The full family of drums and percussion — acoustic and electronic kits, hand drums, pitched mallet instruments, and everything in between.
- 118 topics
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Inside Drums & Percussion
All 118 topicsThe 12 most-searched of 118 topics. The full index is at the foot of the page.
Electronic Drum Kit
Electronic drum kits for quiet practice, recording and adaptable modern drumming.
5 topics
Xylophone
Xylophones are tuned wooden percussion instruments with a bright, articulate sound for schools, ensembles and performanc...
1 topic
Drum Kit
Choose a drum kit for practice, recording or live work, with acoustic and electronic options to suit every drummer.
14 topics
Claves
Bright, compact rhythm sticks that deliver a clear click for Latin grooves, ensemble work and classroom percussion.
Glockenspiel
Glockenspiels deliver bright, bell-like tuned percussion for orchestral, educational and studio use.
4 topics
Drum Sticks
Drum sticks shape feel, tone and control, with options for practice, performance and different playing styles.
1 topic
Chimes
Orchestral percussion for shimmering accents, dramatic swells and atmospheric colour in live or studio settings.
1 topic
Bongos
Add lively hand percussion to your setup with bongos for Latin grooves, teaching and live performance.
2 topics
Tambourine
Find tambourines for bright accents, rhythmic lift and versatile hand percussion across many styles.
2 topics
Tubular Bells
Tubular bells are pitched concert percussion instruments known for resonant, bell-like tones in orchestral and theatrica...
Maracas
Maracas add bright rhythmic texture and easy-to-use percussion colour for studio, school and live performance.
2 topics
Drums
Drums for every player, from complete kits to upgrade parts, with options for practice, recording and live performance.
26 topicsArticles on Drums & Percussion
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Glockenspiel Explained: Features, Types and Tips
The glockenspiel produces one of the most distinctive tones in percussion — bright, clear and bell-like. Here's how it works and what the different types offer.
Splash Cymbal for Beginners: A Complete Guide
Common Congas Drums Mistakes to Avoid
Most early problems with congas drums trace back to a small number of repeating errors. Identify and fix them early and the technique develops far more quickly.
Common Agogo Bells Mistakes to Avoid
The same handful of habits explain most problems with agogo bells. Here are six specific mistakes, why they happen, and the quick fix for each.
The Best Bells for the Money
Handbell value sits at £900–1200 for mid-range sets offering 90% of premium tone for 50% less cost. Avoid cheap extremes; match budget to commitment level.
Snare Stand: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Ludwig Drum Kit: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Ludwig drum kits span several distinct lines aimed at different budgets. Here is what each tier includes and how to choose the right one for your level.
Tom Drum Explained: Features, Types and Tips
Rack toms, floor toms, concert toms and more — here's what a tom drum is built from, what changes its sound, and a few honest tuning basics.
Common Hang Music Instrument Mistakes to Avoid
Small, ordinary decisions cause most handpan disappointment. Here are the mistakes I hear about most often, and the gentle fix for each.
Drum Hangers and Tom Mounts: A Complete Guide
Hardware is the part of a drum kit nobody photographs — invisible in the finished sound, until it is not, at which point it is the only thing anyone can hear.
Pearl Tom Toms: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Sizes, shell tiers, mounts and heads — the honest, no-hype version of what to check before you buy Pearl tom toms.
Yamaha Drum Kit: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Choosing the right Yamaha drum kit means understanding shells, hardware, cymbals and budget allocation. This guide walks through what actually matters when buying acoustic or electronic Yamaha drums.
Vibraphone for Beginners: A Complete Guide
A gentle, step-by-step start on the vibraphone: your first bars, mallet grip, pedal control and simple early exercises.
Tambourine for Beginners: A Complete Guide
Playing the tambourine well takes more than shaking it. This beginner's guide covers correct hold, the basic shake, head strikes, and the thumb roll — and how to use them musically.
Common Hand Drum Mistakes to Avoid
Most hand drum problems are habit problems. Here are the mistakes that come up again and again, and how to fix them.
The Best Cymbals for the Money
Price and quality do not track together in cymbals. A tier-by-tier look at where your money buys real improvement — and where it just buys a name on the box.
Darbuka Explained: Features, Types and Tips
A hollow goblet, one stretched skin, and a genuinely wide range of tone — here's what a darbuka is and how to get more out of it.
Handpan Explained: Features, Types and Tips
A handpan looks like two dented steel shells stuck together — here's the anatomy, history and craft behind that deceptively simple shape.
Zildjian Cymbals: A Complete Buyer's Guide
A practical buyer's guide to Zildjian cymbals — what the series differences mean, where the value is at each price level, and what to look for when buying used.
Vibraphone: A Complete Buyer's Guide
What actually matters when buying a vibraphone, from motor and pedal condition to range, size and transport.
The Best Djembes Drums for the Money
There's no single best djembe — just the right type for the job. Here's how to match one to a beginner, a drum circle, a serious student or a school.
The Best Celestas for the Money
This isn't a market with a shelf of rivals to rank. Here's an honest breakdown of what's worth your money instead.
A Guide to Tabla Drumming
The first time you hear it played properly, tabla drumming stops sounding like percussion and starts sounding like speech. Here's why.
Steel Pedal for Beginners: A Complete Guide
It doesn't look like it should make that sound. Here's an honest, encouraging beginner's guide to learning the steel pedal guitar, one small step at a time.
What Drums & Percussion Covers
Drums & percussion is the broadest family in music: it covers every instrument that produces sound by striking, shaking, scraping or setting a surface in vibration. The category divides into membranophones — instruments with a stretched skin or synthetic head, such as a snare drum or djembe — and idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself produces the sound, as with a xylophone, cowbell or claves.
Drum Kits: Acoustic and Electronic
The acoustic drum kit — bass drum, snare, tom-toms, hi-hats and cymbals — remains the foundation of rock, jazz and pop. Every component has its own page here, from choosing drum sticks and replacement heads to selecting the right cymbals for a given style. Electronic drum kits and percussion pads use triggers and sampled sounds, and are increasingly popular for practice, home recording and smaller venues where volume matters. Hybrid kits combine acoustic shells with electronic triggering, giving players the feel of real heads alongside the flexibility of on-board sound libraries.
Hand Percussion
Hand percussion spans dozens of world traditions. Congas, bongos and claves draw from Afro-Cuban music; the djembe comes from West Africa; the cajón from Peru; the bodhrán from Irish folk. Frame drums, goblet drums and shakers appear in folk, classical and popular music alike. When choosing a hand drum, the key considerations are playing technique, head material, tuning range, portability and whether it is intended for solo practice, ensemble playing or live performance.
Pitched Percussion
Pitched percussion instruments play identifiable notes and sit at the intersection of rhythm and melody. Xylophones, marimbas, vibraphones, glockenspiels, tubular bells and the celesta are all mallet instruments, found in orchestras, concert bands, musical theatre and studio production. The handpan — a relatively modern bowl-shaped idiophone — has attracted a dedicated following for its resonant, meditative tone.
Accessories and Smaller Percussion
The tambourine, triangle, cowbell, shaker and chimes might not anchor the rhythm section, but in the right moment they define a recording. This section also covers the accessories that hold everything together: drum sticks and mallets, beaters and brushes, mounting hardware, cymbal stands, drum pedals, replacement heads, cases and triggers.
All 118 topics in Drums & Percussion
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- Djembe
- Double Bass Pedal
- Dream Cymbals
- Drum Bags
- Drum Cases
- Drum Hardware
- Drum Hardware
- Drum Heads
- Drum Key
- Drum Kit
- Drum Mutes
- Drum Pad
- Drum Rack
- Drum Rug
- Drum Shells
- Drum Sticks
- Drum Throne
- Drums
- Drums & Percussion (General)
- Drums & Percussion — Other Brands
- Drums & Percussion — Pearl
- Drums & Percussion — Tama
- Drums & Percussion — Yamaha
- Dw Drum Kit
