A percussion instrument of the type having a box composed of four walls (1) forming the outline, on which a top (2) rests, the lateral end walls (3-4) having a rectangular profile, the front (5) and rear (6) faces having a convex profile (7) in their lower part while in their upper part on which the top rests they follow a line which is firstly rectilinear (8), then continued by a concave part (9), which is itself continued by a rectilinear or very slightly convex part (10), such that the box is divided into three zones: a deep zone (8) for producing bass sounds, continued by a shallower median part (9) for producing middle register sounds, the median part itself being continued in such a way as to form a chamber (10) which is slightly deeper than the median part for producing high pitched sounds, the chamber (10) producing the high pitched sounds being provided with a snare (17) lying against the top.