DRUM
The
drum is a member of the
percussion group of musical instruments, technically classified as the
membranophones.
[1] Drums consist of at least one
membrane, called a
drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a
drumstick, to produce
sound. There is usually a "resonance head" on the underside of the drum, these are usually tuned to a slightly lower pitch than the top drumhead. Other techniques have been used to cause drums to make sound, such as the
thumb roll. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.
[1]
A few types of drums such as
timpani are always tuned to a certain pitch. Often, several drums, other than timpani drums, can be arranged together to create a
drum kit.
[2]
USES
Drums are usually played by the hand, or by one or two sticks. In many traditional cultures drums have a symbolic function and are often used in religious ceremonies. Drums are often used in
music therapy, especially hand drums, because of their tactile nature and easy use by a wide variety of people.
[3]
Within the realm of
popular music and
jazz, "drums" usually refers to a
drum kit or a set of drums (with some
cymbals) and "
drummer" to the actual band member or person who plays them.
Drums acquired even divine status in places such as
Burundi, where the
karyenda was a symbol of the power of the king.
CONSTRUCTION
he shell almost invariably has a circular opening over which the drumhead is stretched, but the shape of the remainder of the shell varies widely. In the western musical tradition, the most usual shape is a
cylinder, although
timpani, for example, use
bowl-shaped shells.
[1] Other shapes include a frame design (
tar,
Bodhrán), truncated cones (
bongo drums,
Ashiko),
goblet shaped (
djembe), and joined truncated cones (
talking drum). Drums with cylindrical shells can be open at one end (as is the case with
timbales), or can have two drum heads. Single-headed drums typically consist of a skin which is stretched over an enclosed space, or over one of the ends of a hollow vessel. Drums with two heads covering both ends of a cylindrical shell often have a small hole somewhat halfway between the two heads; the shell forms a
resonating chamber for the resulting sound. Exceptions include the African
slit drum, also known as a log drum as it is made from a hollowed-out tree trunk, and the
Caribbean steel drum, made from a metal barrel. Drums with two heads can also have a set of wires, called snares, held across the bottom head, top head, or both heads, hence the name
snare drum.
[1]
On modern
band and
orchestral drums, the drumhead is placed over the opening of the drum, which in turn is held onto the shell by a "counterhoop" (or "rim), which is then held by means of a number of tuning screws called "tension rods" which screw into lugs placed evenly around the circumference. The head's tension can be adjusted by loosening or tightening the rods. Many such drums have six to ten tension rods. The sound of a drum depends on several variables, including shape, size and thickness of its shell, materials from which the shell was made, counterhoop material, type of drumhead used and tension applied to it, position of the drum, location, and the velocity and angle in which it is struck.
[1]
Prior to the invention of tension rods drum skins were attached and tuned by rope systems such as that used on the
Djembe or pegs and ropes such as that used on
Ewe Drums, a system rarely used today, although sometimes seen on regimental marching band snare drums.
[1]
SOUND OF DRUM
Several factors determine the sound a drum produces, including the type, shape and construction of the drum shell, the type of
drum heads it has, and the tension of these drumheads. Different drum sounds have different uses in music. Take, for example, the modern
Tom-tom drum. A
jazz drummer may want drums that are high pitched, resonant and quiet whereas a
rock drummer may prefer drums that are loud, dry and low-pitched. Since these drummers want different sounds, their drums will be constructed a little differently.
The drum head has the most effect on how a drum sounds. Each type of drum head serves its own musical purpose and has its own unique sound. Double-ply drumheads dampen high frequency harmonics because they are heavier and they are suited to heavy playing.
[4] Drum heads with a white, textured coating on them muffle the
overtones of the drum head slightly, producing a less diverse
pitch. Drum heads with central silver or black dots tend to muffle the overtones even more. And drum heads with
perimeter sound rings mostly eliminate overtones (Howie 2005). Some jazz drummers avoid using thick drum heads, preferring single ply drum heads or drum heads with no muffling. Rock drummers often prefer the thicker or coated drum heads.
The second biggest factor affecting the sound produced by a drum is the tension at which the drum head is held against the shell of the drum. When the hoop is placed around the drum head and shell and tightened down with tension rods, the tension of the head can be adjusted. When the tension is increased, the
amplitude of the sound is reduced and the
frequency is increased, making the pitch higher and the volume lower.
The type of shell also affects the sound of a drum. Because the vibrations
resonate in the shell of the drum, the shell can be used to increase the volume and to manipulate the type of sound produced. The larger the diameter of the shell, the lower the pitch. The larger the depth of the drum, the louder the volume. Shell thickness also determines the volume of drums. Thicker shells produce louder drums.
Mahogany raises the frequency of low pitches and keeps higher frequencies at about the same speed. When choosing a set of shells, a jazz drummer may want smaller maple shells, while a rock drummer may want larger birch shells. For more information about
tuning drums or the physics of a drum, visit the external links listed below.
TYPES OF DRUM
SEE ALSO
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Grove, George (January 2001). Stanley Sadie. ed. The New Grove Encyclopædia of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). Grove's Dictionaries of Music. pp. Volume 5, pp638–649. ISBN 1561592390.
- ^ Black, Dave (February 1998). Drumset Independence and Syncopation (1st ed.). Alfred Publishing Company. pp. 4–12. ISBN 9780882848990.
- ^ Weiss, Rick (July 5, 1994). "Music Therapy". The Washington Post (Jul 5,1994). http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/72257976.html?dids=72257976:72257976&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=JUL+05%2C+1994&author=Rick+Weiss&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=MUSIC+THERAPY&pqatl=google.
- ^ Drum Lessons - Drumbook.org
- ^ Remedios, R; Logothetis, NK; Kayser, C (2009). "Monkey drumming reveals common networks for perceiving vocal and nonvocal communication sounds". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106 (42): 18010–5. doi:10.1073/pnas.0909756106. PMC 2755465. PMID 19805199. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2755465.
- ^ Clark Arcadi, A; Robert, D; Mugurusi, F (2004). "A comparison of buttress drumming by male chimpanzees from two populations". Primates; journal of primatology 45 (2): 135–9. doi:10.1007/s10329-003-0070-8. PMID 14735390.
- ^ Kalan, AK; Rainey, HJ. (2009). "Hand-clapping as a communicative gesture by wild female swamp gorillas". Primates 50 (3): 273–5. doi:10.1007/s10329-009-0130-9. PMID 19221858.
- ^ Randall, JA. (2001). "Evolution and Function of Drumming as Communication in Mammals". American Zoologist 41 (5): 1143–1156. doi:10.1668/0003-1569(2001)041[1143:EAFODA]2.0.CO;2. http://intl-icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/41/5/1143.
- ^ Chatto, Allan. (1996). Brief History of Drumming.
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