| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabasa |  | Brazil | The cabasa, similar to the shekere, is a percussion instrument that is constructed with loops of steel ball chain wrapped around a wide cylinder. The cylinder is fixed to a long, narrow wooden or plastic handle. It was constructed from dried oval- or pear-shaped gourds with beads strung on the outer surface. The image shows an afuche-cabasa. |
| Caixa |  | Brazil | A caixa is a Brazilian snare drum. It is the driving force in samba music where ghost notes are played continuously with accented strokes outlining the rhythm. The caixa is also used extensively in Reggaeton (a form of urban music which became popular with Latin American youth during the early 1990s), and in extreme metal to provide a blast beat. |
| Caja |  | Colombia | The caja, a drum similar to a tambora, is one of the three main or traditional instruments of the Vallenato music. Caja, the slang word adopted to nickname this drum, means "box" in Spanish. There is also a Caribbean drum called caja, used in the music of Cuba. |
| Cajón |  | Peru | A cajón (Spanish for 'crate', 'drawer', or 'box') is a kind of box drum played by slapping the front face (generally thin plywood) with the hands. The cajón is the most widely used Afro-Peruvian musical instrument in the 20th century. The instrument has been officially declared "Cultural Patrimony of the Nation" by the Peruvian government. |
| Calabash |  | Mali | Large calabashes are used as percussion instruments after they are hollowed and dried, especially by Fulani (an ethnic group of people spread over many countries in West Africa, Central Africa and as far as East Africa), Songhai (an ethnic group from western Africa akin to the Mandé), Gur-speaking (the Niger-Congo languages) and Hausa peoples (a Sahelian people chiefly located in the West African regions of northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger.) |
| Calung |  | Indonesia | A calung is a bamboo tube xylophone used by the Sundanese people of West Java. It can have from 2 to 19 tubes connected by two cords. Jegog is a form of gamelan music indigenous to Bali, Indonesia played on instruments made of bamboo. All instruments have eight bamboo keys. Some instruments have two keys for each pitch slightly detuned so that the pitches beat when they are played together. |
| Carillon |  | Belgium | A carillon is a musical instrument composed of at least 23 cup-shaped bells played from a baton keyboard using fists and feet (such an instrument with fewer than this number of bells is known as a chime). Carillon bells are made of bell bronze, approximately 78% copper and 22% tin. They could be housed in bell towers, shopping malls, Opera houses or theatres such as the one at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. |
| Castanet |  | Spain | Castanets are percussion instrument (idiophone), much used in Moorish, Ottoman, Ancient Roman, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American music. The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by string. These are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or a ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks. They are traditionally made of hardwood, although fibreglass is becoming increasingly popular. Spanish castanets are called Castañuelas. Portuguese castanets are called Castanholas. |
| Catalan Shawm |  | Spain | A catalan shawm is one of two varieties of shawm (an oboe-like woodwind instrument) used in Catalonia in northern Spain. The types of shawm commonly used in Catalonia are the tible (Catalan for "treble") and the tenora (Catalan for "tenor"). The tenora is pitched about a fifth lower than the tible. These shawms are usually used with other instruments to accompany the traditional Catalan circle dance, the Sardana. The image shows a Sardana band palying catalan shawms. |
| Cavaquinho |  | Spain | The cavaquinho is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. It is also called machimbo, machim, machete (in the Portuguese Atlantic islands and Brazil), manchete or marchete, braguinha or braguinho. It is frequently and fondly called cavaco in Brazil. |
| Caxixi |  | Africa | A caxixi is a percussion instrument consisting of a closed basket with a flat-bottom filled with seeds or other small particles. The caxixi is an indirectly struck idiophone. It is found across Africa and South America. In Capoeira music, the caxixi is played along with the berimbau. In West Africa it is used by singers and often alongside drummers. |
| Celempung |  | Indonesia | The celempung and siter are plucked string instruments used in Javanese gamelan. They are related to the kacapi used in Sundanese gamelan. The celempung and siter each have between 11 and 13 pairs of strings, strung on each side, between a box resonator. Typically the strings on one side tuned to pélog and the other to slendro. The siter is generally about a foot long and fits in a box (which it is set upon while played), while the celempung is about three feet long and sits on four legs, and is tuned one octave below the siter. They are used as one of the elaborating instruments (panerusan), that play cengkok (melodic patterns based on the balungan). Both the siter and celempung play at the same rapid speed as the gambang. |
| Celesta |  | France | The celesta is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. The "c" can be pronounced as an "s" or "ch". Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano. The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates suspended over wooden resonators. One pedal is available to sustain or dampen the sound. The celesta is a transposing instrument, sounding one octave higher than written. The celesta was invented in 1889 by the Parisian harmonium builder Auguste Mustel. |
| Cello |  | Europe | The violoncello, usually abbreviated to cello or 'cello, is a bowed string instrument. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra. The cello is most closely associated with European classical music, and has been described as the closest sounding instrument to the human voice. The cello is typically made from wood, although other materials such as carbon fibre or aluminum may be used. A traditional cello has a spruce top, with maple for the back, sides, and neck. The top and back are traditionally hand-carved, though less expensive cellos are often machine-produced. The sides, or ribs, are made by heating the wood and bending it around forms. The neck, pegbox, and scroll are normally carved out of a single piece of wood. The cello has four strings, which are referred to either by number or by their standard tuning. The cello developed from the bass violin, first referred to by Jambe de Fer in 1556, which was originally a three-string instrument. |
| Celtic Harp |  | Europe | The Celtic harp or folk harp is small to medium-sized and usually designed for traditional music. It can be played solo or with small groups. It is prominent in Welsh, Breton, Irish, Scottish and other Celtic cultures within traditional or folk music and as a social and political symbol. It’s around 1 meter tall, with curved neck and pillar. It has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. The image shows a reenactor playing a Celtic harp on the Hill-McNeil Store porch, New Salem, Illinois, 2006. |
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