Symphonia (Greek συμφωνία) is a much-discussed word, applied at different times to the bagpipe, the drum, the hurdy-gurdy, and finally a kind of clavichord. The sixth of the musical instruments enumerated in Book of Daniel, Daniel 3 (verses 5, 10 and 15), is erroneously translated "dulcimer"; in all probability it refers to the bagpipe.
The symphonia, signifying drum, is mentioned in Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae under the entries for tympanum and sambuca. The reference comparing the tympanum (kettledrum) to half a pearl is borrowed from Pliny.
"Symphonia" or chifonie was applied during the 13th and 14th centuries, in the Latin countries more especially, to the hurdy-gurdy. "Symphonia" is applied by Praetorius to an instrument which he classed with the clavichord, spinet, regal and virginals, but without giving any clue to its distinctive characteristics.