Republic of the Philippines

Surigao del Sur State University

Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

Musical Instruments: Brass Family and Percussion Family

Discussant: Rachelle Anne D. Quinonez

Brass Family
Brass instruments are essentially very long pipes that widen at their ends
into a bell-like shape. The pipes have been curved and twisted into different
shapes to make them easier to hold and play. Although their early ancestors
are known to have been made of wood, tusks, animal horns or shells, today's
modern instruments are made entirely of brass. Like the woodwind family,
brass players use their breath to produce sound, but instead of blowing into
a reed, you vibrate your own lips by buzzing them against a metal cup-
shaped mouthpiece. The mouthpiece helps to amplify the buzzing of the lips,
which creates the sound. Most brass instruments have valves attached to
their long pipes; the valves look like buttons. When you press down on the
valves, they open and close different parts of the pipe. The brass family
members that are most commonly used in the orchestra include
the trumpet, French horn, trombone, and the tuba.
 The ancestors of the modern trumpet have been a part of human
culture for a very long time. Old trumpet-like instruments played by
ancient peoples were made of conch-shell, animal horn, wood or metal.
Throughout history the trumpet has been used to sound alarms, gather
people together, as a call to war, and to add luster to parade music.
Like the violin, the trumpet is the smallest member of its family and
plays the highest pitches with its bright and vibrant sound. Today's
modern trumpet is a slender brass pipe with three attached valves,
which is curved and bent into long loops. If you stretched out the
trumpet to its full length, it would be 6 ½ feet long! There are 2 to 4
trumpets in an orchestra and they play both melody and harmony and
also support the rhythm. You play the trumpet by holding it
horizontally, buzzing your lips into the mouthpiece, and pressing down
the three valves in various combinations to change pitch.
 French horn does originally come from France and is unquestionably
a horn. It comes from the French hunting horn of the 1600s, and
produces a wide variety of sound ranging from very loud to very soft,
and from harsh and blaring to mellow and smooth. The French horn's
18 feet of tubing is rolled up into a circular shape, with a large bell at
its end. There are anywhere from 2 to 8 French horns in an orchestra,
and they play both melody and harmony as well as rhythm. To play the
French horn, hold it with the bell curving downward and buzz into the
mouthpiece. Your left hand plays the three valves and you can change
the type of sound you make by the way you place your right hand in
the bell.
 The trombone is the only instrument in the brass family that uses a
slide instead of valves to change pitch. A standard trombone is made
of long thin brass pipes. Two U-shaped pipes are linked at opposite
ends to form an "S." One pipe slides into the other so the total length
 Republic of the Philippines
Surigao del Sur State University
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

of the pipe can be extended or shortened. You play the trombone by

holding it horizontally, buzzing into the mouthpiece, and using your
right hand to change pitch by pushing or pulling the slide to one of
seven different positions. If you stretch the trombone out straight, it is
about 9 feet long. There are usually 3 trombones in the orchestra and
they play pitches in the same range as the cello and bassoon. The
three trombones often play harmonies together.
 This is the grandfather of the brass family. The tuba is the largest and
lowest brass instrument and anchors the harmony not only of the brass
family but the whole orchestra with its deep rich sound. Like the other
brasses, the tuba is a long metal tube, curved into an oblong shape,
with a huge bell at the end. Tubas range in size from 9 to 18 feet; the
longer they are, the lower they sound. Standard tubas have about 16
feet of tubing. There is generally only one tuba in an orchestra and it
usually plays harmony. You play the tuba sitting down with the
instrument on your lap and the bell facing up. You blow and buzz into a
very large mouthpiece and use your hand to press down on the valves
which changes the sound. It takes a lot of breath to make sound with
the tuba!

Percussion Family
The percussion family is the largest in the orchestra. Percussion
instruments include any instrument that makes a sound when it is hit,
shaken, or scraped. It's not easy to be a percussionist because it takes a lot
of practice to hit an instrument with the right amount of strength, in the right
place and at the right time. Some percussion instruments are tuned and can
sound different notes, like the xylophone, timpani or piano, and some are
untuned with no definite pitch, like the bass drum, cymbals or castanets.
Percussion instruments keep the rhythm, make special sounds and add
excitement and color. Unlike most of the other players in the orchestra, a
percussionist will usually play many different instruments in one piece of
music. The most common percussion instruments in the orchestra include
the timpani, xylophone, cymbals, triangle, snare drum, bass
drum, tambourine, maracas, gongs, chimes, celesta, and piano.
 Piano is a percussion or a string instrument. It is a tuned instrument,
and you can play many notes at once using both your hands. Within
the orchestra the piano usually supports the harmony, but it has
another role as a solo instrument (an instrument that plays by itself),
playing both melody and harmony.
 Timpani look like big polished bowls or upside-down teakettles, which
is why they're also called kettledrums. They are big copper pots with
drumheads made of calfskin or plastic stretched over their tops.
Timpani are tuned instruments, which means they can play different
notes. The timpanist changes the pitch by stretching or loosening the
drumheads, which are attached to a foot pedal. Timpani are a central
part of the percussion family because they support rhythm, melody
and harmony. Most orchestras have four timpani of different sizes and
 Republic of the Philippines
Surigao del Sur State University
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

tuned to different pitches and they are usually played by one musician,
who hits the drumheads with felt-tipped mallets or wooden sticks. The
timpani player must have a very good ear because he/she usually
needs to change the pitches of the drums during performances.
 The xylophone originally came from Africa and Asia, but has a Greek
name that means "wood sound." The modern xylophone has wooden
bars or keys arranged like the keys of the piano, which the player hits
with a mallet. You can change the quality of the pitch by using
different kinds of mallets (hard or soft), and by hitting the wooden bars
in different ways. Attached to the bottom of the wooden bars are metal
tubes called resonators, where the sound vibrates. This gives the
xylophone its bright bell-like sound.
 Cymbals are the biggest noisemakers of the orchestra. They are two
large metal discs, usually made of spun bronze. Cymbals, which are
untuned, come in a range of sizes, from quite small to very large. The
larger the cymbal, the lower the sound they make. Cymbals can be
used for drama and excitement, to accent the rhythm or create
delicate sound effects. You can play the cymbals either by hitting one
cymbal against the other, or you can use sticks, mallets or brushes to
hit one or both cymbals.
 Triangle is a small metal bar that's bent into the shape of a triangle
and makes a ringing sound when you hit it. There are many sizes of
triangles and each one sounds a different pitch. You play the triangle
by holding it on a string and striking it with a metal beater. The size
and thickness of the beater can change the sound the triangle makes.
 The snare drum is a smallish drum made of wood or brass with
drumheads made of calfskin or plastic stretched over both ends of a
hollow cylinder. It has a set of wire-wrapped strings stretched across
the bottom head (the snare), which give the snare drum its unique
"rattling" sound when the drum is hit. A small switch on the side of the
drum allows the player to turn the snare on or off depending on the
requirements of the piece. The snare drum is an untuned drum, so it
doesn't sound distinct pitches. It is often used in military music and is a
central part of any marching band. Snare drums are used to keep the
rhythm and make special sounds, such as drumrolls. You play the
snare drum by hitting the top with drumsticks, mallets or brushes.
 The bass drum, like the double bass, is the biggest member of the
percussion family and therefore makes the lowest sounds. The bass
drum is built like a very large snare drum, although without the snare;
it is also an untuned instrument. You play the bass drum by hitting
either drumhead with sticks that have large soft heads, often covered
with sheepskin or felt. It can produce a lot of different sounds from
roaring thunder to the softest whispers.
 Have you played one of these? A tambourine is a small drum with
metal jingles set into the edges. Both the drumhead and the jingles are
untuned. To play it, you hold it in one hand and tap, shake or hit it,
usually against your other hand.
 Maracas come from Mexico. They are rattles, often made from gourds
(a kind of squash), filled with dried seeds, beads or even tiny ball
 Republic of the Philippines
Surigao del Sur State University
Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

bearings that make them rattle. Maracas can also be made of wood or
plastic; the sound they make depends on what they're made of. To
play them, you hold them in your hands and shake.
 The gong, also known as the tamtam, is a very large metal plate that
hangs suspended from a metal pipe. It looks similar to a cymbal and is
also untuned, but is much larger and has a raised center. To play it,
you hit the center with a soft mallet. Depending on how hard you hit it,
you can make a deafening crash or the softest flicker of sound.
 Chimes are metal tubes of different lengths that are hung from a
metal frame. When you strike the tubes with a mallet, they sound like
the ringing bells of a church. Each chime sounds a different pitch.
 Castanets are made of two pieces of wood tied together. To play
them, you hold them with your fingers and click the two pieces of wood
together. In the orchestra, castanets are sometimes mounted on a
piece of wood, and the percussionist plays them by hitting them with
his/her hands.
 The celesta looks like a tiny upright piano and sounds a lot like the
glockenspiel with its delicate bell-like tone. Celestas usually have a
keyboard of 49–65 keys. As with the piano, you make sound on the
celesta by pressing down on a key with your finger, which lifts a
hammer inside and strikes a metal bar. You can play many notes at
once using both your hands.