Literary notes about Percussion (AI summary)
The term "percussion" is used in literature with a remarkable range of meanings, bridging both the artistic and technical worlds. In musical contexts, it is often employed to denote instruments or effects that provide rhythm and color—whether accompanying the voice [1] or contributing to the overall blend with brass and woodwinds [2]. Authors also note instances where percussion maintains an independent identity, highlighting its capacity to stand apart from other instrumental groups [3, 4], while specific discussions on instruments producing determinate or indefinite sounds further reveal its varied sonic applications [5, 6]. Beyond the realm of music, "percussion" emerges as a descriptor for mechanical impacts and reactions, evident in its use in technical descriptions of weaponry and apparatuses like percussion caps and locks [7, 8, 9] and in analyses of kinetic motion such as determining the centre of percussion [10, 11]. Even in philosophical meditations, the word morphs into a metaphor, as when voice is described as a "percussion of the air" [12]. This diversity in usage underscores the word's elastic nature, adapting seamlessly to contexts as disparate as musical performance, technical engineering, and poetic reflection.
- It is comparatively rare for percussion instruments to take part in accompanying the voice.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - The brass and wood-wind are the two groups which combine the most satisfactorily with percussion from the standpoint of colour.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Sometimes the percussion is used separately, independently of any other group of instruments.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Uniting plucked strings and percussion with bowed instruments does not produce such a satisfactory blend, both qualities being heard independently.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Percussion instruments producing determinate sounds, keyed instruments.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Percussion instruments producing indefinite sounds.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - There are Mortimer pistols, specially made for duels, they fire a percussion-cap.
— from Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - Action of the flint and the percussion lock.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Twisted match, wheel-lock, flint-lock, percussion-lock, (the two last mentioned here by way of note.)
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Center of percussion.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Means of correcting the position of the center of percussion.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - Now voice is a percussion of the air; or, as Diogenes, the Babylonian, defines it, in his essay on the Voice, a sensation peculiar to the hearing.
— from The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius
