percussion instrument

percussion instrument

n.

An instrument, such as a drum, xylophone, piano, or maraca, in which sound is produced by one object striking another or by being scraped or shaken.

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percussion instrument

Noun

a musical instrument, such as the drums, that produces a sound when struck directly

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

percussion instrument - a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by one object striking another percussive instrument bones, castanets, clappers, finger cymbals - a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance chime, gong, bell - a percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned bells that are struck with a hammer; used as an orchestral instrument cymbal - a percussion instrument consisting of a concave brass disk; makes a loud crashing sound when hit with a drumstick or when two are struck together drum, membranophone, tympan - a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end glockenspiel, orchestral bells - a percussion instrument consisting of a set of graduated metal bars mounted on a frame and played with small hammers gong, tam-tam - a percussion instrument consisting of a metal plate that is struck with a softheaded drumstick kettledrum, timpani, tympani, tympanum, kettle - a large hemispherical brass or copper percussion instrument with a drumhead that can be tuned by adjusting the tension on it lagerphone - an Australian percussion instrument used for playing bush music; a long stick with bottle caps nailed loosely to it; played by hitting it with a stick or banging it on the ground mallet, hammer - a light drumstick with a rounded head that is used to strike such percussion instruments as chimes, kettledrums, marimbas, glockenspiels, etc. maraca - a percussion instrument consisting of a hollow gourd containing pebbles or beans; often played in pairs marimba, xylophone - a percussion instrument with wooden bars tuned to produce a chromatic scale and with resonators; played with small mallets musical instrument, instrument - any of various devices or contrivances that can be used to produce musical tones or sounds forte-piano, piano, pianoforte - a keyboard instrument that is played by depressing keys that cause hammers to strike tuned strings and produce sounds rain stick - a percussion instrument that is made from a dried cactus branch that is hollowed out and filled with small pebbles and capped at both ends; makes the sound of falling rain when tilted; origin was in Chile where tribesmen used it in ceremonies to bring rain steel drum - a concave percussion instrument made from the metal top of an oil drum; has an array of flattened areas that produce different tones when struck (of Caribbean origin) triangle - a percussion instrument consisting of a metal bar bent in the shape of an open triangle vibes, vibraharp, vibraphone - a percussion instrument similar to a xylophone but having metal bars and rotating disks in the resonators that produce a vibrato sound