Lesson 4 – LI to design and make an Ancient Egyptian percussion instrument Your task is to create a percussion instrument which can produce high and low sounds, as well as loud and quiet sounds. Percussion instruments are struck with the hand, a stick or a beater, or they are shaken. There were four basic groups of musical instrument in Ancient Egypt. Which of the four groups would you describe as percussion? . Idiophones - clappers, the sistrum, cymbals and bells. These were often used for religious worship. Membranaphones - tambourines for feasts and celebrations, and drums for military processions and in religious events. The membranes (skins) used would have come from animals. Aerophones - flutes, double clarinets, double oboes, trumpets and bugles - often used for the army. The earliest example of an aerophone is the reed flute. Chordophones - harps, lutes and lyres. How does this musician vary the pitch and amplitude? In Ancient Egypt, the sistrum was a musical instrument of the percussion family. It consisted of a handle and a U-shaped metal frame, made of brass or bronze. When shaken, the small rings or loops of thin metal created clanking or jangling sounds. What materials do you think were used to create this recreation of a sistrum? Ask yourself: . What materials could you recycle to make a set of drums like this? . How could you decorate them? . Why might you want to make them in two different sizes? Can you explain using scientific words? Research: . Use the internet to find images of Ancient Egyptian percussion instruments. Pay attention to how they are decorated. How do you think they work - are they struck or shaken? How might musicians change their pitch or amplitude? Click below to remind yourself how percussion instruments work and how sound travels: .