Drum families differ structurally in head number, bowl shape, and playing excitation

Evidence

Drums consist of membranes or “drum heads,” which are made of either a synthetic material or animal skin, stretched across a supporting frame which is usually round. A small hand-drum, such as the tabor which is commonly used in early music, consists of a cylindrical ring with the drum head stretched across one end, the other end being open. This construction is also used for the tambourine, which is like a tabor but with small cymbal-like disks, or “jingles,” mounted in pairs on pins in slots around the cylindrical ring. These rattle together when the instrument is mechanically excited, either by striking it with the knuckles or fingertips to set the jingles ringing briefly or by rubbing a thumb around the head near the edge to set the jingles ringing continuously. Larger drums exist that have a single head stretched over a long cylinder, such as congas and bongos, and these are usually struck with the player’s hands. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1297

Categorization

• SHARE: The tambourine jingle-continuation trick (rubbing a thumb near the rim) is a lovely small detail for a percussion-playing friend.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1297