Percussion

Percussion Instruments

Percussion is characterized by generating sounds through striking, shaking, or rubbing the instruments that make up this genre. They are capable of generating a wide variety of timbres and different rhythms, as well as indicating the beat to which the other instruments will adapt within a musical group.

History and context

Percussion instruments are probably the second system or means in history used to generate sounds and make music, if we consider the human voice as the oldest system. The origin of percussion arises naturally, as hands and feet (which is still done today in musical genres like flamenco) were used as instruments to generate sound, until it evolved into more complex instruments, using various materials (bones, wood, stones...).

Characteristics of percussion instruments

Despite there being so many and being so different from each other, there are certain peculiarities that can help us distinguish any percussion instrument:

• Any percussion instrument is capable of producing a rhythmic pattern.

• They allow for an incredible diversity of sounds and timbres.

• They have an incredible adaptability with respect to other musical families.

• They need to be moved, struck, or scraped to make them work.

• Great musical presence. Percussion instruments can be used in almost all existing musical genres. One could say they are the guest who never misses an event.

• The instruments par excellence of social protest. Not only are they used to make music, percussion instruments have always been present in most social protests.

• The sound will depend on the intensity with which it is played, and in many cases, the size of the instrument itself will determine the musical tone.

How percussion works

As we were saying, the functioning of percussion will be conditioned, first of all, by the type of instrument in question and the percussion system it uses. In terms of functioning, we can distinguish between direct percussion instruments and indirect percussion instruments. As we can see, sound can be produced in many different ways: by striking metal rods or drumsticks, by hitting or rubbing two sounding bodies together, by shaking them independently, and in some other ways, which also allow for achieving a rhythmic pattern.

Where can we hear percussion instruments?

It is very difficult to define all the musical genres in which we can find percussion accompaniment. Firstly, due to the wide variety of different instruments this family possesses (as we will see later) and secondly, the incredible influence of the drum kit. Nowadays, we can find percussion in almost any musical genre: the symphony orchestra, Rock and Roll, Metal, Country, Funk, Jazz, Gospel, Pop, Reggae, Blues and I could go on until practically all the musical genres we know today are exhausted.

Even so, it is true that it does not have the same importance in some genres as in others. For example, it is difficult (not to say impossible) to find a good rock song or directly a Drums and Bass genre song without percussion accompaniment. However, we can find a good jazz track that does not use percussion, and we would have to go as far as opera to see a genre that directly does not use this type of instrument.

Types of percussion instruments

The clearest ways to classify the different instruments that belong to the musical family of percussion are according to their tuning or according to the structure of the instruments.

We can find two large groups according to tuning, that is, according to the type of sound they generate:

• Of definite pitch or intonation:

This group includes tuned instruments, meaning they emit notes that can be identified, as their pitch is defined. The vibraphone, xylophone, tubular bells, or timpani would be examples of this.

• Of indefinite pitch or intonation:

This group, for its part, refers to unpitched instruments. Therefore, the pitch cannot be identified, meaning the notes are indistinguishable. The cajón, bass drum, drum kit, or cymbals (among many others) would be included in this group.

On the other hand, as we were saying, organization by structure is also very useful and common for classifying percussion instruments. Again, we distinguish two groupings:

• Membranophones:

This group includes all instruments that produce sound or vibration through the tension of their membranes (e.g., the drum or timpani).

• Idiophones:

This group includes percussion instruments that generate sound through the instrument's own material, without the need to tension membranes (e.g., cymbals or the triangle).

Sometimes, we can find the same instrument included in both groups, if it has a membrane that can be struck, and also a rattle that can be sounded. The first example that comes to everyone's mind is, indeed, the tambourine.

Percussion Instruments at NEOmúsica

At NEOmúsica we have a wide variety of percussion instruments such as: bass drums, snares, small percussion, flamenco cajón, cymbals, timpani, xylophones, vibraphones, marimbas, lyres, drum kits, Latin percussion... and accessories and related items for all types of percussion: drumsticks, mallets, and brushes, percussion books/sheet music, complete packs, drumheads... Take a look at our offer, and if you don't find what you're looking for, don't hesitate to contact us so we can help you find it.