beater in music meaning | TheMusicDictionary

Meaning of "Beater" in Music

In the context of music, a **beater** refers to a tool or implement used to strike or hit a percussion instrument, such as a drum or cymbal, to produce sound. The beater can be a mallet, stick, or any other object that is used to strike the instrument. The choice of beater can affect the sound produced by the instrument, as different materials and shapes can create different tones and textures. For example, a drum beater can be made of felt, wood, or plastic, and each material will produce a different sound when striking the drumhead .

It's important to note that the term "beater" can also have other meanings in different contexts. For example, in audio engineering, the term "bird beater" is used to refer to a specific audio setup on mixing desks, although the origin of the term is unclear Additionally, in a different context, the term "wife-beater" has been used to describe a problematic musical, where the term refers to a character in the musical rather than a musical instrument.

Overall, in the context of music, a beater is a tool used to strike percussion instruments to produce sound.

A general term applying to any object that is used to strike a drum or percussion instrument. Beaters can be classified into several categories:

Bass Drum Beaters:

This beater can have one or two heads and is held in the hand to strike the bass drum from either side. They are typically sold and used as single beaters, however, in some cases, they can be used in pairs alternating strikes to both sides (especially in marching bands). Bass drum beaters for drum kits (drum sets) are operated with a foot pedal. The shaft is typically wood and heads are felt with several different degrees of hard and soft.

Drumsticks:

Wooden dowels that come in different weights and sizes, used for snare drum, tenor drum, tom-toms, and other untuned percussion instruments. These are used in pairs with one stick in each hand.

Mallets:

This includes a wide variety of objects that are wooden or plastic dowels with heads made of various materials. These typically come in pairs and are used for numerous percussion instruments, particularly tuned percussion instrument. The mallets can be broken into four main categories:

Hammers - Used for the chimes and tubular bells, these are hammer shaped beaters and typically have wooden shafts and heads made of rawhide or plastic. Occasionally, a real hammer is used for unique percussion instruments such as the anvil.

Wrapped Mallets - Wooden or plastic shaft with a head made of kelon, rubber, acrylic or similar material and wrapped with yarn or cord providing several levels of hard and soft. The wrapped mallets tend to be used on the marimba, vibraphone, timpani , and suspended cymbal.

Unwrapped Mallets - These are mallets with wooden or plastic shafts and heads made of brass, rubber, acrylic or wood. These are meant for instruments such as the xylophone and glockenspiel with bars made of metal or hard wood.

Felt Mallets - These mallets have wooden or plastic shafts with several layers of felt comprising the head. These are used primarily on untuned percussion instruments and timpani .

Brushes:

These are constructed out of metal or nylon wires and set in a fan-like pattern. The shaft is actually a sleeve, often aluminum, covered in rubber or plastic with the ability to slide over the wires, effectively protecting the wires when not in use. They are typically used on the snare drum and suspended cymbal.

Rutes:

A type of brush that is comprised of thin sticks of birch, cane, broomcorn or combinations of materials. The effect is similar to the brushes, however, there is a different sound to the effect and can be much louder than brushes if desired. Typically, there are rubber bands that can be moved up and down the sticks to alter the effect to the sound desired.

Wands:

This is typically a metal dowel that is used to strike a triangle.