African percussion instruments

thumb|200px| Castanets seller in Granada, [[Spain]] thumb|198px|Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 1909 painting Dancing girl with castanets Castanets, also known as clackers or palillos, are a percussion instrument (idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar instrument called the crotalum.

The balafon (pronounced , or, by analogy with xylophone etc., ) is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the neighbouring Mandé, Bwaba Bobo, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now found across West Africa from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali. Its common name, balafon, is likely a European coinage combining its Mandinka name bála () with the word fóo (nyáa) () 'to say / method of saying' or the Greek root phono.

type of hollow percussion instrument

thumb|Udu Music

An agogô () is idiophone bell percussion instrument. With origins in West African music, it is now commonly used in traditional and popular Brazilian music. Agogôs are typically made from two cone-shaped pieces of metal with different pitches.

thumb|Kashaka The kashaka is a simple percussion instrument consisting of two small gourds filled with beans (essentially, two small shakers connected by a string). One gourd is held in the hand and the other is quickly swung from side to side around the hand, creating a "clack" sound upon impact. It originated in West Africa, but has been reproduced in various countries under different names: Patica (Japan), Kosika (USA). Other names include Asalato, Kes Kes, Tchangot Tche, Koshkah, and many others.

type of drum

right|thumb|A set of chácaras Chácaras are a type of castanets from the Canary Islands. They are an idiophonic and chattering instrument, with an interior cavity. It is typically made of moral wood.