Music

Percussions: Cymbals

Nazia Ahmed

THERE are a lot of arguments about the origin of percussions. It falls in the kind of instruments that produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action that sets the object into vibration. Most percussion instruments which are not drums are idiophones. The struck idiophones (sometimes called concussion idiophones) includes most of the non-drum percussion instruments familiar in the west. They include all idiophones which are made to vibrate by being hit, either directly with a stick or hand (like the wood block, singing bowl, triangle or marimba), or indirectly, by way of a scraping or shaking motion (like maracas or flexatone). Various types of bells fall into both categories. A very widely used percussion is the Cymbal. The various types of cymbals are: Orchestral Cymbals, Crash Cymbals, suspended cymbals, Ancient Cymbals.

The origins of cymbals can be traced back to prehistoric times. The ancient Egyptian cymbals closely resembled the present ones. The British Museum possesses two pairs. This type of percussion is used in modern orchestras and many military parade, concert and other bands. It will be more familiar to the ones who are aware of the modern day drum pieces. The most basic drum kit normally contains at least one suspended cymbal and a pair of hi-hat cymbals.