The raganella is a percussion instrument common in the folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 of Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

 in southern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Technically, the raganella is a "cog rattle," producing a sound that is enough of a "croak" to have derived the folk name of the instrument from the Italian name of the common tree-frog.

Design

The raganella is about the size of a breadbox and consists of a wooden frame into which are fastened four or five stiff but flexible wooden tines fastened to one side of the frame; the other ends of the tines are struck in rapid succession by a cog-wheel that is turned by a crank handle mounted on the side of the frame.

Uses in Music

Ottorino Respighi

Ottorino Respighi

Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...

 asks for one in the first movement of his orchestral work Pini di Roma

Pini di Roma

Pines of Rome is a symphonic poem written in 1924 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi and, together with Fontane di Roma and Feste Romane, forms what is sometimes loosely referred to as his "Roman trilogy"...

(Pines of Rome). It is also used in "Gnomus" in Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition".
In orchestral percussion writing a ratchet

Ratchet (instrument)

A ratchet, also called a noisemaker , is an orchestral musical instrument played by percussionists. Operating on the principle of the ratchet device, a gearwheel and a stiff board is mounted on a handle, which can be freely rotated...

is used as a substitute.

Historical Uses

Instruments of this type resemble the old type of watchman's rattle. A cog rattle up to 2 metres high, the ""matraca"", has been used in Spain, Portugal and the New World, especially to summon worshippers to church. They are used as an alarm signal and as a noise-maker at sports gatherings. They are used universally to scare birds and animals, and in a simpler form to amuse children.