Listen to the triangle
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the triangle makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the triangle 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.
Players shape its sound through technique and materials; the resonating body filters the raw vibration, boosting some harmonics and damping others.
From Wikipedia
The triangle, or musical triangle, is a musical instrument in the percussion family, classified as an idiophone in the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system. Triangles are made from a variety of metals including aluminum, beryllium copper, brass, bronze, iron, and steel. The metal is bent into a triangular shape with one open end. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve to enable the triangle to vibrate, and it is struck with a metal rod called a "beater". The triangle theoretically has indefinite pitch, and produces a plurality of overtones when struck with an appropriate beater.
Other struck idiophones
Questions people ask
Real questions from the Stack Exchange community – follow a link to read the discussion.
- What does a triangle mean in chord notation? · Music SE
- Triangle above note, with a dot in it · Music SE
- Is there a defined note for the triangle? · Music SE
- What is the origin of the triangle symbol for maj7 chords? · Music SE
- Triangle Tonnetz vs. Hexagon Tonnetz · Music SE
Frequently asked questions
What does a triangle 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 triangle?
It is classified as struck idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 111.211).
Sources & credits
- Audionautix-com-ccby-triangle by Created by Jason Shaw. Released under Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0. Required credit: "music by… – CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q201735 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Triangle (musical instrument) – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Žiga – CC0 1.0