snare drum

Double-headed drum used in military bands and in orchestras, with skins at both upper and lower ends of the instrument. A snare of catgut string or wire is stretched over the lower skin, to produce a rattling sound when the upper skin is struck by a pair of hard wooden drumsticks. Single strokes on the side drum are ineffective: it is usually made to produce small patterns of repeated notes or more or less prolonged rolls. Its tone is bright and hard, without definite pitch, and it can be muted by relaxing the tension of the snare. There is a famous orchestral snare-drum solo in Carl Nielsen's Fifth symphony.