Idiophones
Cymbals
Curved metal plate with a raised cup or bell in the centre. Consists of the edge, the bow and the cup (dome).
The composer usually specifies which part of cymbal is to be played for a particular effect.
Three standard sizes, with more available.
Crash Cymbals
Pair of cymbals held by leather straps attached to the cup.
Three ways to play:
Can be clashed together forte, and held high over the player's head. If the stroke is fast, can be clashed then immediately damped to player's chest. Soft strokes are also very effective.
One cymbal can be swished against the other giving a hissing effect.
Can roll by rubbing the plates together in a fast rotary motion, not altogether satisfactory.
Suspended Cymbals
A cymbal suspended from a strap on a stand, and struck with a wooden stick for excellent articulation. Softer effects achieved by using marimba yarn mallets or wire brushes.
All the above sticks and mallets can achieve rolls on the various sized cymbals.
Can use a triangle beater to strike or scrape, giving a truly metallic sound.
Can be bowed.
Hi-Hat Cymbals
Two cymbals facing each other, and crashed together with a pedal.
Can be clashed and held tightly for a dry, non-sustained sound, or allowed to vibrate with a soft, slightly clattery sound.
Not often used in the orchestra.
Sizzle Cymbal
A variety of sizes available.
Similar to suspended cymbal, also suspended from a strap.
Played with the same beaters as suspended cymbal.
Holes drilled around the circumference house small metal rivets, which cause a sizzling, hissing sound when the cymbal is struck.
Chinese Cymbals
Some popular Chinese composers have used these cymbals.
Have inverted edges and sound like high tam-tams.
Finger Cymbals
A pair of small metal plates, around two inches in diameter.
Can be struck together to produce a high metallic sound, similar to triangle.
Can be struck separately with a metal, wooden or plastic beater producing a definite but unspecified pitch.
Produces pitches that blend easily with any pitches surrounding them.
Used as rhythm instruments in contemporary performances of medieval music.
Triangle
One of the oldest non-pitched percussion instruments in the orchestra.
Three standard sizes available, giving high, medium and low pitch. Other sizes available.
Has a crystalline, pure, high timbre.
Can be used solo, but gives luminescence to to a large orchestral chord.
Played with a small metal beater, can be struck, or rolled by striking two sides of the triangle in one of the corners.
Softer sonorities are more effective than louder ones.
Blends beautifully with strings and winds.
Provides a good contrast to bass instruments.
The l.v. (let vibrate) symbol is frequently used due to the instrument's good sustaining time.
You should specify exactly how long the sound should last.
Anvil
Large steel block struck by a metal hammer.
Simulates a blacksmith's anvil.
Can be substituted by a similar object if the manufactured anvil is not available.
Cowbells
In various sizes, somewhat triangular in shape.
The pitch of low, medium and high does not vary greatly.
Struck with a snare drumstick.
Has a clanging sound.
Pitched cowbells now available.
Tam-Tam and other Gongs
Gongs can be divided in high, medium and low pitched instruments.
Gongs such as the tam-tam have no specific pitch, but some other gongs such as authentic Asian gongs do.
The tam-tam is the largest and therefore lowest sounding of non-pitched gong family.
Unlike most gongs, the tam-tam has its own striking device called a tam-tam beater.
Can be muted by trapping between hand and leg.
Wind Chimes
Comes in three types - bamboo, glass, and metal.
Suspended, as in a mobile.
Generally, they are struck with the hand and jangled until stopped by the hand.
Bamboo and wooden chimes have a brittle, hollow, rustling sound. Can also be stroked with a small wooden stick or grasped together suddenly to emit a dry, sudden and loud sound.
Wooden chimes are pitched much higher than those of bamboo.
Glass chimes have a very high, delicate and soft jingling sound.
Metal chimes are also soft, but a little more blatant than glass.
Sleigh Bells
Held in one or both hands and shaken.
Bell Tree
A metal beater is used to stroke the bells on the tree in an upward or downward motion, as specified.
Brake Drum
An automobile brake drum.
Various sizes.
Played with drum sticks or brushes, like any other drum.
Metal plates often substitute the brake drums due to their more ringing sound.
Thunder Sheet
Large sheet of metal suspended on a stand.
Can be struck with a beater, or shaken by hand.
Wood Blocks
Rectangular pieces of hard wood.
Come in sets of graduated sizes, from three to five each.
Mounted on a stand or table when several are required.
Produce a range of unspecified pitches from low to high.
Have a dry, penetrating sound.
Drumsticks as well as marimba mallets of various materials can be used.
One woodblock can be held in one hand, and struck with a beater in the other.
Effective at playing single short staccato notes, as well as rolls and fast passages.
Temple Blocks
A graduated series of five clam-shaped wooden blocks mounted on a stand.
Playing technique and beaters the same as for wood blocks.
More resonant, mellow and hollow sound than wood blocks.
Claves
Two cylindrical pieces of hard wood, around an inch in diameter and six inches long.
One of the claves is cradles in one hand, and struck with the one in the other.
The cupped hand acts as a resonator.
Sounds similar to a hard strike on the highest woodblock, but more resonant and with a 'ping'.
Used in orchestras as an alternative to wood block or temple block sounds, or to reinforce secco chords.
Castanets
Made of two small, hardwood spoon-shaped shells that are struck together.
There are three types:
Hand castanets - two pairs, one in each hand. Rarely found in the orchestra.
Paddle castanets - two pairs, one on each side of a paddle. Easy to play, and loud dynamic possible.
Concert castanets - mounted on a board. The lower castanet is stationary, and connected to the upper one by a spring. Clicked together with a finger or drumstick. The most common castanet in the orchestra.
Often used in the orchestra to suggest Spanish subjects.
Used to emphasise rhythms and reinforce sharp attacks.
Two small blocks of which the bottoms are covered in sandpaper.
Played by rubbing together the coarse surfaces.
Can produce separate, short, coarse strokes, rhythmic passages, or rolls.
Different grades of sandpaper produce different effects.
Maracas
Played as a single, or in pairs.
Consists of a gourd, wooden, or plastic shell filled with pebbles or seeds.
Can be shaken or slowly twirled (stirred). Stirring is very effective as a pianissimo roll when played solo.
Can be tapped with one hand to produce a short note.
In Latin American dances, they often play an ostinato pattern. Can also be used for a 'sizzle' effect at certain points.
Jawbone (Vibraslap)
Related to the maracas as it also rattles.
Looks like the jawbone of a donkey - used to be exactly that, with teeth still intact!
Played by holding in one hand, and strikes it towards the top of the fist of the other hand.
Sounds like loose teeth rattling.
Usually only single strokes are written, due to the long lasting buzz, commensurate with the force of the strike.
Guiro
A large gourd shaped like a bottle, with one serrated side which is scraped by the player with a wooden stick or scraper.
In orchestral music, often scored for instead of the ratchet, rattle or sandblocks which as a rule would be too soft in certain passages.
Ratchet
Simulates a child's ratchet.
Consists of a grooved cylinder and a hard tongue of wood or metal, held in a frame.
When the teeth of the cylinder are rotated against the tongue by a handle, they catch and make a loud clacking sound.
Best for loud passages and rolls.
Single strokes are risky. (would be better on the Guiro).
Whip (Slapstick)
Constructed of two strips of thin hard wood tied together into a paddle held by a string.
Played by clapping together, producing a single very hard stroke.
Usually used to emphasise a sforzando.
Log Drum and Slit Drum
The log drum is a hollowed-out log plugged up at each end, with a slit along the entire surface of one side. Two tongues are cut into the log across the slit, dividing the wood into two equal lengths, producing two different pitches when the wood is struck on the sides next to the tongue openings.
Available in several sizes and thicknesses to produce a spectrum of pitches.
Well-defined pitches can be specified on the instrument.
Slit drums are similar in construction, with a more manufactured look. It is played by hard marimba mallets striking the drums on either side of the slits. The interval between the slits can be a 3rd, or more usually a perfect 4th or 5th. Can easily substitute temple or wood blocks, but with a darker sound.
Membranophones
Snare Drum
Has two heads, the top one called the batter, which is struck, and the bottom one called the snare which has the snares stretched across it.
Snares can be turned on or off with a switch on the side.
Sounds like a tom-tom with the snares off.
Has a crisp, sharp sound with the snares on.
Excellent for playing concise rhythmic patterns.
Has four basic strokes as well as the standard left-right stroke; flam, drag, four-stroke ruff and roll.
Can be muted by placing cloth over the batter - this effect is designated 'cover head'.
Can produce a 'rim shot' by placing stick in middle of head and rim, then striking the stick with the other stick.
Wooden sticks are the normal beaters for this instrument, but wire brushes can also be used for soft effects.
Tenor Drum
Found frequently in both bands and orchestras.
Has a deep resonant sound.
Shares the same basic techniques as the snare drum, but has no snares.
Wooden sticks are the most common beaters, but timpani and marimba mallets are also effective.
Many of these drums have a head on both the top and bottom.
Field Drum
Has snares.
Same circumference as tenor drum, but with a deeper shell giving a lower pitch.
Darker, less crisp sound than snare drum. The same sticks and techniques apply to both instruments.
Rarely used in orchestras.
Bass Drum
Has tremendous power, and can easily drown out the rest of the orchestra when playing rolls or fortissimo, so must be carefully scored for.
Should not be overused.
It's response is slower than the other drums.
Effective in playing slow, repeated notes as well as fast secco isolated strokes.
Has two heads, both of which can be played if standing on its side.
Can also be laid flat.
Effective in soft passages as well as loud ones, adding tremendous weight to the percussion section at the louder volume.
Can begin or end a percussion passage with a single stroke.
Can simulate distant thunder, or evoke a feeling of impending doom with a pianissimo roll.
Has been used to depict war or hostility.
The mallet resembles a timpani mallet, but larger, softer with more felt on the head.
Can also use wooden sticks for strokes and rolls.
Tom-Toms
Occupies an area between definite and indefinite pitch.
Can be tuned to approximate pitches if desired.
Mounted on two stands, each with a pair of drums.
Pitched from high to low in four different voices.
Best notated on the four spaces of the staff.
The two single-headed drums have a crisp and articulate sound. Those with two heads sound more like tenor drums, and have greater sustaining power than the single headed drums, with a deeper and more sombre sound.
Many listeners struggle to differentiate between the two different types of toms.
Yarn or cord mallets, or snare drumsticks are the most common beaters used.
Similar technique to snare drum.
Much music written for tom-toms incorporate gestures written for wood blocks and temple blocks, with which tom-toms can carry a dialogue with the orchestra.
Timbales
Come in pairs, fastened to a metal stand like tom-toms.
Often mistaken for tom-toms, but their metal shell of around snare drum depth gives a more metallic and piercing sound.
Come in two sizes, producing a high and a low sound.
Can be played with timbale sticks - wooden dowels, which are thinner and lighter than snare drumsticks; with marimba mallets, with the hands, with any kind of stick or mallet on the rim, centre of the drum, or a rimshot.
Bongos
Single headed drums in attached pairs.
Usually tuned a perfect fourth or fifth apart.
Four sizes of pairs are manufactured - low, high, higher, highest.
Usually held between the knees and played with the hands.
Can be mounted like timbales and played by hand or with drumsticks, any kind of mallet, or softly with brushes.
An orchestral player would not be as accomplished as a bongocero, but can be expected to play drum techniques on the bongos that are typical of the tom-toms.
Conga Drum
Used quite frequently in the orchestra today.
About thirty inches high, with a single head about eleven inches in diameter.
Best played with hands, but all types of mallets may be used.
A higher pitch can be found at the rim than in the centre of the drum. This can be notated by using two different lines or spaces.
Tambourine
Evokes thoughts of Spain, but used for all kinds of music today.
A single head skin fastened over a wooden hoop onto which pairs of small cymbals are fixed that jingle when the instrument is struck or shaken.
There are several sizes of tambourine, and this should be specified in the score.
Can be played by striking with the knuckles, playing softly with the fingers, shaking it (notated like a roll) - usually for loud rolls, playing a thumb roll or trill (usually used for soft rolls, must be notated), using all kinds of sticks and mallets if the instrument is placed on a stand or chair, placing it on other percussion instruments such as the timpani, snare drum or bass drum and playing it with a mallet.
Quica; String Drum (Lion's Roar)
The shape of a quica is that of a large, deep bongo.
A single-headed drum with a pole embedded inside in the centre of the drum head.
Played by stroking or rubbing the pole with a damp sponge or cloth, which makes the drum head vibrate.
The instrument's shell consists of a large wooden bucket, the larger the bucket the louder the sound.
The lion's roar is of similar construction, but has a tight rosined string or leather strap instead of a pole, which is often tied on the outside of the drum to a round piece of wood. When the wood is turned, it grips the string then lets it go. This vibrates the head and shell and sounds like a lion's roar.
Used frequently in compositions today.
Aerophones
Sirens
Many 20th century composers have used sirens in their works to paint a picture of modern society.
The type and volume of siren should be designated.
Motor Horns
All kinds have been used, to evoke urban life.
Care must be used, to avoid cliches.
Wind Machine
A large cylindrical wooden frame covered by canvas.
Played by rotating a handle, making thin pieces of wood stroke the canvas, producing a swirling, whistling sound as the revolutions accelerate.
A very realistic wind effect.
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