The glockenspiel is a percussion instrument type, in the same musical instruments category as the xylophone and timpani, usually has a range of 2 and a half octaves and is set up in a keyboard instrument format, similar to the xylophone but unlike that wooden instrument, it is a metallophone, is played by hitting it with mallets with a plastic or felt tip, and has a soft sound, but that is very high pitch. If it is hit too hard, it makes a very bad sound. It is often used to represent things such as fairies, birds, and butterflies. It originates in Germany.