. It is then struck with various hard objects, including a heavy, felt-covered stick or a timpani mallet, for dramatic effect during a musical performance. When used with a marching band, the bass drum is often worn in a chest harness. The musician then uses a pair of sticks to play a steady bass rhythm, keeping time for the other instruments.

A bass drum is most commonly used in rock, jazz, and blues music. It is usually placed upright on the floor in a special frame that locks it in place. A pedal is placed in front of the drum. When pressed, the pedal hits the drum with a padded hammer. This allows the drummer to play the bass drum while also playing other percussion instruments.

The snare drum is much smaller than the bass drum. Snares are shallow drums with wires stretched along their underside. When the membrane of the drum is struck by a drumstick, the wires vibrate along with the membrane, producing a distinct rattle. When played in an orchestra, the snare drum is placed horizontally on a stand and played from a seated position. When played in a marching band, the snare is hung from the musician's hips on a special harness. When included in a drum kit, the snare may be attached to a rigid frame or placed horizontally on its own stand.

Cymbals are commonly paired with drums. They are heavily used in both orchestral compositions and modern drum kits. Cymbals are concave metal disks that produce a crashing sound when struck. Some cymbals, called suspended cymbals, are hung horizontally in the air. They are designed to be struck with a stick or mallet. Their suspension allows the noise they generate to ring out loudly and clearly without interference from physical contact.

Crash cymbals are arranged in a pair and struck together. In an orchestra, a musician holds a crash cymbal in each hand. When the composition calls for it, the musician then smashes the crash cymbals together. Similar to crash cymbals, the hi-hat is used in drum kits. However, in a hi-hat, the pair of cymbals is mounted to a foot pedal. When the foot pedal is pressed, the cymbals are brought together. When the hi-hat is released, they are separated. This allows musicians to create a variety of effects with a single set of cymbals.

The percussion family is also home to a variety of more exotic instruments. In an orchestra, bells are metal bars tuned to specific pitches. They are arranged in a pattern similar to a keyboard and struck by metal mallets to produce a melody. The triangle is a single metal bar bent into a triangle shape, which produces a very clear, high note when struck. The tambourine is a small, handheld drum with tiny pairs of cymbals placed throughout its body. The xylophone is a number of hollow wooden bars suspended from strings in a rigid frame. The bars are tuned and placed in a typical keyboard arrangement, then struck with a variety of mallets to play melodies, chords, and harmonies.

Bibliography

"A to Z of Percussion Instruments." percussion4u, www.percussion4u.co.uk/pages/a-to-z-of-percussion-instruments. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.

"History of Drums and Drumming." History of Drums, www.historyofdrums.net. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.

“Percussion.” Philharmonia, philharmonia.co.uk/resources/instruments/percussion. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.

"The Percussion Family." Oregon Symphony, www.orsymphony.org/edu/instruments/percussion.aspx. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.

"Percussion Instruments." Medieval Life and Times, www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-music/percussion-instruments.htm. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.