How the castanets makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the castanets belongs to the struck idiophones: the body is struck directly – bells, gongs, xylophones and cymbals.
More broadly it is one of the idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself vibrates, without strings or a stretched membrane.
Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.
From Wikipedia
Castanets, also known as clackers or palillos, are a percussion instrument (idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar instrument called the crotalum.
The name of the musical tool (castanyetes in the Catalán language) comes from the species of castanea (chestnut tree) as the instrument resembles the two halves from the outer shell of the fruit of these kind of trees.
Other struck idiophones
Frequently asked questions
What does a castanets sound like?
As one of the struck idiophones, its sound comes from the way the body is struck directly.
What type of instrument is the castanets?
It is classified as struck idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 111.141).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q183932 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Castanets – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by TheMexican – Public domain