| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darbuka |  | Egypt | Darbuka (also goblet drum or chalice drum) is a goblet shaped hand drum used in Arabic, Assyrian, Persian, Balkan, Armenian, Azeri and Turkish music. Its thin, responsive drumhead and resonance help it produce a distinctively crisp sound. There are two main types of goblet drums. The Egyptian style has rounded edges around the head, whereas the Turkish style exposes the edge of the head. The exposed edge allows closer access to the head so finger-snapping techniques can be done, but the hard edge discourages the rapid rolls possible with the Egyptian style. |
| Davul |  | Turkey | Davul is a large double-headed drum from Turkey. In Greece it is called a daouli. These drums are commonly used in the folk music of the Balkan countries like Macedonia and Bulgaria, portions of Greece, as well as Turkey and Iran. These drums have both a deep bass sound and a thin treble sound due to their construction and playing style, where different heads and sticks are used to produce different sounds on the same drum. The image shows a davul played by a member of an Ottoman military band. |
| Dayereh |  | Iran | A dayereh (or doyra, dojra, dajre, doira,dajreja) is a medium-sized frame drum with jingles, used to accompany both popular and classical music in Iran (Persia), The Balkans, and many Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. This single headed percussion instrument is formed by attaching a skin cover onto a wooden ring with glue and cloth ties. This is similar to the Persian daira and the Turkish def. |
| Dentsivka |  | Ukraine | The dentsivka (Ukrainian: Денцівка) is often commonly called a sopilka, however, it differs from the true sopilka in that the dentsivka has a fipple, like the western European recorder. It is thus classified as a duct flute. Usually it is made from a tube of wood approximately 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16 in.) length. Holes are cut or burnt into the tube and a fipple made at one end. The pipe itself can be made of any material including metal and plastic. |
| Derkach |  | Ukraine | The derkach (Ukrainian: Деркач) is an Ukrainian version of the rattle. It is occasionally used in Ukrainian folk instrument orchestras, but is usually found as a child's toy. In ancient times it was a religious and magical instrument. The derkach was made by taking a piece of rounded hard wood and cutting teeth into it. Another piece of wood is joined to this with a tongue. As this piece rotates around the rounded piece, the tongue makes a noise as it passes over the teeth. |
| Deze |  | Zimbabwe | In Zimbabwean Shona music, a deze is a halved Calabash gourd in which an Mbira is placed in order to amplify its sound. It is typically round in shape and has bottle caps, shells or other objects strung around its perimeter which vibrate with the Mbira, causing a buzzing sound. Cracked deze frequently are repaired by stitching. Modern deze may also be constructed of fiberglass, which is generally less prone to breaking. |
| Dhad |  | India | Dhad is a small hourglass-shaped drum of the Damru style. Held in one hand, it is struck on either side, with the other hand holding the skinned sides vertically or horizontally. This instrument has been very popular with the Dhadies, who sing traditional ballads of brave warriors and heroes drawn from history. |
| Dhol |  | Punjab | Dhol is a double-sided sided barrel drum (straight barrels also exist) played mostly as an accompanying instrument to the traditional Punjabi dance of Bhangra, and the religious music of Sufism, Qawwali. |
| Dholak |  | Pakistan | The Dholak (or dholaki) is a classical North Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese hand drum. A dholak may have traditional lacing or turnbuckle tuning. The dholak has a simple membrane and a handle on the right-hand side. The left-hand membrane has a special coating on the inner surface. This coating is a mixture of tar, clay and sand (dholak masala) which lowers the pitch and provides a well-defined tone. |
| Didgeridoo |  | Australia | The didgeridoo (or didjeridu) is a wind instrument of the Indigenous Australians of northern Australia. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe". Musicologists classify it as an aerophone. It is commonly claimed to be the world's oldest wind instrument. A didgeridoo is usually cylindrical or conical in shape and can measure anywhere from 1, 2 and 3 metres in length with most instruments measuring around 1.2 metres. Generally, the longer the instrument, the lower the pitch of the instrument. |
| Didjeribone |  | Australia | The didjeribone is a sliding didgeridoo made of plastic. It is a musical instrument invented by Australian didgeridoo player Charlie McMahon in 1981. It came from McMahon's desire to expand the potential for the didgeridoo in music. |
| Digital Piano |  | Japan | A digital piano is a modern electronic musical instrument designed to serve primarily as an alternative to a traditional piano, both in the way it feels to play and in the sound produced. Some digital pianos are also designed to look like an acoustic piano. While digital pianos may fall short of the genuine article in feel and sound, they nevertheless have many advantages over normal pianos: They do not require tuning; They are much more likely to incorporate a MIDI implementation; They may have additional features to assist in learning and composition. |
| Đing Nam |  | Vietnam | Đing Nam is a free-reed wind instrument with the register of an octave. Its sound is strong, sonorous and immense. It consists of 6 hornless bamboo tubes of 50-96cm length, 2.6 cm diameter, and a dry calabash. Đing Nam is exclusively played by men in festive days. |
| Dinh Goong |  | Vietnam | Dinh Goong is a stringed musical instrument of the Gia Rai ethnic group of Vietnam. Its body is made of a bamboo section, 70-90 cm in length and about 5-8 cm in diameter. It has 9 to 11 strings hung along its body. Tuning key is made of sharpened bamboo put through its body. Amplifying box, which is attached at the end of the body, is made of the cover of old calabash, about 16-23 cm in diameter. The Dinh Goong is the musical instrument for men for solo or ensemble performances and accompanies singing in daily activities. The Dinh Goong can be played at varieties of fast or slow tempos. |
| Dinh Jong |  | Vietnam | Dinh jong is a woodwind musical instrument of the Gia Rai ethnic group of Vietnam. It consists of 13 hornless bamboo sections open at both ends, 23-199 cm in length and 1.9 cm in diameter. They are bound together into 3 rows arranged from short to long. It is the musical instrument for female. Its sound is misty, whispering and soft as breeze because of the way of air moving on the head of bamboo section. |
| Diple |  | Croatia | Diple, a bagpipe which uses diple (a flute) as its chanter, is a traditional folk instrument of Croatian Dinaric population, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is consisted of tanned goat or sheep skin through which the air is blown. Two single blade reeds are situated inside the diple on chanter. |
| Diplica |  | Croatia | The diplica is an ancient, clarinet-like, single-reed Shepherds instrument which was played in different forms in many parts of Croatia, but now survives only in the Baranja region of Croatia. Diplica is a precursor of many different kinds of bagpipes. |
| Dizi |  | China | The dizi (Chinese: 笛子), a bamboo flute, is a major Chinese musical instrument, and is widely used in many genres of Chinese folk music, as well as Chinese opera, and the modern Chinese orchestra. The dizi is held horizontally when played. |
| Djembe |  | Guinea | A djembe also known as djimbe, jenbe, jembe, yembe, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin covered hand drum, shaped like a large goblet, and meant to be played with bare hands. According to the Bamana people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes directly from the saying "Anke dje, anke be" which literally translates to "everyone gather together", and defines the drum's purpose. The proper sound is achieved with minimum effort for maximum effect. The key is to either focus or disperse the hand's energy, and position the hand in the correct place. The image shows a Lenke wood djembe from Guinea in west Africa. |
| Dobro |  | United States | Dobro is a trade name now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar. A resonator guitar is an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more metal cones (resonators) instead of the wooden soundboard. Gibson now uses the name "Dobro" only for models with the inverted-cone design used originally by the Dobro Manufacturing Company. |
| Doedelzak |  | Belgium | Doedelzak is a bagpipe from Flanders. It is the type of bagpipe made famous in the paintings of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. |
Prev Top Next |
