Percussion (10172)

A percussion instrument can be any object which produces a sound by being struck with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. The term usually applies to an object used in a rhythmic context and/or with musical intent. more...

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The word, "percussion", has evolved from Latin terms: "percussio" (which translates as "to beat, strike" in the musical sense, rather than the violent action), and "percussus" (which is a noun meaning "a beating"). As a noun in contemporary English it is described at Wiktionary as "the collision of two bodies to produce a sound". The usage of the term is not unique to music but has application in medicine and weaponry, as in percussion cap, but all known and common uses of the word, "percussion", appear to share a similar lineage beginning with the original Latin: "percussus". In a musical context then, the term "percussion instruments" may have been coined originally to describe a family of instruments including drums, rattles, metal plates, or wooden blocks which musicians would beat or strike (as in a collision) to produce sound.

Classifications

Percussion instruments can be, and indeed are, classified by various criteria sometimes depending on their construction, ethnic origin, their function within musical theory and orchestration, or their relative prevelance in common knowledge. It is not sufficient to describe percussion instruments as being either "pitched" or "unpitched" which is often a tendency; rather it may be more informative to describe percussion instruments in regards to one or more of the following four paradigms:

By methods of sound production

Many texts, including Teaching Percussion by Gary Cook of the University of Arizona, begin by studying the physical characteristics of instruments and the methods by which they produce sound. This is perhaps the most scientifically pleasing assignment of nomenclature whereas the other paradigms are more dependent on historical or social circumstances. Based on observation and experiment, one can determine exactly how an instrument produces sound and then assign the instrument to one of the following five categories:

Idiophone

"Idiophones produce sound when their bodes are caused to vibrate." (Cook, 2006)

Examples of idiophones:

Celesta; Crash cymbals; Marimba; Pogo cello; Singing bowls; Wood block;

Membranophone

Most objects commonly known as "drums" are membranophones. "Membranophones produce sound when the membrane or head is put into motion." (Cook, 2006)

Examples of membranophone:

Tom-tom; Snare drum; Timpani; Lion's roar: The lion's roar might be, incorrectly, considered a chordophone as rope or string is used to activate the membrane. However, it is the membrane which sounds.; Wind machines: A wind machine in this context is not a wind tunnel and therefore not an aerophone. Instead, it is an aparatus (often used in theatre as a sound effect) in which a sheet of canvas (a membrane) is rubbed against a screen or resonator -- this activity produces a sound which resembles the blowing of wind.;

Read more at Wikipedia.org