This article will discuss the types of drums. These musical instruments are among the oldest on our planet. That is why there are so many of their species. This article will list the main ones. Each variety of drums (names and photos will be presented below) is dedicated to a special section, including a description of the design, as well as the history of the origin of the musical instrument.
Drum Features
First of all, it is worth mentioning the division of musical drums into types, according to their application in everyday life. For centuries, drumming has been an integral part of religious rituals. With the help of rhythms of a different nature, shamans introduced people into trance. The existence of such practices is indicated by the cave paintings of the Sumerian tribe, which date back to the third millennium BC. Similar traditions have survived to our days. They can be observed in religious rites in Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions, primarily Eastern ones.
Drum as insignia
The African Tuareg tribe today has drums the same meaning as many centuries ago.
Not a single cult ritual is complete without them. In addition, a special type of African drum used in this tribe serves as a mark of distinction for the elders of individual clans. The leader of the whole tribe has his own percussion musical instrument . When armed conflicts occur between the Tuareg clans or the whole tribe is fighting a common enemy, the destruction of his drum is considered the greatest insult that can be inflicted on the leader. I must say that until recently, all types of modern music were banned from this people, and for playing the guitars a person could easily be imprisoned. Playing music on this instrument was equated with revolutionary activity. Now these harsh rules are noticeably relaxed. Therefore, now in the Tuareg tribe there are even several rock groups combining modern Western music with elements of national culture (the sounds of a local variety of drums called tobol) in their work.
Chief musician in the orchestra
Another function of drums since ancient times was considered to be musical accompaniment of military parades. For the first time in this capacity, they began to be used in ancient Egypt. European military bands began to include drums in the 16th-17th centuries in Austria and Germany. It was there that a special kind of drum appeared. The tool has entered a modern installation called the large. Outwardly, it resembles a large barrel. On the slang of professional musicians they call him that. On the big drum, unlike other varieties of this instrument, they play not with sticks and not with hands, but with a mallet, which has a seal of soft material at the working end. It is important to note that in this type of drum (photo below) they play with their hands in military bands.
At the same time, the musician firmly squeezes the beater with one hand, striking it on the barrel, and with the other hand he beats the rhythm on the plates that are attached on top. When the big drum became part of a modern drum kit, the technique for extracting sounds from it changed somewhat. At the beginning of the twentieth century, orchestra musicians played this instrument, kicking it. Later, a device appeared that allowed to fix a mallet, driven by a pedal, near a large drum. When the musical genres of jazz and rock appeared and the need arose to perform more complex rhythms, some drummers began to add a second barrel, and, accordingly, another clapper with a pedal. In the seventies of the twentieth century, the game on the big drum was improved due to another innovation. The mallet began to be mounted on the driveshaft. Now the drummers got the opportunity to play on one barrel with two legs. This process resembles cycling.
Varieties of Drum by Origin
This article has already examined the classification of percussion instruments according to the role they play in public life. Now it is time to talk about the classification of drums (names and photos will also be present in this material) according to another criterion. Almost all musicologists say with confidence that every drum kit instrument has folk roots. For example, the big drum already mentioned in the article was invented in ancient China. The name of the craftsman who first made this lowest timbre drum, unfortunately, is unknown. So what instruments are still included in the drum kit? Since this article is devoted to the varieties and names of drums, in answering this question, you should dwell only on them.
The main instrument in this kit is the snare drum. It has another name - worker. The basic rhythmic pattern is usually performed on it. This variety of drums (see photo below) is a flat percussion instrument resembling a large tablet in its appearance, consisting, like the vast majority of its congeners, of a round base coated on both sides with membranes made of leather or plastic.
Currently, the second of these materials is more often used. This is due to its relatively low cost and ease of use. Plastic tension is much easier to adjust using special mechanisms, which are often supplied with hoops that press the membrane to the walls of the housing.
The springs are usually mounted on the underside of the snare drum. They add a steel tone to the sound of this instrument. In some models, the saturation of the sound can be adjusted.
This variety of drums was also borrowed by pop musicians from drummers of military bands.
Another indispensable element of the kit are tom-toms.
In the basic installation, there are usually three of them: high, medium and low. Their design resembles a working drum, but a higher, cylindrical shape. A low or floor volume usually stands on metal legs. And its smaller relatives are fixed on the rack, which either rests with the base on the floor, or is screwed to the big drum. There is also a variety of these tools in which there is no shell around the membranes. Such tom-toms are called rototomes. Their main distinguishing feature is not only the absence of a shell, but also the sound of a certain height. That is, each of them, in contrast to the snare and snare drum, is tuned to a specific note. Due to this feature, they attracted the attention of a number of modern composers who entrusted them with solo parts in their works.
These drums can also be used by drummers of military or civilian brass bands during a defile, that is, when playing while moving. In this case, tom-toms are used, intended for fastening to the musician’s belt.
Percussion
Many music lovers probably know this word. It has a Latin root, which means “knock”. But this is by no means called all percussion musical instruments. As mentioned earlier, due to the fact that these accessories have been known to mankind for more than a thousand years, there are a great many of their species. Almost every nation created their own original percussion instruments. Even if some kind of drums was borrowed by one tribe from another, then in the process of use it was modified. Instruments that were not included in the classical drum kit were called percussion. Therefore, we can talk about one more principle of separation of percussion. According to him, the first group of these instruments are those that are part of the traditional drummer kit, and the rest can be added to the second.
Latin American and African drums
The types and names of some of them are given in this chapter. But, first of all, I want to say a few words about how these exotic musical instruments became known and earned the love of European music lovers. At the beginning of the twentieth century, sultry music brought by sailors from Argentina sounded on dance floors all over the world. The fashionable dance was called tango.
It was then that Latin American compositions appeared in the repertoire of European and American jazz orchestras, and drum sets, which included some exotic drums, were also included in their composition.
This sunny music received a new round of popularity with the appearance on the stage of the American band Santana in the late sixties. Its permanent leader, Carlos Santana, successfully combined blues melody with hot Spanish and Caribbean rhythms in his work. In the ensemble, in addition to the traditional drum kit, there was also percussion.
The most popular percussion
What exotic instruments are most often used by modern drummers?
First of all, it is necessary to say about the African variety of drums with the name Conga. These tools are usually quite impressive in size. Their height reaches 1.2 meters.
They are distinguished by their elongated shape and are made, as a rule, of palm wood. Membranes for such drums are made of genuine leather. They play on them, usually setting three, and sometimes four, kongs nearby. The musician extracts sounds using slaps with his hands or the edge of a brush. Also, more sophisticated techniques in the form of clicks and finger strokes are often used.
Bongs
Another popular percussion instrument is bongos. They were brought to America, and then to Europe from Cuba.
This type of drum is a double drum. Interestingly, most of the instrument is called a woman, and the smaller - a man. The technique of playing this instrument is almost no different from the techniques for Kong.
Form classification
Also, the drums can be distinguished by the external contours of the instrument. There are drums with a cylindrical, barrel-shaped, cone-shaped case and even made in the form of an hourglass.
King of Asian rhythms
Oriental percussion instruments tend to have bizarre shapes. One of the songs of Boris Grebenshchikov and the Aquarium group has the following words:
May the Lord spare the minds of all who play on the gibberish!
The instrument mentioned here is one of the most common percussion instruments in eastern countries. Its body is in the shape of a cup. The membrane for him is usually goat skin. In budget options, a calf skin, necessarily a female, can be used.
Such tools are common in many eastern countries, for example, in Egypt, Turkey, Morocco. Therefore, the name of these drums may vary depending on the homeland of each particular sample.
The musician has the ability to adjust the tension of the skin serving as a membrane. Tuning can be done directly during the performance of the work. With this technique, percussionists achieve interesting sound effects.
Images of these tools are found in cave paintings of the third millennium BC.
Cossack instrument
It is generally accepted that Slavic peoples are not distinguished by a special love for rhythmic musical compositions. Their songs are more likely to be measured and melodious than rhythmic.
However, these peoples have their own percussion instruments. For example, several centuries ago Zaporizhzhya Cossacks began to use large regimental boilers for cooking as huge percussion. The manufacturing process of this type of antique drum is simple: you just have to fit the vessel with fresh animal skin.
Number of reels
The minimum drum kit includes such drums: working, large, three tom volumes. Such a set is used, for example, in many directions of classical jazz. Other drummers, in particular this applies to genres such as art rock, jazz rock and so on, play on installations with a large number of tom-volumes and snare drums, and sometimes barrels.
Various percussions are sometimes added to them. Often an exotic musician plays exotic drums.
Conclusion
This article has given several drum classifications. Information about the instruments includes a photo of the reels with the names of the species.