Clapper

Clapper, musical instrument consisting of pieces of wood, bone, metal, or other sonorous substance either held in both hands or, fastened together, held in one hand, sometimes with a handle, and struck against each other. Clappers have been played throughout the world since ancient times, often with a ritual, warning, work-coordinating, or signaling function, rather than a musical one.

Clappers vary widely in size, shape, and number and arrangement of striking pieces. Varieties include spoons, bones, castanets, and small, tuned finger cymbals (“ancient cymbals”). Some Egyptian ivory sets (c. 2000 BC) are shaped like arms and hands, implying that clappers began as extensions of natural body sounds like hand clapping. The Greek krotala (Roman crotala) were dancers’ rattles, or castanetlike finger cymbals, and an extant Greek statue depicts a satyr playing foot clappers. The Roman scabella, derived from their Greek counterparts kroupezai, or kroupala, were wooden sandals used for beating time.