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A drum is a musical percussion instrument, consisting of a membrane which is usually stretched taut over a cylindrical tube that is open at the other end. The membrane is struck, either with the hand or some other object like a drumstick, and the tube forms a resonating chamber for the resulting sound. A drummer is a person who plays the drums.

In most popular music and jazz, drums or drummer usually refer to a drum kit.

In the past, drums were used as a means of communication - see drum (communication).

Examples of drums:

• ashiko
• Basler drum
• bass drum
• bodhrán
• bongo drum
• boucarabou
• conga drums
• goblet drumThe Goblet drum is a goblet or hour-glass shaped hand drum used in Arab music, Persian music, Balkan music and Turkish music. It is of ancient origin, and is believed by some to have been invented before the chair. In Egypt its known as the darbuka or dar
• davulThe davul is a type of two-sided frame drum found in the middle east. Cow hide is stretched over the right side and struck with a heavy beater, known in Turkish as a tokmak, for a heavy, low tone. Over the other side, thinner goat skin is stretched. This
• dholakThe Dholak (sometimes dholaki is a classical North Indian hand drum. A dholak may have traditional lacing or turnbuckle tuning. The dholak has a simple membrane on the right-hand side. The left-hand membrane has a special coating on the inner surface.
• djembeA Djembe (also jembe yembe sanbanyi in Susu is a kind of drum shaped like a large goblet and meant to be played with bare hands. As a result of the goblet shape, striking the skin in the center produces a lower pitch sound than striking the skin near the
• djun-djunThe Djun-Djun or Djum-Djum (pronounced dununs or dundun) is a cylindrical, double-headed bass drum carved from solid Dembu log and using with cow skin membranes. The Djun-djun is found throughout South America and West Africa. Djun-djun are worn over the
• doyraDoyra (also dojra is an Uzbek percussion musical instrument, which is something intemediate between a drum and a tambourine. When playing doyra an artists helds it in his left hand and flicks (hits) it with his right hand fingers. The most interesting thi
• kholThe khol is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India for accompaniment with devotional music. One of the sides of the khol is much smaller than the other. Both sides are covered with animal hide. The hide on the smaller side is cover
• log drum
• message drum
• monkey drum
• snare drum
• steel drum - not a membranophone, but referred to as a drum
• tabla
• tabor
• taiko
• talking drum
• tapan
• tenor drum
• timbales
• timpani
• tom-tom drum

In the Sachs-Hornbostel scheme of musical instrument classification, drums belong to the membranophone class.

See also:

• drum and bass
• drum kit
• drum machine
• musical instrument
• Percussive Arts Society