The sound is clear as crystal. Sometimes it even seems silvery. It can play from the lightest _pianissimo_ to the loudest _fortissimo_. The pitch is indefinite. Thus the triangle can be used in all keys and with all chords. In addition to simple notes, isolated notes and little groups of notes, the triangle can play the most complicated rhythms and even a _tremolo_. Mixed with soft strings and woodwind instruments, the triangle is of charming effect. Liszt made almost a solo part for this instrument in the accompaniment to his Concerto for the Pianoforte in E-flat. Widor said: “At the climax of a _crescendo_, when the Orchestra would seem to have reached the height of intensity, the introduction of the Triangle converts red heat into white heat.” Thus the Triangle seems to say the very last word. THE CYMBALS Like the triangle, cymbals are used to accentuate a climax, but more vigorously than that little instrument. Cymbals are round thin plates, or disks, of copper, or brass, slightly concave in the centre. On the outer side of each plate a strap is attached for the convenience of the player. There are several ways of striking the cymbals. They may be clashed together with a kind of brushing movement, called the “two plate stroke,” which is the ordinary way of playing single notes; then there is a second way of rubbing the plates together; then there is the “two plate roll,” which can be done loudly or softly; and, finally, the player can hang up one cymbal and beat it with a stick as if it were a gong. Cymbals were known to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans; but they were chiefly used by the dancing-girls. The ancient cymbals were much smaller than ours. THE TAMBOURINE The tambourine is at least two thousand years old! It is a wide, wooden hoop, over which a parchment, or vellum, head is stretched, which can be tightened, or loosened, by means of small rods, or nuts. The other side is left open. The tambourine, therefore, looks not unlike an old-fashioned flour-sifter. Around the hoop, at intervals, are hung several pairs of little metal disks, or plates. These jingle whenever the tambourine is struck or shaken. Hence, they are called “jingles,” or “bells.” The tambourine can be played in three different ways: (1) by striking the head with the knuckles, which gives detached notes and simple rhythmical groups of notes; (2) by shaking the hoop, which gives a rolling noise to the “jingles”; and (3) by rubbing the head of the tambourine with the thumb, which produces a queer, hollow, rushing, swishing kind of noise accompanied by the roll, or tremolo, of the “jingles.” The tambourine is used in the Orchestra to give “local color,” especially to folk-music of Spain and Italy; to “gypsy-music”; and to some kinds of dance-music. It is also called _tambour de Basque_. THE TAMBOURIN