Cymbals: The Orchestra Up Close — Orchestre Métropolitain
“The cymbals look like two giant metal discs which are either rubbed together to make a rustling sound, or stuck together to make a large crash!”
Cymbals: Brief Description — Vienna Symphonic Library
“In the orchestra the pair of cymbals is used chiefly to stress important musical accents, but it can also be used as a quiet rhythm instrument in the background, together with the bass drum, for example.”
Xylophone: Brief Description — Vienna Symphonic Library
“The term xylophone is derived from two ancient Greek words: xylon (= wood) and phoné (= sound). Technically, every instrument that consists of a row of wood bars of various lengths which are arranged according to pitch and struck with mallets, is a xylophone. ”
Xylophone: The Orchestra Up Close — Orchestre Métropolitain
“The xylophone is part of the percussion family, and is composed of a frame which supports wooden bars of varying lengths, generally placed in the same way as a piano keyboard.”
Marimba: Brief Description — Vienna Symphonic Library
“The marimba looks almost exactly the same as the xylophone, but is larger, has a lower register (from bass through tenor to alto) and a wider compass. It is a xylophone with resonators – xylo-phon simply means "wood sounder" – pitched an octave deeper.”
Marimba: Instrument Guide — Yamaha
“There are various ingenious ways in which the marimba is designed to produce musical notes, including in places you cannot see, as well as through the length and thickness of the wood.”
Bass Drum: Brief Description — Vienna Symphonic Library
“The bass drum covers the bass register within the orchestra percussion section, while the tenor drum corresponds to the tenor, the snare drum to the treble register.”
Bass Drum: The Orchestra Up Close — Orchestre Métropolitain
“The bass drum is made of a cylindrical wooden frame called the shell, with two thin sheets of plastic pulled taut across either side to create the drum heads.”
Celesta: Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears — Jacobs School of Music
Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears, by Don Freund, site designed by Reid Merzbacher
Drums: Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears — Jacobs School of Music
Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears, by Don Freund, site designed by Reid Merzbacher
Keyboard Percussion: Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears — Jacobs School of Music
Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears, by Don Freund, site designed by Reid Merzbacher
Metals: Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears — Jacobs School of Music
Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears, by Don Freund, site designed by Reid Merzbacher
Percussion: The Orchestra: A User's Manual — Andrew Hugill
“The aim of The Orchestra: A User's Manual is to provide information about the orchestra, orchestration, composition and instruments, for the benefit of anybody with an interest in the subject.”
Piano: Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears — Jacobs School of Music
Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears, by Don Freund, site designed by Reid Merzbacher
Timpani: Brief Description — Vienna Symphonic Library
“The kettledrum, or timpani, an established member of the symphony orchestra since the 17th century, is the percussion instrument with the longest tradition.”
Timpani: Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears — Jacobs School of Music
Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears, by Don Freund, site designed by Reid Merzbacher
Wooden Percussion Instruments: Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears — Jacobs School of Music
Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears, by Don Freund, site designed by Reid Merzbacher