world percussion

Here you may discover drums and percussion instruments from around the world and some of their applications and history. In each world section you will find photos of percussion instruments in North America, Latin America, South America, the Middle East, Africa, India, and Asia. Some of the world percussion instruments you may find include atabaque, balaphone, bata drum, berimbau, bhodran, bhuk, bongos, bougorabou, cajon, conga, cuica, damaru, datangu, dholak, djembe, doumbek, dunun, ghaval, kedang, kpanlogo, native frame drum, native powwow drum, ngoma, nyahbingi drum, pakhawaj, pandeiro, riq, sabar, slit drum, sogo, surdo, tablas, taiko, taphon, talking drum, tamborim, tibetan bowls, udu and more. Many articles and links to other sites will be included in this global drum journey.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WORLD PERCUSSION CLICK HERE

Percussion Instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit 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 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 prevalence in common knowledge.

Percussion instruments are sometimes classified as being "pitched" or "unpitched." While valid, this classification is widely seen as inadequate. Rather, it may be more informative to describe percussion instruments in regards to one or more of the following four paradigms:

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE