wood block

Hardwood block, usually hollow or with a cavity, struck by a hard beater. A popular effect of dance band drummers during the acoustic recording era, as it produced prominent syncopated accents that could be heard in early recordings better than the snare drum could. Very popular in orchestrions during this same era. The piccolo wood block is much smaller and produces a very loud high-pitched tone. * Synonyms: Chinese block, Indian block, wood drum. * Dutch: jazzblokjes, blok. * German: Holz Trommel.