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| Percussion instruments | |
|---|---|
| Name | Percussion instruments |
| Background | percussion |
| Classification | Idiophone, membranophone, chordophone (percussive use), electrophone |
Percussion instruments are a diverse family of musical instruments that produce sound when struck, shaken, scraped, or otherwise set into vibration. They function across orchestral, popular, folk, and ceremonial contexts, supplying rhythm, color, texture, and melodic accompaniment. Percussion instruments feature prominently in ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Buena Vista Social Club, and Wu-Tang Clan performances, and appear in rituals from Carnival (Brazil) to Diwali celebrations.
Percussion instruments encompass idiophones like the Gamelan's gong, membranophones such as the tabla and snare drum, and percussive uses of chordophones like the piano and harpsichord. Instruments range from tuned devices used by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's timpanist to untuned accessories employed by artists on Saturday Night Live, MTV, and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Composers including Igor Stravinsky, John Cage, Leonard Bernstein, and Gustav Mahler have written landmark percussion parts influencing performance practice. Manufacturers like Yamaha Corporation, Pearl Corporation, Zildjian, and Ludwig Drums shape instrument design and global distribution.
Traditional organological systems classify percussion by sound production: idiophones (gongs, claves), membranophones (bass drum, congas), chordophones used percussively (piano, banjo), and electrophones (electronic drum pads, drum machines). Orchestral taxonomy used by the Berlin Philharmonic or Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra distinguishes tuned percussion—xylophone, marimba, vibraphone—from untuned percussion—cymbal, triangle, tambourine. Ethnomusicologists at institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and Institute of Ethnomusicology (HUNGARY) catalog regional families: African djembe traditions linked with Mali and Senegal, Latin percussion connected to Cuba and Puerto Rico (congas, bongos), and South Asian membranophones tied to India's Carnatic and Hindustani systems (mridangam, tabla).
Instrument makers from workshops in Istanbul to factories in Niagara Falls, Ontario employ woods, metals, synthetic polymers, and animal skins. Traditional marimba bars use rosewood similar to materials traded through historical routes like the Silk Road, while modern vibraphone bars often use aluminum alloys developed with corporations such as Meinl Percussion GmbH and Adams Musical Instruments. Drumhead innovations involve collaborations between artisans and companies like Remo, which developed synthetic Mylar heads transforming marching percussion in organizations like the United States Marine Band and Royal Marines Band Service. Cymbal metallurgy traces techniques found in Istanbul craft guilds and the history of the Ottoman Empire.
Techniques range from single-stroke rudiments practiced by members of Drum Corps International to complex fingered bols of tabla players trained in gharanas associated with Lucknow and Jaipur. Orchestral timpani technique follows traditions codified by timpanists from the Berlin Philharmonic and pedagogues like those of the Royal Academy of Music. Jazz vibraphonists from Miles Davis ensembles and bebop icons such as Charlie Parker influenced mallet grips and four-mallet methods employed at institutions like the Berklee College of Music. Electronic percussion performance integrates hardware from Roland Corporation and production techniques used by producers from Rick Rubin to Dr. Dre.
Percussion anchors rhythm sections in genres including jazz, rock music, salsa (music), reggae, hip hop music, and classical music. Drum kits built for bands like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin evolved alongside producers such as George Martin and Phil Spector. In orchestral repertoire by Maurice Ravel and Pierre Boulez, percussion provides coloristic effects; in film scores by John Williams and Hans Zimmer it drives momentum and cueing. Folk ensembles—e.g., Buena Vista Social Club and West African ensembles featuring musicians from Guinea—use percussion for dance and narrative functions, while ceremonial percussion appears in state events like the State Opening of Parliament (United Kingdom) and sports spectacles like the FIFA World Cup opening ceremonies.
Archaeological finds in regions such as Mesopotamia and Egypt document percussion dating to antiquity, with instruments depicted in artifacts housed by the British Museum and Louvre Museum. Trade networks including the Trans-Saharan trade spread percussion types across continents; colonial encounters reshaped instruments in the Americas, contributing to samba rhythms in Brazil and rumba in Cuba. Ethnomusicologists from the Library of Congress and scholars at University of California, Los Angeles study oral transmission, while ensembles like Cirque du Soleil incorporate percussive theatre traditions. Percussion has also played roles in protest and politics, from drumming in Arab Spring demonstrations to percussion-based sound art exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art.
The list below includes widely recognized instruments and regional variants: - Timpani (kettle drumparticipation in Vienna Philharmonic). - Snare drum (marching variants used by United States Marine Corps). - Bass drum (orchestral and marching corps traditions like Drum Corps International). - Drum kit (rock and jazz innovations associated with Buddy Rich and Ringo Starr). - Xylophone and marimba (concert marimba repertory championed by performers appearing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic). - Vibraphone (jazz standard used by artists in Blue Note Records sessions). - Glockenspiel (military band and orchestral repertoire, used by the Royal Military School of Music). - Congas and bongos (Afro-Cuban styles linked to Buena Vista Social Club and Tito Puente). - Tabla and mridangam (classical traditions associated with sabhas in Chennai and gharanas of India). - Djembe and talking drum (West African traditions from Mali and Nigeria). - Cymbals, gongs, tam-tam (Istanbul and East Asian idioms featuring in the NHK Symphony Orchestra). - Tambourine and bodhrán (folk contexts such as Irish traditional music and Mediterranean ensembles). - Steelpan (Trinidad and Tobago carnival traditions at events like Notting Hill Carnival). - Castanets and claves (Iberian and Afro-Latin repertoires including performances at Gran Teatre del Liceu). - Electronic drum pads and drum machines (used by artists on SNL and producers at Abbey Road Studios).
Category:Musical instruments