Percussion instrument

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"Percussion" redirects here. For other uses, see Percussion (disambiguation).

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.

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.

Chordophone

Most instruments known as "chordophones" are defined as string instruments, but some such as these examples are, arguably, percussion instruments also.

Hammered dulcimer
Piano

Aerophone

Most instruments known as "aerophones" are defined as wind instruments such as a saxophone whereby sound is produced by a person or thing blowing air through the object. However, the following example instruments, if played at all in a musical context, are played by the percussionists in an ensemble. Examples of aerophones:

Whips
Siren
Pistols: The explosion of hot expanding gases from the muzzle of a starter pistol produces sound.

Electrophone

Electrophones are also percussion instruments. In the strictest sense, all electrophones require a loudspeaker (an idiophone or some other means to push air and create sound waves). This, if for no other argument, is sufficient to assign electrophones to the percussion family. Moreover, many composers have used the following example instruments and they are most often performed by percussionists in an ensemble. Examples of electrophones:

Computers and MIDI instruments (i.e. drum machines)
Radios
Theremin
Typewriter (Although, mechanical typewriter which do not use electricity are strictly idiophones.)

By musical function/orchestration

It is in this paradigm that it is useful to define percussion instruments as either having definite pitch or indefinite pitch. For example, some instruments such as the marimba and timpani produce an obvious fundamental pitch and can therefore play melody and serve harmonic functions in music while other instruments such as crash cymbals and snare drums produce sounds with such complex overtones and a wide range of prominent frequencies that no pitch is discernable.

Definite pitch

Instruments in this group are sometimes referred to as "pitched" or "tuned".

Examples of percussion instruments with definite pitch:

Timpani
Marimba
Doorbells
Car horns
Glass harp
Glass harmonica

Indefinite pitch

Instruments in this group are sometimes referred to as "non-pitched", "unpitched", or "untuned". This phenomenon occurs when the resultant sound of the instrument contains complex frequencies through which no discernable pitch can be heard.

Examples of percussion instruments with indefinite pitch:

Snare drum
Crash cymbals
Whistles
Air raid sirens

By prevelance in common knowledge

Although it is difficult to define what is "common knowledge", there are instruments in use by percussionists and composers in contemporary music which are certainly not considered by most to be musical instruments of any kind. Therefore, it is worthwhile to try to make distinction between instruments based on their acceptance or consideration by a general audience. For example, it is safe to argue that most people would not consider an anvil, a brake drum (the circular hub on modern vehicles which houses the brakes), or a fifty-five gallon oil barrel to be musical instruments, yet these objects are used regularly by composers and percussionists of modern music.

One might assign various percussion instruments to one of the following categories:

Conventional/Popular

Drum kit
Tambourine
Gong

Unconventional

(Sometimes referred to as "found" instruments)

spokes on a bicycle wheel
brooms
a shopping cart
metal pipes
clay pots
garbage cans

John Cage, Harry Partch, Edgard Varèse, all of whom are notable composers, created entire pieces of music using unconventional instruments. Beginning in the early 20th century, perhaps with Ionisation by Edgard Varèse which used air-raid sirens (among other things), composers began to require percussionists to invent or "find" objects to produce the desired sounds and textures. By late-20th century, such instruments had become common in modern percussion ensemble music and popular productions such as the off-broadway show, STOMP.

By cultural significance/tradition

This topic should be investigated with caution so as to avoid being politically or historically incorrect. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon to discuss percussion instruments in relation to their cultural origin which has led to a dualism between instruments which are considered "common" or "modern" and those which have a significant history and/or significant purpose within a geographic region or among a specific demographic of the world's population.

"World"/"Ethnic"/"Folk" drums

This category may contain instruments which have special significance among a specific ethnic group or geographic region. Such as:

Taiko
Bodhran
Djembe
Gamelan
Steelpan
Latin percussion
Tabla
Dhol
Dholak
Berimbau
Timbal

"Common" drums

This category may contain instruments which are widely available throughout the world and have experienced popularization among a variety of world populations. Such as:

Drum kit
Orchestral percussion instruments

Function

Percussion instruments play not only rhythm, but also melody and harmony.

Percussion is commonly referred to as "the backbone" or "the heartbeat" of a musical ensemble, often working in close collaboration with bass instruments, when present. In jazz and other popular music ensembles, the bassist and the drummer are oftened referred to as the rhythm section. Most classical pieces written for full orchestra since the time of Haydn and Mozart are orchestrated to place emphasis on the strings, woodwinds, and brass. However, often at least one pair of timpani is included, though they rarely play continuously. Rather, they serve to provide additional accents when needed. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, other percussion instruments (like the triangle or cymbals) have been used, again relatively sparingly in general. The use of percussion instruments became more frequent in the twentieth century classical music.

In almost every style of music, percussion plays a pivotal role. In military marching bands and pipes and drums, it is the beat of the bass drum that keeps the soldiers in step and at a regular speed, and it is the snare that provides that crisp, decisive air to the tune of a regiment. In classic jazz, one almost immediately thinks of the distinctive rhythm of the hi-hats or the ride cymbal when the word "swing" is spoken. In more recent popular music culture, it is almost impossible to name three or four rock, hip-hop, rap, funk or even soul charts or songs that do not have some sort of percussive beat keeping the tune in time.

Because of the diversity of percussive instruments, it is not uncommon to find large musical ensembles composed entirely of percussion. Rhythm, melody and harmony are all apparent and alive in these musical groups, and in live performance they are quite a sight to see.

Percussion music

Music for pitched percussion instruments can be notated on a staff with the same treble and bass clefs used by many non-percussive instruments. Music for percussive instruments without a definite pitch can be notated with a specialist rhythm or percussion-clef; More often a treble clef (or sometimes a bass clef) is substituted for rhythm clef.

Names for percussionists

The general term for a musician who plays percussion instruments is "percussionist" but the terms listed below are often used to describe a person's specialties:

balafonist: a balafon player
bongocerro: someone who plays bongos and usually cencerro (a cow bell)
congalero, conguero: someone who plays congas
cymbalist: someone who plays cymbals
drummer: a term usually used to describe someone who plays the drumset or hand drums.
marimbist, marimbero: a marimba player
timbalero, timbero: someone who plays timbales
timpanist: a timpani player
vibraphonist: a vibraphone player
xylophonist: a xylophone player

References

Gary Cook, Teaching Percussion, 2006

External links

pas.org - Percussive Arts Society
PercUp.org Percussion Resource - Perc Up! Percussion Music Education and Clinics
Dave's Percussion Library Online - Information about music for percussion instruments
vimoksha - Indian classical music, percussion and dance portal - Information on Indian classical music, percussion instruments and various forms of Indian classical dance.