Annamay Barkley, age 13. of Great Falls, Mont., for her question:
WHICH MUSICAL INSTRUMENT IS MAN'S OLDEST?
Man's oldest musical instrument is the drum. It serves as a means of expressing his instinctive love of rhythm. It has also been used as a method of communication.
Man's first drums probably were used as central aids for ceremonial dances. The drum also was used as a call to battle and as a requium for the dead.
The drum is a musical instrument that is played by percussion, or striking sharply. It is made of an open cylinder or a kettle, with a skin called a drumhead stretched tightly across the opening.
If the instrument has an open cylinder, it has two drumheads. If it is built on a kettle, it has only one.
When the drumhead of a drum is rapped sharply, it vibrates and produces a sound. The sound is resonated or increased by the drum shell. Drumheads are usually made of stretched parchment for calfskin.
Much of the force and vitality of popular music would be lost without the rhythmic accent of drums. It is definitely one of today's most popular musical instruments.
Most drums do not produce definite musical notes. They are said to have indefinite pitch.
A bass drum is made of wood, with metal tension rods holding the two drumheads in place. The rods can be tightened to increase reasonance. The drummer uses a beater or two covered with felt or sheep's wool.
A snare drum measures 14 or 15 inches across and from five to 10 inches deep. It is built like a bass drum, except that it has snares, or strings of catgut or wire, across the underside. They vibrate against one of the drumheads, giving the drum its penetrating tone. The drummer uses two wooden sticks in alternaate double strokes.
The bongo drum is a small instrument used in folk and popular music and played with the fingers.
A field drum resembles the snare drum, but it is larger and deeper. It is used today chiefly in military and marching bands and in drum and bugle corps.
The timpani, or kettledrums, are the only drums that can be tuned to a definite pitch. They are hollow halves of globes with single drumheads. The globes are usually made of brass or copper.
The drumheads of timpani are usually made of calfskin. The player tunes the instrument by adjusting screws that hold the head in place. This changes the tension and pitch. Some have pedals for rapid changes in tone.
Timpani are usually in pairs. The player makes single strokes with two padded sticks. Tone is affected by the kind of stick.
Sometimes the timpany is muted by small pieces of cloth.
There are two basic types of percussion instruments: those that produce indefinite pitches and those that play definite pitches. Included with the timpani, which can be tuned, are the chimes, glockenspiels, marimbas, tubular bells and xylophones. Indefinite pitch instruments include the rest of the drum family as well as castanets, cymbals, gongs, triangles, tambourines and many others.