Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

kettledrum

 
Dictionary: ket·tle·drum   (kĕt'l-drŭm') pronunciation
n.
A large copper or brass hemispherical drum with a parchment head that can be tuned by adjusting the tension.


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Music Encyclopedia: Kettledrum
Top

A drum with a hemispherical body as resonator; the most familiar are the orchestral Timpani. Kettledrums may be made from materials ranging from tortoise shells and hollowed-out tree trunks to clay or metal bowls; the head is attached over the open body by lacing, thong-tensioning, pegs etc. The shape strengthens certain overtones in the harmonic series so that the kettledrum produces a definite pitch and can be tuned.

Such drums were known in Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium bc and were used by the Huns in the 3rd and 2nd centuries bc. They are often paired; common in the Middle East, they were adopted in Europe during the Crusades (13th century). The Arabic term naqqāra became the French nacaires and the English Nakers. In India a small thong-tensioned kettledrum constitutes the lower drum of the Tablā.



 
Columbia Encyclopedia: kettledrum
Top
kettledrum, in music, percussion instrument consisting of a hemispherical metal vessel over which a membrane is stretched, played with soft-headed wooden drumsticks. Of ancient origin, it appeared early in Europe, probably imported from the Middle East by crusaders in the 12th or 13th cent. These early kettledrums were small and appeared in pairs, often hung about the player's waist. The kettledrum was introduced into the opera orchestra by Lully in the 17th cent. and was commonly used to express joy or triumph in the music of the baroque period. Unique among Western percussion instruments, it can be tuned to definite pitches by adjusting the tension of the head. Usually there are two or more in the modern orchestra, the tuning of which varies. Berlioz used eight pairs in his Requiem. Several improved methods of tuning were developed in the 19th cent.; common today is a single pedal capable of giving the instrument a full chromatic range of over an octave. Kettledrums are also called timpani. See drum.


Fine Arts Dictionary: kettledrum
Top

A drum consisting of a skin stretched over a large shell in the shape of a half-sphere. The pitch of the kettledrum can be changed by manipulating screws at the edge of the skin or pedals at the bottom of the drum. Kettledrums are usually used in classical music in sets of two or more and are known by their Italian name, timpani.

Translations: Kettledrum
Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - pauke

Nederlands (Dutch)
pauk

Français (French)
n. - (Mus) timbale

Deutsch (German)
n. - Pauke

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (μουσ.) τύμπανο συμφωνικής ορχήστρας, τουμπελέκι

Italiano (Italian)
timpano

Português (Portuguese)
n. - tímpano (m) (Mús.)

Русский (Russian)
литавра, званый чай по вечерам

Español (Spanish)
n. - timbal

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - puka

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
定音鼓, 午后茶会

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 定音鼓, 午後茶會

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 반구형의 큰북

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ケトルドラム

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) طبله‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תוף מורכב מחצי כדור נחושת שעל פיו מתוח קלף, תונפן, תוף הכיור‬


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Fine Arts Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more