A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excluding zoomusicological instruments and the human voice, the percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments. In spite of being a very common term to designate instruments, and to relate them to their players, the percussionists, percussion is not a systematic classificatory category of instruments, as described by the scientific field of organology. It is shown below that percussion instruments may belong to the organological classes of ideophone, membranophone, aerophone and cordophone.
Timbales or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size. They were developed as an alternative to classical timpani in Cuba in the early 20th century and later spread across Latin America and the United States.
The Rhythm of the Saints is the eighth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, released on October 16, 1990, on Warner Bros. In much the same way that Simon's 1986 album Graceland drew upon South African music, this album was inspired by Brazilian musical traditions. Like its predecessor, the album was commercially successful and received mostly favorable reviews from critics.
Bongos are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger hembra and the smaller macho, which are joined by a wooden bridge. They are played with both hands and usually held between the legs, although in some cases, as in classical music, they may be played with sticks or mounted on stands.
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto, tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). Congas were originally used in Afro-Cuban music genres such as conga and rumba, where each drummer would play a single drum. Following numerous innovations in conga drumming and construction during the mid-20th century, as well as its internationalization, it became increasingly common for drummers to play two or three drums. Congas have become a popular instrument in many forms of Latin music such as son, descarga, Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, songo, merengue and Latin rock.
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña, known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian-American drummer and percussionist.
Pete Lockett is an English percussionist and recording artist. Lockett is known as a versatile and prolific percussionist, collaborating with many artists. He is well-versed in percussion traditions from music cultures around the world, from traditional Carnatic and Hindustani music of North and South India to traditional Japanese taiko drumming, with a style ranging from blues, funk and rock to classical, folk and ethnic and from Arabic to Electronic. His instruments include tabla, mridangam, kanjira, ghatam, vocal percussion, dholak, naal, bhangra dhol from north and south India; darabuka, req, bendir, frame-drums from the Middle East; congas, bongos, timbales and berimbau from Latin American; as well as the Irish bodhran, Nigerian udu, West African djembe, Japanese taiko, Western drum set, and many custom percussion effects and self-built instruments. He also works extensively with electronics and samplers, both live and in the studio, to create densely alternative percussion fabrics.
Marcellus Rodríguez-López is a Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalist musician and younger brother of Omar Rodríguez-López. He is best known as the keyboardist and percussionist of The Mars Volta and the drummer for Zechs Marquise. He also produces electronic music under the moniker Eureka the Butcher.
Changuito is a Cuban percussionist.
Orchestral percussion refers to the various percussion instruments used in an orchestral setting. It may also refer to the act of playing such instruments in an orchestral style. Many music schools and conservatories offer training for musicians interested in developing their skills as orchestral percussionists. Typically, an orchestral percussionist does not specialize in one particular instrument. Although there is no exhaustive list of all instruments that an orchestral percussionist must be able to play, there are particular instruments that are frequently used in the orchestral repertoire. This includes timpani, snare drum, bass drum, xylophone, glockenspiel, triangle, and tambourine.
Roni Benisek, best known as Benise, is an American guitarist who describes his style as "Spanish guitar" or "nouveau flamenco."
Live at the Acropolis is the first live album and concert film by the Greek keyboardist, composer, and producer Yanni, released on March 1, 1994, on Private Music. It was recorded at the Herodes Atticus Theatre in Athens, Greece during his 1993 tour in support of his eighth studio album, In My Time (1993). The concert took a year and a half to organise and cost Yanni $2 million of his own money to fund. He performs with his six-piece band and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Shahrdad Rohani. The album was mixed and produced by Yanni in his studio, and was made into a television special which aired in the United States on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
In My Time is the ninth studio album by Greek keyboardist and composer Yanni, released on the Private Music label in 1993. This album is a gentler collection of piano-focused pieces. The album attained Platinum status and was the second Grammy nomination for Yanni. It peaked at #1 on "Billboard's "Top New Age Albums" chart and at #24 on the "Billboard 200" chart in the same year.
John Marshall is an American percussionist. He has worked with many musicians including David Darling, George Benson, Benjamin Verdery, and the Paul Winter Consort.
Jody Linscott is an American session musician and percussionist who resides in England and maintains an extended discography. She has two daughters Kachina Dechert and Coco Linscott and has written two children's books which were published by Doubleday, both edited by Jackie Onassis. Linscott has written several songs to accompany the books.
Morning Dance is the second album by the jazz fusion group Spyro Gyra. The album was released in March 9, 1979 and was certified gold by the RIAA on September 19, 1979, and was certified platinum on June 1, 1987.
Alfred "Uganda" Roberts was an American conga/percussion player.
Taufiq Qureshi is an Indian classical musician. He is a percussionist and composer.
In the Groove is an album by Planet Drum, a percussion-based world music ensemble led by Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, and Giovanni Hidalgo. It was released on August 5, 2022.
