What is "bass drum"

Bass drum \Bass` drum"\ (Mus.) The largest of the different kinds of drums, having two heads, and emitting a deep, grave sound. See Bass, a.

Drum \Drum\, n. [Cf. D. trom, trommel, LG. trumme, G. trommel, Dan. tromme, Sw. trumma, OHG. trumba a trumpet, Icel. pruma a clap of thunder, and as a verb, to thunder, Dan. drum a booming sound, drumme to boom; prob. partly at least of imitative origin; perh. akin to E. trum, or trumpet.]

1. (Mus.) An instrument of percussion, consisting either of a hollow cylinder, over each end of which is stretched a piece of skin or vellum, to be beaten with a stick; or of a metallic hemisphere (kettledrum) with a single piece of skin to be so beaten; the common instrument for marking time in martial music; one of the pair of tympani in an orchestra, or cavalry band.

   The drums cry bud-a-dub.
   --Gascoigne.

2. Anything resembling a drum in form; as:

   1. A sheet iron radiator, often in the shape of a drum, for warming an apartment by means of heat received from a stovepipe, or a cylindrical receiver for steam, etc.

   2. A small cylindrical box in which figs, etc., are packed.

   3. (Anat.) The tympanum of the ear; -- often, but incorrectly, applied to the tympanic membrane.

   4. (Arch.) One of the cylindrical, or nearly cylindrical, blocks, of which the shaft of a column is composed; also, a vertical wall, whether circular or polygonal in plan, carrying a cupola or dome.

   5. (Mach.) A cylinder on a revolving shaft, generally for the purpose of driving several pulleys, by means of belts or straps passing around its periphery; also, the barrel of a hoisting machine, on which the rope or chain is wound.

3. (Zo["o]l.) See Drumfish.

4. A noisy, tumultuous assembly of fashionable people at a private house; a rout. [Archaic]

   Not unaptly styled a drum, from the noise and emptiness of the entertainment.
   --Smollett.

   Note: There were also drum major, rout, tempest, and hurricane, differing only in degrees of multitude and uproar, as the significant name of each declares.

5. A tea party; a kettledrum.
   --G. Eliot.

   Bass drum. See in the Vocabulary.

   Double drum. See under Double.

n. a large drum with a low pitch

n. a large drum with two heads; makes a sound of indefinite but very low pitch [syn: gran casa]

A bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch.

Bass drums are percussion instruments and vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished.

• The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum (in Italian: gran cassa, gran tamburo). It is the largest drum of the orchestra.
• The kick drum, a term for a bass drum associated with a drum kit. It is struck with a beater attached to a pedal, usually seen on drum kits.
• The pitched bass drum, generally used in marching bands and drum corps. This is tuned to a specific pitch and is usually played in a set of three to six drums.