A ratchet or rattle, more specifically, cog rattle is a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

of the

percussion 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 ...

family and a warning/signaling device. It operates on the principle of the ratchet device, using a gearwheel and a stiff board mounted on a handle, which rotates freely. Variants include the

gragger A grager ( yi, גראַגער, 'rattler'), also gragger, grogger or gregger, is a noisemaking device, most commonly a ratchet, used to make noise by the congregation when the name of Haman is read out during the recitation of the ''Megillah'' ...

( yi, גראַגער) used in

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

, the

rapach A ratchet or rattle, more specifically, cog rattle is a musical instrument of the percussion family and a warning/signaling device. It operates on the principle of the ratchet device, using a gearwheel and a stiff board mounted on a handle, whi ...

, and the

raganella A ratchet or rattle, more specifically, cog rattle is a musical instrument of the percussion family and a warning/signaling device. It operates on the principle of the ratchet device, using a gearwheel and a stiff board mounted on a handle, whi ...

Method of playing

The player holds the handle and swings the whole mechanism around. The momentum makes the board click against the gearwheel, producing a clicking and rattling noise. A popular design consists of a thick wooden cog wheel attached to a handle and two wooden flanges that alternately hit the teeth of the cog when the handle turns. Alternatively, smaller ratchets are sometimes held still or mounted and the handle turned rapidly by the player. The mounted ratchets allow for greater control of the duration and timing of the sound. This allows the ratchet to be used like a snare drum, placing sustained rolls in precise durations of time. Dynamics are controlled by the rate at which the ratchet is rotated.

Uses

In Jewish tradition

In Judaism, the gragger (also ''grogger'' or ''gregger''; ) is used for the holiday of

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...

. The gragger is used every time

Haman Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite or Haman the evil) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I ...

's name is mentioned during the reading of the

Megillah Megillah ( he, מגילה, scroll) may refer to: Bible *The Book of Esther (''Megillat Esther''), read on the Jewish holiday of Purim *The Five Megillot * Megillat Antiochus Rabbinic literature *Tractate Megillah in the Talmud. *Megillat Taanit ...

.Einstein, Stephen J.; Kukoff Lydia (1989). ''Every person's guide to Judaism.'' URJ Books and Music, Because Haman persecuted the Jews, the noise is supposed to symbolically drown out his name (although every word of the Megillah, including Haman's name, must be heard clearly; therefore, the words are often repeated after the sounding of the gragger). The gragger originated in Jewish tradition to help make noise during the reading.

Music

The rattle is used in such compositions as Richard Strauss's '' Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks'' and

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's '' Gurre-Lieder''.

Sport

Up until the early 1970s, this type of rattle was a common sight used by fans at

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

matches.

Warning/signaling device

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941

In the 18th and 19th centuries, a policeman's rattle was used by British and Australian policemen to summon assistance. They were used to warn of poison gas attack in the trenches of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and issued to British police and ARP wardens during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, to warn of the presence of

poison gas Many gases have toxic properties, which are often assessed using the LC50 (median lethal dose) measure. In the United States, many of these gases have been assigned an NFPA 704 health rating of 4 (may be fatal) or 3 (may cause serious or perma ...

Variants

Raganella

The raganella (Italian for "tree frog") is a percussion instrument common in the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

of Calabria in southern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Technically, the ''raganella'' is a "cog rattle," producing a sound that is enough of a "croak" to have derived the folk name of the instrument from the Italian name of the common tree-frog. The ''raganella'' is about the size of a breadbox and consists of a wooden frame into which are fastened four or five stiff but flexible wooden tines fastened to one side of the frame; the other ends of the tines are struck in rapid succession by a cog-wheel that is turned by a crank handle mounted on the side of the frame.

Rapach

The rapach ( uk, Рапач) is a larger version of the ''derkach'', a ratchet. Rapachs are used by churches in the Prešov region of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

by ethnic

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

instead of bells during

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...

Uses in music

Respighi asks for one in the first movement of his orchestral work ''

Pini di Roma Pini may refer to: People Surname *Anthony Pini (Carlos Antonio Pini; 1902–1989), Argentinian cellist, soloist, orchestral section leader and chamber musician * Antonio Pini-Corsi (1858(?)–1918), Italian operatic baritone * Carolina Pini ( ...

'' (''Pines of Rome''), as does Tchaikovsky in his ballet,

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaik ...

. It is also used in "Gnomus" in Ravel's orchestration of

Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

's '' Pictures at an Exhibition''. In orchestral percussion writing, a ratchet is used as a substitute.

Gallery

File:Rattle, Ludlow Museum - DSCF2033.JPG, Ratchet used for

warning in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

File:Raspel.jpg, Raspel File:Rehtacka.jpg, In some European churches, a ratchet known as a is used instead of bells during the Paschal Triduum, the three days before Easter Day File:Purim gragger.jpg, A

gragger, a kind of ratchet used in Judaism File:Cheapplasticgragger IGP4806.JPG, A plastic version of the gragger File:Ecce Homo Procession (3).JPG, A ratchet used in a procession in Braga,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

File:14th century ratchet.jpg, 14th century French ratchet

References

Sources for Rapach

*Humeniuk, A. ''Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty'', Kyiv: Naukova dumka, 1967 *Mizynec, V. ''Ukrainian Folk Instruments'', Melbourne: Bayda books, 1984 *Cherkaskyi, L. ''Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty'', Tekhnika, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2003 - 262 pages.

External links

Ratchets (''Polish folk musical instruments'')
{{Authority control Purim Scraped idiophones Hand percussion European percussion instruments Orchestral percussion Unpitched percussion instruments