Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

Treshchotka

A treshchotka (Russian: трещо́тка, IPA: [trʲɪˈɕːɵtkə] or treskotukha is a Russian folk music idiophone percussion instrument which produces a clicking/cracking sound. It consists of a set of small boards somewhat loosely threaded by one end on a string or a pair of strings, with the ends sticking out, used to hold and rattle the instrument. The word itself generically denotes any device that makes a cracking sound.

Last revised
Jul 19, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
126 w
Citations
4
Source
Treshchotka source ↗

A treshchotka (Russian: трещо́тка, IPA: [trʲɪˈɕːɵtkə] or treskotukha (трескотуха) is a Russian folk music idiophone percussion instrument which produces a clicking/cracking sound. It consists of a set of small boards somewhat loosely threaded by one end on a string or a pair of strings, with the ends sticking out, used to hold and rattle the instrument.12 The word itself generically denotes any device that makes a cracking sound (from the noun "треск", tresk).3

Biritches, by Viktor Vasnetsov. The leftmost biritch holds a ratchet-type treshchotka source ↗

In northwestern Russia the term treshchotka denotes a ratchet noisemaker, where a gearwheel on a handle rattles wooden planks in a rotating frame.2

References

References

  1. Трещётки (Russian)
  2. ТРЕЩОТКА Музыкальная энциклопедия (Russian)
  3. ТРЕЩОТКА, Dictionary of the Russian Language (Russian)