Crotalus

The crotalus is a member of the shaken and scraped idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 112.1). Learn how it makes its sound and explore related instruments.

How the crotalus makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the crotalus belongs to the shaken and scraped idiophones: the body is shaken, scraped or split – rattles, maracas and guiros.

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

A crotalus (Spanish: matraca), also known as a crotalum or clapper, is a wooden liturgical rattle or clapper that replaces altar bells during the celebration of the Tridentine Paschal Triduum at the end of Lent in the Catholic Church. The crotalus is also occasionally used during the celebration of liturgies according to the Ordinary Form Roman Missal during the Paschal Triduum, but its popularity decreased following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The crotalus is also used by some Lutheran and the Episcopal Church congregations.