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drical, conical, double conical, goblet, hourglass and
shallow. Tubular drums may either be tunable and
non-tunable. Like the kettle drums, tubular drums may
be played by using both the hands or a striker and
the vibrating membrane is laced, nailed, or glued to
the body.
•
Friction Drums—Instead of striking, the
stretched membrane vibrates when there is friction
across the membrane. These are non-tunable and the
player uses a cord or stick to create sound.
•
Mirlitons—Unlike other musical instruments
belonging to the membranophones, mirlitons are
not drums. The membranes produce sound with the
vibration of a player’s voice or instrument. Mirlitons
are non-tunable, and a good example of this type is a
kazoo.
•
Other membranophones are called frame
drums in which the skin or membrane is stretched
over a frame such as tambourines. In addition, pot
drums and ground drums fall under the membrano-
phone category.
Chordophones
Chordophones produce sound by
means of a stretched vibrating
string. When a string vibrates,
the resonator picks up that
vibration and amplifies it
giving
it a more
appealing
sound.
There are
five basic
types
based
on the
strings’
relation-
ship with the
resonator.
•
Musical bows—
May or may not
have resonators;
the strings are
attached and stretched
over a wooden bow.
•
Harps—
The strings
aren’t parallel
to the soundboard;
harps are plucked or
strummed.
•
Lyres—The
strings run through
a crossbar holding it
away from the resona-
tor. Lyres may either be
bowed or plucked.
•
Lutes—These instru-
ments have necks; the
strings are stretched
across a resonator
and travel up the
neck. Lutes may be
bowed or plucked.
•
Zithers—These
have a board but no
necks; strings are
stretched from one
end of the board to
another end. Zith-
ers may be plucked
or struck.
Chor-
dophones also have
subcatego-
ries depending on how
the strings
are played. Examples of chordo-
phones played
by bowing are double bass, violin,
and viola. Examples of chordophones that are played
by plucking are banjo, guitar, harp, mandolin, and
ukulele. The piano, dulcimer, and the clavichord are
examples of chordophones that are struck.
Aerophones
Aerophones produce sound by vibrating a column of
air. These are commonly known as wind instruments
and there are four basic types.
•
Brasswinds—Made of metal, particularly brass,