A rattle is a

percussion beater A percussion mallet or beater is an object used to strike or beat a percussion instrument in order to produce its sound. The term beater is slightly more general. A mallet is normally held in the hand while a beater may be foot or mechanically ...

that is attached to or enclosed by a

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

so that motion of the instrument will cause the rattle to strike the instrument and create musical sound. Examples include: * The

rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...

s of a

sizzle cymbal A sizzle cymbal is a cymbal to which rivets, chains or other rattles have been added to modify the sound, attached either by means of holes bored in the cymbal or by means of an attachment known as a sizzler. These rattles have two main effects ...

. * The

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

s of a

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

. * The seeds inside a

maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were r ...

. * The

ball chain Ball chain is a type of chain consisting of small sheet metal balls connected via short lengths of wire. The balls are hollow and have two small antipodal holes. These holes accept a short length of wire deformed on the end like a rivet so that ...

of a

cabasa The cabasa, similar to the shekere, is a percussion instrument that is constructed with loops of steel ball chain wrapped around a wooden cylinder. The cylinder is fixed to a long, wooden or plastic handle. The metal cabasa was created by Marti ...

. * The snares of a

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

. Rattles may be the primary cause of the instrument's sound, as in the maraca, or they may modify its sound, as in the sizzle cymbal, or they may be used for both purposes depending on how it is played, as in the tambourine. File:Cabasa.jpg, Ball chain surrounding the cabasa produces its sound when it is shaken File:Swishcymbal.jpg, Rivets in a swish cymbal modify its sound File:Tambourin Détail.jpg, Tambourine jingles both sound when the tambourine is shaken and modify the sound of the hand beating the skin

See also