More than anything else, we like to beat on things. Our most ancient musical instruments are percussion. Paleolithic excavations have revealed a child’s rattle made of clay, generally considered to be one of the first instruments known to prehistoric man. We can’t tell what percussive activities arose first, but it’s reasonable to assume that stamping, clapping, and striking sonorous material with a stick or bone were the earliest musical impulses. Instruments that we strike have proliferated throughout history: bells, gongs, wood blocks and, especially, drums. There is more variety in the names for drums around the world than any for other kind of instrument, as you can see from the fairly exhaustive list below.
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Today in Washington, DC (Saturday, July 9, 2011), a new record qualified for the Guinness Book of World Records: the largest angklung orchestra performance. In the shadow of the Washington Monument, 5,180 participants gathered to play angklungs that had been especially made in Indonesia for the occasion. The performance was conducted by noted angklung ensemble leader Daeng Udjo. Continue reading →
Ringing Rocks Park in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, contains a field of boulders that produce a metallic ringing sound when struck, as if they were hollow. The boulders consist of a volcanic basalt called diabase, and thus have a high content of iron and aluminum. In 1890, Dr. J. J. Ott collected a number of these rocks with different pitches and performed with a brass band. He was not the first person to give such a performance. 
Although better known for his art and mechanical engineering inventions, Leonardo da Vinci was a skilled poet, singer and musician. He designed or improved several instruments, including a silver lyre in the shape of a horse’s head that contemporaries described as having a more resonant and beautiful tone than traditional lyres made of wood. Vasari, the Renaissance biographer of famous artists, described da Vinci as an “excellent musician.” An exhibit at the National Geographic Museum in D.C. explains that da Vinci “introduced improvements on many popular musical instruments… simplifying their playing technique and creating new sound effects.” His improvements for the flute included keys and extra finger holes.