A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. The drumhead is struck with sticks, mallets, or hands, so that it vibrates and the sound resonates through the drum.
Drumhead with coating on a snare drum
Anatomy of a drumhead for drumming
1 Holder clamp, 2 Rim, 3 Tension rod, 4 Lug, 5 Snare butt
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a percussion mallet, to produce sound. There is usually a resonant head on the underside of the drum. Other techniques have been used to cause drums to make sound, such as the thumb roll. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.
Drum of Company B, 40th New York Infantry Regiment, at the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863
Talking drum
A drum kit
A Đông Sơn drum from 3rd to 2nd century BC