Percussion instruments, the names and descriptions of which are presented in this article, arose earlier than other musical instruments. They were used in ancient times by the peoples of the Middle East and the African continent to accompany warlike and religious dances and dances. Percussion instruments, whose names are numerous, as well as their types, are very common these days, not a single ensemble can do without them. These include those in which sound is extracted using shock.
Classification
According to their musical qualities, that is, the possibility of extracting sounds of one or another pitch, one can divide into 2 groups all types of percussion instruments, the names of which are presented in this article: with an undefined pitch (cymbals, drums, etc.) and with a certain pitch ( xylophone, timpani). They are also divided, depending on the type of vibrator (sounding body), into self-sounding ones (castanets, triangles, cymbals, etc.), lamellar ones (bells, vibraphones, xylophones, etc.) and webbed ones (tambourine, drums, timpani, etc.).
Now you know what types of percussion instruments exist. Let’s say a few words about what determines the timbre and volume of their sound.
What determines the volume and timbre of sound
Their loudness is determined by the amplitude of the vibrations of the sounding body, that is, the strength of the impact, as well as the size of the sounding body. Sound enhancement in some instruments is achieved by adding resonators. The timbre that one or another type of percussion instrument has depends on many factors. The main ones are the method of impact, the material from which the instrument is made, and the shape of the sounding body.
Webbed percussion instruments
The sounding body in them is a membrane or a stretched membrane. These include percussion instruments whose names are: tambourine, drums, timpani, etc.
Timpani
Timpani is an instrument with a certain pitch, which has a metal body in the form of a boiler. A membrane made of dressed leather is stretched at the top of this boiler. A special membrane made of polymeric materials is currently used as a membrane. It is secured to the housing with tensioning screws and a hoop. The screws located around the circumference release or pull it. The percussion instrument of the timpani is configured as follows: if you tighten the membrane, the system becomes higher, and if you lower it, it will be lower. In order not to interfere with the membrane to vibrate freely, there is a hole at the bottom for air movement. The body of this tool is made of brass, copper or aluminum. Timpani are mounted on a tripod - a special stand.
This instrument is used in an orchestra in a set of 2, 3, 4 or more boilers of different sizes. From 550 to 700 mm is the diameter of modern timpani. The following types are distinguished: pedal, mechanical and screw. Pedals are the most common, because you can rebuild the instrument to the necessary key without interrupting the game by pressing the pedal. In the timpani, the sound volume is approximately equal to the fifth. Below all others, a large timpani is tuned.
Tulumbas
Tulumbas - an ancient percussion instrument (genus timpani). He served in the 17th-18th centuries in the army, where he was used to give alarms. In shape it is a pot-shaped resonator. This ancient percussion instrument (genus timpani) can be made of metal, clay or wood. From above it is covered with skin. According to this design they beat with wooden bats. A muffled sound is reminiscent of something like a cannon shot.
Drums
We continue to describe percussion instruments whose names were listed at the beginning of the article. Drums have an undefined pitch. These include various percussion instruments. The names, the list of which is presented below, all indicate drums (their various varieties). There are large and small orchestral drums, large and small pop, as well as bongos, tom bass and tom tenor.
The large orchestral drum has a cylindrical body, covered on both sides with plastic or leather. It is characterized by a dull, low, powerful sound, extracted by a wooden mallet with a tip in the form of a ball made of felt or felt. For drum membranes today began to use a polymer film instead of parchment skin. It has better musical and acoustic properties and higher strength. At drums, membranes are secured with tensioning screws and two rims. The body of this tool is made of glued plywood or sheet steel and is lined with celluloid art. It has dimensions of 680x365 mm. The large pop drum has a design and shape similar to an orchestra. Its dimensions are 580x350 mm.
The snare orchestra drum is a low cylinder, covered on both sides with plastic or leather. The membranes (membranes) are attached to the casing with clamping screws and two rims. In order to give the instrument a specific sound, special strings or a pod (spiral) are stretched over the lower membrane. They are driven by a dropping mechanism. The use of synthetic membranes in the drums has significantly improved the reliability of operation, musical and acoustic characteristics, presentation and service life. The small orchestral drum has dimensions of 340x170 mm. It is included in symphony and military brass bands. The snare drum has a device similar to an orchestra. Its dimensions are 356x118 mm.
Tom-tom-bass and tom-tom-tenor drums do not differ in design. They are used in percussion pop installations. The tenor tom is attached to the big drum with a bracket. Tom-tom-bass is installed on a special stand on the floor.
Bongos are small drums with plastic or leather stretched on one side. They are included in the drum percussion unit. Bongos are interconnected by adapters.
As you can see, many percussion instruments are drums. The names, the list of which was presented above, can be supplemented by including some less popular varieties.
Tambourine
A tambourine is a shell (hoop), on one side of which plastic or leather is stretched. Special slots are made in the body of the hoop. Brass plates are reinforced in them; they look like small orchestral plates. Inside the hoop, sometimes small rings, bells are strung on spirals or on taut ropes. All this tinkles from the slightest touch on a tambourine, creating a special sound. The membrane is punched with the palm of the right hand (its base) or fingertips.
Tambourines are used to accompany songs, dances. In the East, virtuosity reached the art of playing this instrument. Here is also common solo playing on a tambourine. A dyaf, def or gawal is an Azerbaijani tambourine, hawal or daf is Armenian, a daira is Georgian, a doira is Tajik and Uzbek.
Plate Percussion Instruments
We continue to describe percussion musical instruments. Photos and names of plate percussion are presented below. Such instruments with a certain pitch, include xylophone, marimbu (marimbafon), metallophone, bells, bells, vibraphone.
Xylophone
Xylophone is a set of wooden blocks of various sizes that correspond to sounds of different heights. Whetstones are made of rosewood, spruce, walnut, maple. They are placed in parallel in 4 rows, following the order of the chromatic scale. These blocks are mounted on strong laces, and are also separated by springs. A cord passes through the holes made in the blocks. The xylophone for playing is laid out on a table on rubber share pads that are located along the cords of this instrument. It is played with two wooden sticks having a thickening at the end. This instrument is used for playing in an orchestra or for solo playing.
Metallophone and marimba
Metallophone and marimba are also percussion musical instruments. Do the photos and their names tell you something? We offer to get to know them better.
A metallophone is a musical instrument similar to a xylophone, however its sound plates are made of metal (bronze or brass). A photo of him is presented below.
Marimba (marimbafon) is an instrument in which the sounding elements are wooden plates. It also has metal tubular resonators to enhance sound.
Marimba has a juicy, soft timbre. Its sound range is 4 octaves. The game plates of this instrument are made of rosewood. This provides good musical and acoustic characteristics of this instrument. In 2 rows on the frame are plates. In the first row there are plates of basic tones, and in the second - halftones. Resonators mounted in 2 rows on the frame are tuned to the sound frequency of their respective plates. A photo of this tool is presented below.
On the supporting trolley, the main nodes of the marimba are fixed. The frame of this trolley is made of aluminum. This provides sufficient strength and minimum weight. Marimba is used both for educational purposes and for professional play.
Vibraphone
This instrument is a set of chromatically tuned aluminum plates arranged in 2 rows similar to a piano keyboard. On a high table (bed), plates are mounted and attached to the laces. In the center under each of them are cylindrical resonators of a certain size. Through them pass in the upper part of the axis, on which fan fans (impellers) are fixed. So vibration is achieved. The damper device has this tool. It is connected under the bed to the pedal so that you can muffle the sound with your foot. The vibraphone is played with the help of 2, 3, 4, and sometimes with a large number of long sticks with rubber balls at the ends. This instrument is used in a symphony orchestra, however more often - in a variety or as a solo instrument. A photo of him is presented below.
Bells
What percussion instruments can be used to play bell ringing in an orchestra? The correct answer is bells. This is a set of percussion instruments used in symphony and opera orchestras for this purpose. Bells consist of a set (from 12 to 18 pieces) of cylindrical tubes that are chromatically tuned. Usually steel pipes are chromed or nickel-plated brass. Their diameter is from 25 to 38 mm. They are suspended on a special frame-rack, the height of which is about 2 m. A blow through the pipes of a wooden hammer extracts sound. The bells are equipped with a special device (pedal-damper) for damping the sound.
Bells
This is a percussion instrument consisting of 23-25 metal plates, tuned chromatically. They are placed in steps of 2 rows on a flat box. The black keys of the piano correspond to the top row, and the white to the bottom.
Self-playing percussion instruments
Talking about what are the percussion instruments (names and types), one cannot but mention the self-sounding percussion instruments. The following tools belong to this type: plates, tom-toms, triangles, rattles, maracas, castanets, etc.
Dishes
Plates are metal discs made of nickel silver or brass. A somewhat spherical shape is attached to the disc disks. Leather straps attached to the center. A long ringing sound is emitted when they hit each other. Sometimes they use one plate. Then the sound is extracted by striking a metal brush or stick. Orchestra plates, gong and charleston plates are produced. They sound ringing, sharply.
Let's talk about what other percussion instruments are. Photos with names and descriptions will help you get to know them better.
Triangle Orchestral
Triangle orchestral (a photo of it is presented below) is a steel bar of an open triangular shape. When playing this instrument, they hang it freely and then hit it with a metal stick, performing various rhythmic patterns. A ringing, bright sound has a triangle. It is used in various ensembles and orchestras. Triangles are available with two sticks made of steel.
A gong or tom-tam is a bronze disc with curved edges. A mallet having a felt tip is struck at its center. It turns out a gloomy, thick and deep sound, which reaches full strength gradually, not immediately after an impact.
Castanets and Maracas
Castanets (a photo of them is presented below) is a folk instrument of Spain. In shape, this antique percussion instrument is a shell connected by a cord. One of them is facing the spherical (concave) side to the other. They are made of plastic or hardwood. Castanets produce single or double.
Maracas are balls made of plastic or wood filled with shot (a small number of pieces of metal) and decorated colorful outside. They are equipped with a handle so that they are comfortable to hold during the game. Various rhythmic patterns can be reproduced by shaking maracas. They are used mainly in pop ensembles, but sometimes in orchestras.
Rattles are sets of small plates mounted on a wooden plate.
These are the main names of percussion musical instruments. Of course, there are many more. We talked about the most famous and popular.
Drum set, which has a pop ensemble
In order to have a complete picture of this group of instruments, it is also necessary to know the composition of the drum kits (installations). The most common is the following composition: a large and a snare drum, a large and a small single cymbal, a paired hi-hat cymbal (charleston), bongos, tom-tom alt, tom-tom tenor and tom-tom-bass.
A large drum is installed on the floor in front of the performer, which has persistent legs for stability. On top of the drum, the drums Tom-Tom Alt and Tom-Tom Tenor can be fixed with brackets. It also provides an additional stand on which an orchestral plate is fixed. The tom-tom alt and tom-tom tenor brackets fixing on the big drum regulate their height.
The mechanical pedal is an integral part of the big drum. The artist uses it to extract the sound from this musical instrument. Be sure to include in the drum kit snare drum. It is attached by three tackles on a special stand: one retractable and two folding. The stand is installed on the floor. This is a rack that is equipped for fixing in a certain position, as well as changing the inclination of the snare drum with a locking device.
The snare drum has a silencer and a reset device that are used to adjust the tone. Also, the drum kit sometimes includes several volumes of tenors, volumes of viols and volumes of drums of different sizes.
Also, the drum set (a photo of it is presented below) includes orchestral plates with a stand, a chair and a mechanical stand for the Charleston. Maracas, triangles, castanets and other noise instruments are accompanying instruments of this installation.
Spare Parts & Accessories
Spare accessories and parts for percussion instruments include: stands for orchestral cymbals, for snare drum, for Charleston cymbals, timpani sticks, mechanical clapper for drum (large), sticks for snare drum, pop drum sticks, orchestra brushes, beater and leather for a large drum, belts, cases.
Keyboard instruments
Distinguish between keyboards and percussion instruments. The piano and grand piano belong to shock-keyboards. The strings of the piano are arranged horizontally; the hammer hits them from the bottom up. The piano is different in that the hammer strikes in the direction from the musician along the strings forward. The strings are stretched in a vertical plane. Pianos and pianos, thanks to the richness of sounds in terms of sound power and pitch, as well as the great capabilities of these instruments, are collectively called. And one and the other instrument can be called one word - "piano". Piano is a string percussion instrument by the method of extracting sound.
The key mechanism that is used in it is a system of levers connected among themselves, which serves to transfer the energy of the pianist's fingers to the strings. It consists of mechanics and a keyboard. A keyboard is a set of keys, the number of which may vary depending on the sound range of a particular instrument. The keys are usually lined with plastic pads.Then they are mounted with pins on the keyboard frame. Each of the keys has lead seals, a pilot, a capsule and an overlay. She conveys as a lever of the first kind the pianist's effort on the figure of mechanics. Mechanics are hammer mechanisms that transform a musician’s effort into a hit on a hammer string when a key is pressed. Hammers are made of hornbeam or maple, and their head is covered with felt.