Musical Instrument Makers

How to become a Percussion Instrument Maker

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 打击乐器制作工

Also called: Struck Instrument Maker, Drum Maker, Gong and Cymbal Maker

Makes drums, gongs, cymbals and struck string instruments from metal, wood, leather and other materials with equipment, tools and instruments.

Main tasks

Sawing and planing timber by machine or by hand and gluing it into drum shells
Stretching and fitting drumheads with drumhead machines
Making metal fittings for drum shells by machine or by hand
Tuning drums with tools and instruments
Melting, forging, stamping and spinning non ferrous metal by machine or by hand to make gongs, cymbals and other bronze instruments
Heating, cutting and quenching gong blanks by machine or by hand
Tuning bronze instruments and pairing cymbals
Making resonators for struck instruments from metal sheet and wood by machine or by hand and fitting resonator tubes
Making strings, frames and cases for struck string instruments and fitting pins, strings, bridges and soundboards
Tuning soundboards of struck instruments and completing final assembly
Lacquering, decorating or polishing finished instruments

Ways in

Vocational majors: Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Musical Instrument Repair and Making (750212). Vocational major 750212 Musical Instrument Repair and Making (乐器维修与制作), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥57,400 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥45,300 to CN¥71,900. One in ten earn less than CN¥36,300 and one in ten more than CN¥87,900.
This is the figure for the mid group Stationery, Crafts, Sports and Entertainment Goods Manufacturing Workers, not for this job alone.
National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
Guangzhou only: median CN¥60,000 a year (2025), middle half CN¥46,237 to CN¥80,320.
This is the figure for the mid group Stationery, Crafts, Sports and Entertainment Goods Manufacturing Workers, not for this job alone.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Stationery, Crafts, Sports and Entertainment Goods Manufacturing Workers holds 0.41% of everyone employed in China; 56.8% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
34.2% are under 35, 53.1% are 35 to 54 and 12.7% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 40 to 44.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How do I become a Percussion Instrument Maker?

Ways in include: Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Musical Instrument Repair and Making (750212).

How much does a Percussion Instrument Maker earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥57,400 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Stationery, Crafts, Sports and Entertainment Goods Manufacturing Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥60,000 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Percussion Instrument Maker?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026