Because music is extremely integral to any form of dance, it makes sense to take some time to focus on the various Tibetan instruments that make up Tibetan ritual music.
Tibetan instruments can usually be divided into three categories: drums, wind instruments, and cymbals. Despite this apparent lack of variety, Tibetan ritual music is fairly rhythmically and structurally complex. The drums of Tibetan music (demaru) range in size and style. Larger drums are double headed drums that are made of wood and leather and beaten with a stick, while smaller drums are shaken so that clappers attached to the drum can hit one of the two heads of the drum at the appropriate time. Tibetan wind instruments seem to most closely resemble western trumpets and oboes. Dung, Tibetan trumpets, are controlled by the forcefulness of the players breath into the mouthpiece, hence the reason the instruments are compared to trumpets. Gyaling, the Tibetan oboes, are controlled by a combination of the player’s breath as well as fingers covering various holes in the instrument to control the intonation. Tibetan cymbals are crashed together in a similar manner to western cymbals. (Reynolds, Gyasto, Heller, & Martin 130-131)
Tibetan musical instruments are generally made out of brass, copper, silver, and wood, along with additions of precious stones, so that the grandiose appearance of the instruments matches their religious importance. Instruments might also be carved into specific shapes, such as dragons and skulls, for symbolic reasons. Horns, shells, skulls, and bones might also be used to decorate the instrument for ceremonial use.