Listen to the slit drum
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the slit drum makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the slit drum 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.
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 slit drum, or slit gong, is a hollow percussion instrument, often made out of wood or bamboo. In spite of its often being called a drum, it is not a true drum, because it lacks a drumhead, the membrane (made out of animal skin or plastic) stretched across the top of a true drum. It is classed instead as an idiophone in which the entire instrument vibrates.
Other struck idiophones
Frequently asked questions
What does a slit drum sound like?
Listen to 1 recording on this page. As one of the struck idiophones, its sound comes from the way the body is struck directly.
What type of instrument is the slit drum?
It is classified as struck idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 111.243).
Sources & credits
- Satch Hoyt, Slit Drum, Brücke-Museum Berlin, 65053 – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q628428 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Slit drum – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Koffeinoverdos – CC BY-SA 3.0