Listen to the rattle
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the rattle makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the rattle 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.
Press play above and watch the spectrum: the evenly spaced peaks are harmonics, and their relative strength is what gives the instrument its character.
From Wikipedia
A rattle is a type of percussion instrument which produces a sound when shaken. Rattles are described in the Hornbostel–Sachs system as Shaken Idiophones or Rattles (112.1).
SHAKEN IDIOPHONES are rattles (not to be confused with clappers). The material is important, but more important is the arrangement of the sounding parts that strike together when the implement is shaken.
Other shaken and scraped idiophones
Tambourine
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Maraca
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Music box
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Sistrum
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Angklung
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Jingle bell
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Ratchet
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Güiro
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Questions people ask
Real questions from the Stack Exchange community – follow a link to read the discussion.
- WTF? Zoom h4n rattle. · Sound Design SE
Frequently asked questions
What does a rattle sound like?
Listen to 5 recordings on this page. As one of the shaken and scraped idiophones, its sound comes from the way the body is shaken, scraped or split.
What type of instrument is the rattle?
It is classified as shaken and scraped idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 112.1).
Sources & credits
- Stick on metal fence rattle (Gravity Sound) by Gravity Sound – CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Metal water drain hits rattle (Gravity Sound) by Gravity Sound – CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Pill bottle rattle (Gravity Sound) by Gravity Sound – CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Pill bottle rattle 3 (Gravity Sound) by Gravity Sound – CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Pill bottle rattle 2 (Gravity Sound) by Gravity Sound – CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q2132068 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Rattle (percussion instrument) – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image – CC BY 4.0