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| Percussion instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names |
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| Classification | Percussion |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 111.242.221 (Sets of hanging bells without internal strikers) |
| Related instruments | |
| Builders | |
Temple blocks are a type of percussion instrument consisting of a set of woodblocks. It is descended from the muyu, an instrument originating from eastern Asia, where it is commonly used in religious ceremonies. [1] [2]
It is a carved hollow wooden instrument with a large slit. In its traditional form, the muyu, the shape is somewhat bulbous like a bell, but modern instruments are often rectangular in shape. [3] They are generally played in sets of four or more to give a variety of pitches, in which they are also known as "tone blocks". [4] In Western music, they can be traced back to early jazz drummers where they were used as exotic instruments before being later adopted into widespread orchestral use. [5] An updated version of the instrument made by Latin Percussion, known as "granite blocks", is made out of plastic rather than wood. [6]
The sound of temple blocks is similar to that of normal woodblocks, although temple blocks have a darker, more "hollow" timbre. [7] In their most common configuration of five, temple blocks are typically tuned to a pentatonic scale. Chromatic and diatonic sets have also been made. [8] Despite this, they are not commonly treated as pitched percussion. [9]
Temple blocks are often used as sound effects, such as in Leroy Anderson's "The Syncopated Clock" and "Sleigh Ride", where they mimic a ticking clock and a galloping horse, respectively. [10] They can also be used to reinforce the melody. John Barnes Chance's Incantation and Dance and Variations on a Korean Folk Song both have temple blocks introduce and double the motifs that appear within the music, with the latter using the pentatonic nature of the temple blocks to evoke the sound of the Orient. [11]
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums.
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a vibraphonist,vibraharpist, or vibist.
The glockenspiel or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone.
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave.
Timpani or kettledrums are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. Thus timpani are an example of kettle drums, also known as vessel drums and semispherical drums, whose body is similar to a section of a sphere whose cut conforms the head. Most modern timpani are pedal timpani and can be tuned quickly and accurately to specific pitches by skilled players through the use of a movable foot-pedal. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the classical orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of ensembles, including concert bands, marching bands, orchestras, and even in some rock bands.
The triangle is a musical instrument in the percussion family, and is classified as an idiophone in the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system. Triangles are made from a variety of metals including aluminum, beryllium copper, brass, bronze, iron, and steel. The metal is bent into a triangle shape with one open end. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve. The triangle theoretically has indefinite pitch, and produces a plurality of overtones when struck with an appropriate beater. The triangle has a triangular shape, which is why it is named a "triangle".
A woodblock is a small slit drum made from a single piece of wood. The term generally signifies the Western orchestral instrument, though it is descended from the Chinese woodblock. Alternative names sometimes used in ragtime and jazz are clog box and tap box. In orchestral music scores, woodblocks may be indicated by the French bloc de bois or tambour de bois, German Holzblock or Holzblocktrommel, or Italian cassa di legno.
A wooden fish, also known as a Chinese temple block, wooden bell, or muyu, is a type of woodblock that originated from East Asia that is used by monks and lay people in the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism. They are used by Buddhist ceremonies in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and other Asian countries. They may be referred to as a Chinese block, Korean block or, rarely, as a skull.
A percussion mallet or beater is an object used to strike or beat a percussion instrument in order to produce its sound.
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an internal "clapper" or "uvula", an external hammer, or—in small bells—by a small loose sphere enclosed within the body of the bell.
The term Chinese orchestra is most commonly used to refer to the modern Chinese orchestra that is found in China and various overseas Chinese communities. This modern Chinese orchestra first developed out of Jiangnan sizhu ensemble in the 1920s into a form that is based on the structure and principles of a Western symphony orchestra but using Chinese instruments. The orchestra is divided into four sections – wind, plucked strings, bowed strings, and percussion, and usually performs modernized traditional music called guoyue. The orchestra may be referred to as Minzu Yuetuan or Minyuetuan in mainland China, Chung Ngok Tuen in Hong Kong, Huayuetuan in Southeast Asia, or Guoyuetuan in Taiwan, all meaning Chinese orchestra.
A slit drum or slit gong is a hollow percussion instrument. In spite of its often being called a drum, it is not a true drum but an idiophone, usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood, in the form of a mostly closed hollow chamber with one or more slits in it. It is played by striking near the edge of the slit. In some designs, the slit is a single straight line; in others, the slit is used to create one or more "tongues", achieved by cutting three sides of a rectangular shape and leaving the fourth side attached. Most slit drums have one slit, though two and three slits occur. Tongues of different areas or thicknesses will produce different pitches. Slit drums are used throughout Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. In Africa such drums, strategically situated for optimal acoustic transmission, have been used for long-distance communication.
A standing bell or resting bell is an inverted bell, supported from below with the rim uppermost. Such bells are normally bowl-shaped, and exist in a wide range of sizes, from a few centimetres to a metre in diameter. They are often played by striking, but some—known as singing bowls—may also be played by rotating a suede covered mallet around the outside rim to produce a sustained musical note.
Taoist music is the ceremonial music of Taoism. The importance of music in Taoist ceremony is demonstrated by revealing how central beliefs are reflected through elements of music such as instrumentation and rhythm. Expression of spiritual beliefs through music enables followers of Taoism to enhance their path to enlightenment.
A jam block is a percussion instrument developed as a modern, hard plastic version of the woodblock. They are popularly used for their durability when compared to the traditional woodblock. They were created by Martin Cohen, founder of Latin Percussion, after percussionist Marc Quiñones requested a sturdier version of the woodblock.
The wind machine is a friction idiophone used to produce the sound of wind for orchestral compositions and musical theater productions.
A tabla is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent, that is somewhat similar in shape to the bongos. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments and vocals, and as a part of larger ensembles. It is frequently played in popular and folk music performances in India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The tabla is an essential instrument in the bhakti devotional traditions of Hinduism and Sikhism, such as during bhajan and kirtan singing. It is one of the main qawwali instruments used by Sufi musicians. The instrument is also featured in dance performances such as Kathak. Tabla is a rhythmic instrument.
A pitched percussion instrument is a percussion instrument used to produce musical notes of one or more pitches, as opposed to an unpitched percussion instrument which is used to produce sounds of indefinite pitch.
This is a partitioned list of percussion instruments showing their usage as tuned or untuned. See pitched percussion instrument for discussion of the differences between tuned and untuned percussion. The term pitched percussion is now preferred to the traditional term tuned percussion:
