Encyclopedia of Percussion

John H. Beck

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317747673
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Medios de comunicación y artes escénicas
• Subtopic: Música

The Encyclopedia of Percussion is an extensive guide to percussion instruments, organized for research as well as general knowledge. Focusing on idiophones and membranophones, it covers in detail both Western and non-Western percussive instruments. These include not only instruments whose usual sound is produced percussively (like snare drums and triangles), but those whose usual sound is produced concussively (like castanets and claves) or by friction (like the cuíca and the lion's roar).

The expertise of contributors have been used to produce a wide-ranging list of percussion topics. The volume includes: (1) an alphabetical listing of percussion instruments and terms from around the world; (2) an extensive section of illustrations of percussion instruments; (3) thirty-five articles covering topics from Basel drumming to the xylophone; (4) a list of percussion symbols; (5) a table of percussion instruments and terms in English, French, German, and Italian; and (6) an updated section of published writings on methods for percussion.

I
Glossary

A

A bambagia (It), padded.

À demi (Fr), at the middle.

À deux or à 2 (Fr), two (cymbals, crash cymbals). For example, in performances of Bela Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1936) by the New York Philharmonic, a pair of crash cymbals is held with the plates flat by one player and rolled on, with soft mallets, by a second. A due or a 2 in Italian, zu 2 in German. See also frottez.

A due or a 2 (It), see à deux.

A filo (Sp), at the edge.

À la jante (Fr), on the rim.

À Pordinaire (Fr), as usually played, clashed.

À peine frôlé (Fr), barely touching.

À peine sensible (Fr), barely audible.

A una pelle (It), single-headed.

À une peau (Fr), single-headed.

A.d.gr.Tr. befestigt (Ger), abbrev. for an der gross Trommel befestigt.

a2 two cymbals, crash cymbals (When performing Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta in the New York Philharmonic, a pair of crash cymbals are held with the plates flat by one player and rolled on, with soft mallets, by another player.) seefrottez.

Abdämpfen (Ger), dampen, mute.

Abwechselnd (Ger), changeable, alternating.

Acciaio (It), steel.

Accordato (It), tuned (to).

Accordé (Fr), tuned (to).

Acme siren whistle see siren whistle.

Acuto (It), sharp, high, piercing.

Adamadala drum as long as it is wide from Bengal.

Adufe Brazilian frame drum.

Adufo see cuíca.

Aeolian bells small bells that are hung outside a or strike one another when agitated by the wind. See also wind chimes.

Aeolian crystallophone glass wind chimes.

Aeoline (Fr), wind machine.

Aeolophon (Ger), see wind machine.

Aerophone instrument whose tone is created by - cau ing air to vibrate, e.g., the bull-roarer and whistle.

Afoxê Brazilian instrument about 5 inches in diameter and consisting of a coconut shell with about fifty indented ridges. Sometimes called a cabaça. See also afuxé; "Brazil: Percussion Instruments," p. 153.

African clay bongos single-headed laced Morocca drums that have clay shells and are played wit fingers.

African goblet drum see talking drum.

African gourd sistrum instrument made from the forked section of a tree branch, one part with ten to fifteen disks strung on it, the other serving as a handle. See also wasamba rattle.

African marimba an instrument from central Afric with sixteen bars suspended over gourd resonat The resonators have small holes that are covere vellum, which creates a buzzing sound when the is struck. Generally played from a sitting positio

African rhythm wood bell central African instrumen fashioned in the shape of a bell but with no susting tone. Jingles in the mouth of the instrume rattle when the bell is struck with a mallet.

African slit drum see log drum.

African talking drum see talking drum.

African thumb piano see mbira.

African tree drum see log drum.

African xylophone higher-pitched version of the African marimba.

Afrikanische Harfe (Ger), marimbula.

Afrikanische Schlitztrommel (Ger), log drum.

Afro-Brazilian drum drum made from a hollowe tree trunk and covered with an animal skin head.

Afro-Brazilian metal bell metal bell with a conic shape. Generally struck with a stick.

Afro-Brazilian musical bow wooden rod strung with a wire of gut cord and rubbed with a piece of wood or bone. See also berimbau.

Afuche a cabasa-like instrument with metal beads strung around a textured metal cylinger. See Illus. 34, p. 133.

Afuxé rattle like a cabasa but made from a coconut instead of a gourd. See also afoxê.

Agbe African name for shekere.

Agbosi Afroc - uban barrel drum used in religious ceremonies.

Agitare (It), shake, rub.

Agité(e) (Fr), shaken, rubbed.

Agitées (l’une contre l’autre) (Fr), rubbed (one against the other, for cymbals).

Agiter, agitez (Fr), shake, rub.

Agogô Afro-Brazilian double bell attached to a Ushaped metal rod. The bells are conical in shape, with an opening 2½ to 3 inches long and 1½ to 1¾ inches wide. Also called ngonge. See also "Brazil: Percussion Instruments," p. 153; Illus. 34, p. 133.

Agudo (Sp), high.

Ague another name for piano de cuSíc see. cuíca.

Agung bossed gong of the Philippines.

Agwal single-headed clay goblet drum of No Africa.

Ahogar (Sp), dampen.

Aigu (Fr), high.

Air-raid siren a rotating disk with a number of holes that interrupt the flow of air, thus creating ascending and descending glissandi. The disk is rotated electrically or by hand crank. Examples of its use may be found in Edgard Varèse's Ionisation (1931).

Ais (Ger), A-sharp.

Al centro (It), at the center.

Al cerchio (It), on the hoop.

Al margine (It), at the rim, at the edge.

Alarm bell fire alarm bell or ship's bell cast from heavy bronze. A leather strap pulls the clapper against the inner wall of the bell. Occasionally used in opera scenes, such as Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos (1867) and Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (1874, revolution scene).

Alarmglocke (Ger), alarm bell.

Albero di sonagli (It), bell tree, Turkish crescent.

Aldaba (Sp), clapper.

Alimba xylophone of Zaire. See also "The...