Download Musical Instruments

History
• The first type of orchestra were groups of instruments
that gathered to play in ancient Egypt. The Roman
Empire mostly scorned musicians, discouraging
informal ensemble playing. This reappeared after the
fall of the empire.
• Instrument families began appearing in the eleventh
century, consisting of similar models differening in
tones and octaves. The Middle Ages included mostly
groups of certain instrument families.
• Modern orchestras began in the late sixteenth century
when composers were writing music for instrumental
groups. The instruments used were not those found
today in the orchestra.
History Continued
• The seventeenth century showed the favoring of
strings for their particular sound, which developed into
the heart of the orchestra. Improvements occurred in
the construction of instruments, the progress of music
compositions, and the development in the technique
of performance.
• Flutes, oboes, horns, and trumpets became part of the
typical orchestra by the early eighteenth century. A
typical classical orchestra also included clarinets,
bassoons, violins, violas, cellos, basses, and timpani.
• Composers began writing for a larger orchestra,
causing the size to increase over the years.
Sections
Strings
Woodwinds
Brass
Percussion
Keyboards
To hear any of the instruments, press the speaker button
Strings
• The four major instruments in the string family, the violin, the viola, the
cello and the double bass, are built the same way.
• The instruments are made of many pieces of wood which are glued never nailed - together. The body of the instrument is hollow, thus
becoming a resonating box for the sound.
• Four strings made of animal gut, nylon, or steel are wrapped around
pegs at one end of the instrument and attached to a tailpiece at the
other. They are stretched tightly across a bridge to produce their
assigned pitches.
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Section
To String Instruments
Woodwinds
• The three branches of the woodwind family have different sources of
sound.
• Vibrations begin when air is blown across the top of an instrument,
across a single reed, or across two reeds.
• A single reed is clamped to a mouthpiece at the top of the instrument
and vibrates against the mouthpiece when air is blown between the
reed and the mouthpiece.
• The double reed fits into a tube at the top of the instrument and
vibrates when air is forced between the two reeds.
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Section
To Woodwind Instruments
Brass
• Brass Family instruments produce their unique sound by the player
buzzing his/her lips while blowing air through a cup- or funnel-shaped
mouthpiece.
• The mouthpiece connects to a length of brass tubing ending in a bell.
The shorter the tubing length, the smaller the instrument, and the
higher the sound; and the longer the tubing length, the larger the
instrument, and the lower the sound.
• The main instruments of the brass family include the trumpet, horn,
trombone, and tuba.
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Section
To Brass Instruments
Percussion
• With a name that means, "the hitting of one body against another,"
instruments in the percussion family are played by being struck,
shaken, or scraped.
• In the orchestra, the percussion section provides a variety of rhythms,
textures and tone colors.
• The percussion instruments are an international family, with ancestors
from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe
representing musical styles from many different cultures.
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Section
To Percussion Instruments
Keyboards
• Keyboard instruments are often classified as percussion instruments
because they play a rhythmic role in some music.
• However, most keyboard instruments are not true members of the
percussion family because their sound is not produced by the vibration
of a membrane or solid material.
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Violin
The violin is the soprano voice in
the string family. It is held under
the chin, resting on the shoulder.
The violin has a lovely tone that
can be soft and expressive or
exciting and brilliant.
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Viola
The viola is the alto voice in the
string family. It is held under the
chin, resting on the shoulder. The
viola is slightly larger and is tuned
five notes lower than the violin. It
has a darker and warmer tone
quality, but is not as brilliant.
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Cello
The cello is the tenor voice in the
string family. Shaped like a violin,
the cello is much larger and is
held between the player’s knees.
Because it can produce beautiful
sounds from its lowest to its
highest notes, it is a popular
instrument.
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Double Bass
The double bass, or string bass is
the largest and lowest instrument
of the string family. The double
bass has rounded shoulders instead
of square shoulders like the other
string instruments. Because of its
size, the player stands or sits on a
high stool to play it.
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Piccolo
The piccolo is exactly like the flute except that it
is much smaller and is usually made of silver or
wood. The pitch of the piccolo is higher than
that of a flute.
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Flute
The flute is made from silver or gold and is about 2 feet in
length. It looks like a narrow tube with a row of holes
covered by keys along one side. The player blows air across
the small hole in the mouthpiece to produce a sound that
can be either soft and mellow or high and piercing.
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Oboe
The oboe is similar to the clarinet
in many ways. Both are made from
wood and have metal keys that can
produce many notes rapidly. The
oboe does not have a mouthpiece,
but has two reeds tied together. By
placing them between one's lips
and blowing air through them, the
reeds vibrate and produce a sound.
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Clarinet
Made from wood, the clarinet
produces a fluid sound when air is
blown between a single reed and
the mouthpiece. By pressing metal
keys with the fingers of both
hands, the player has the ability to
play many different notes very
quickly.
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Bassoon
The bassoon is a large double reed
instrument with a lower sound than
the other woodwind instruments.
When the player blows air between
the reeds, the vibrating column of
air inside the instrument travels
over nine feet to the bottom of the
instrument, then up to the top
where the sound comes out.
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Saxophone
Conically shaped, the saxophone is
the only woodwind instrument
made of brass. Although it is found
only occasionally in the symphony
orchestra, it is considered a member
of the woodwind family because it
has a single reed like the clarinet.
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Trumpet
The trumpet is the highest sounding member of the
brass family. The brilliant tone of the trumpet travels
through about 6 - ½ feet of tubing bent into an oblong
shape. The player presses the three valves in various
combinations with the fingers of the right hand to
obtain various pitches.
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Trombone
The mouthpiece of the trombone is
larger than that of a trumpet, and
gives the instrument a more mellow
sound. Instead of valves, the
trombone has a slide which changes
the length of its approximately 9
feet of tubing to reach different
pitches.
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Tuba
Made of about 16 feet of tubing, the
tuba is the lowest sounding member
of the brass family. The tuba has
four to five valves and is held upright
in the player’s lap.
•
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French Horn
The French Horn consists of about
12 feet of narrow tubing wound into
a circle. The player obtains different
notes on the horn with a clear
mellow sound by pressing valves
with the left hand and by moving the
right hand inside of the bell.
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Snare Drum
The snare drum has two calfskin or plastic drumheads
stretched tightly over a hollow metal frame. The top
head is struck with wooden drumsticks, and is called the
batter-head. The bottom head, or snare-head has catgut
or metal wires called snares stretched tightly across it.
When this drum is struck on the top head, the snares
produce a characteristic sharp rattling sound as they
vibrate against the bottom head.
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Cymbals
Made from two large, slightly concave brass plates,
cymbals are fitted with leather hand straps and are
shaped so that when they are crashed together, only the
edges touch. Different sized cymbals produce a wide
range of sound effects. Cymbals are also played by being
struck with drumsticks or mallets while suspended on a
string or stand.
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Bass Drum
The composer Mozart added the deep,
booming, sound of the bass drum to the
orchestra in 1782. Constructed like a snare
drum, but without snares, the bass drum is
much larger and is played on its side, so
that either head may be struck. The beater
or mallet for a bass drum is large with a
soft material such as sheep's wool covering
the end.
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Tambourine
The tambourine is a shallow, handheld
drum made of a circular wooden frame
with a calfskin or plastic drumhead
stretched across the top. The tambourine
has small discs called jingles set into its
circular frame which produce sound
when the tambourine is shaken, rubbed,
or struck on the drum head with the
knuckles.
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Triangle
The triangle is made from a small
round steel tube, and is played by
striking it with a steel beater. Its bright
shimmering sound is untuned and
resembles that of a bell. The triangle
first joined the orchestra in the late
1700s.
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Timpani
Timpani are constructed of a large
copper bowl with a drumhead made of
calfskin or plastic stretched across the
top. When struck with felt-tipped
wooden sticks, or mallets, timpani
produce a specific pitch that is
determined by the drum's size. That
pitch is fine-tuned by tightening the
drumhead with keys and foot pedals.
Most orchestras use three or four
timpani of varying sizes.
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Xylophone
First used in the orchestra just over a century ago,
the xylophone is a tuned instrument made of
hardwood bars in graduated lengths set horizontally
on a metal frame. With the larger, lower-sounding
bars on the left, the notes of the xylophone are laid
out much like a piano keyboard. Striking the bars
with hard mallets produces a bright, sharp sound.
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Chimes
Chimes are a tuned instrument
consisting of a set of 12 to 18 metal
tubes hung from a metal frame. The
metal tubes range from 1 to 2 ½ inches
in diameter and from 4 to 6 feet in
length. The chimes, or tubular bells, are
struck with a mallet and sound like
church bells when played. The longer
the length of tube that is struck, the
lower the pitch that is created.
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Piano
Sound is produced on the piano
by small hammers striking strings.
The hammers are controlled
mechanically and strike the strings
when the player's hands press the
piano keys.
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Organ
When an organist presses the keys of an
organ, air is allowed to flow into
corresponding pipes. The vibration of
the air in the pipes creates the sound of
the organ. One of the largest concert hall
organs in the world has four keyboards,
244 keys, 32 pedals and 4,535 pipes. The
largest pipe is 32 feet high while the
smallest pipe is less than one inch in
height.
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