Modern Players Use Hand example essay topic

Woodwinds: 1. Flute: The flute is made in the form of an open cylindrical air column about 66 cm long. Its fundamental pitch is middle C (C 4) and it has a range of about three octaves to C 7. Sound is produced from a flute by blowing onto a sharp edge, causing air enclosed in a tube to vibrate.

The modern flute was developed by Theobald Boehm who experimented with it from 1832 to 1847, desiring to give it a bigger tone. He finally produced a parabolic (bowl-shaped) head joint attached to a cylindrical body with open-standing keys and finger pads to cover large finger holes. Since then, other minor improvements have been made. The modern flute usually has a range from middle C (C 4) upward for about three octaves. In Europe flutes are often constructed of wood; silver is commonly used in the United States. 2.

Oboe: The oboe is a soprano-range, double-reed woodwind instrument of length 62 cm. Its wooden tube is distinguished by a conical bore expanding at the end into a flaring bell. The modern oboe's range extends from the B-flat below middle C (B 3-flat) to the A nearly three octaves higher (A 6). Sounding a fifth below the oboe is the English horn and the bass member of this family is the bassoon. A melodic instrument capable of very gentle, expressive passages, the instrument is yet said to take a large amount of air to play. The range of pressure between the softest and loudest sounds is rather small, so careful control of the pressure on the reed is necessary.

Traditionally made from African Blackwood, also called, the instrument is made in three parts. The top joint has 10 holes, three of which are manipulated by the player's left hand. The bottom joint also has 10 holes, three of which the player uses with the right hand. The bell section has two holes, covered with keys, which are not typically used by the player. Oboes are still hand made by expert craftsmen who are very secretive about the dimensions, size of aperture, etc. used in the construction. The double reed is fashioned from cane which is grown on the east coast of Spain, which is usually dried and aged for several years.

The careful fashioning of the double reed is a key part of getting a fine musical sound from the instrument. 3. Clarinet: The clarinet consists of a closed cylindrical air column with a bell-shaped opening at one end. It's mouthpiece holds a single reed, in contrast to the double reed of the oboe family. It is typically constructed of wood. The traditional wood is an ebony from Africa, Asia or South America commonly referred to as granadilla wood.

Hard and black, this wood is capable of taking a high polish. The instrument most commonly used today is known as the B-flat clarinet; the next most common is the clarinet in A. The B-flat clarinet is about 60 cm (23.6 in) long and has a range of more than three octaves. 4. Bassoon: The bassoon is a double-reed woodwind instrument with a conical bore air column, the bass member of the oboe family. Its normal range is about 3 octaves, from B 1 flat to E 3 flat.

The tube, 2.79 m (9 ft 2 in) long, is bent to make a height of 1.22 m (4 ft) and consists of a metal crook on which the reed is placed and four sections of maple or pear wood: the tenor, the butt, the bass, and the bell. The characteristic sound of a bassoon is influenced by a strong formant, as illustrated by the accompanying waveforms. Each of the notes displayed has a peak of intensity in the neighborhood of 500 Hz. Strings: 1. Violin: The violin is by far the most common orchestral instrument.

It is also the smallest out of all the strings and has the highest pitch. This is usually the first choice of musicians who want to learn a string instrument. 2. Viola: The viola is slightly larger than the violin and has a deeper pitch in comparison.

It is also in the 'middle register' of the string family. Although not as popular as the violin, it is still a vital part of the orchestra. 3. Cello: The cello is still bigger than the violin and viola. It has a beautiful, mellow sound.

The cello must rest on the floor because it is too big to be held like the violin or viola. 4. Double Bass: largest and lowest-pitched member of the violin family. Also known as the contrabass, the double bass is usually about 1.8 m (about 6 ft) high and has four strings tuned to sound EE AA D G (EE = third E below middle C; G = second G below middle C) and notated an octave higher. A low fifth string is sometimes added, tuned to the C below the E string. On some instruments the E string is extended at the head and fitted with a mechanism that clamps off the extra length; releasing the mechanism allows the string to sound the low notes down to C. Brass: 1.

French Horn: developed about 1650 in France and is a large version of the smaller crescent-shaped horns that had been redesigned with circularly coiled tubing. The French hunting horn, which entered the orchestra in the early 1700's, produced about twelve tones of the natural harmonic series. The horn gained greater flexibility about 1750 with the invention of the technique of hand-stopping. Hand-stopping involves placing a hand in the bell of the horn to alter the pitch of the natural notes by as much as a whole tone. Despite this advance, cumbersome lengths of tubing, called crooks, were necessary for playing in many keys.

The invention of valves in the early 19th century revolutionized the horn, allowing the player to alter the length of the tubing by the motion of a finger. A horn in the key of F with three valves can produce a chromatic scale over three octaves, running upward from the B below the bass clef (notated a fifth higher). Modern players use hand-stopping to affect intonation and tone color. 2.

Trumpet: sounded by the vibration of the player's lips against a mouthpiece. The trumpet family includes both instruments derived from animal horn (see Horn) and those with more or less cylindrical tubing (usually having bamboo, wood, or reed models). Trumpets made of large conch shells are found as ritual instruments in many cultures. Silver and bronze trumpets with long, straight tubes, conical bores, and flared bells survive from ancient Egypt (2nd millennium bc) and resemble other ancient trumpets such as the Hebrew, the Roman tuba, and the Greek salpinx. 3.

Trombone: brass wind instrument with a cylindrical bore, a cup-shaped mouthpiece, and a slide mechanism. It originated about 1400 as an improvement to the trumpet and was built in various sizes, the most common being alto, tenor, and bass. Except for its thicker metal and narrower bell, which yielded a softer, mellower tone, the early trombone was basically identical to the modern one. Called sackbut (Spanish", pull-tube"), it was a favored instrument in church and chamber music. It declined about 1700, except in town bands, but entered the expanding military band in the late 1700's, when it gained its present widely flared bell. Trombones with valves were introduced in the 1800's but were judged inferior in tone.

4. Tuba: lowest-pitched of the brass wind instruments, with a wide conical bore, three or four valves, a deep cup-shaped mouthpiece, and vertically coiled tubing with an upward-pointing bell. Patented in 1835 by the Prussian bandmaster Friedrich Wilhelm Wieprecht and the German builder Johann Gottfried Moritz, it was one of several efforts to provide a suitable valved brass bass for the wind band. Its antecedents include the serpent (an S-shaped, cup-mouthpiece wooden bass with finger holes) and the ophicleide (a keyed bass bugle). The tuba has a compass of more than three octaves.

It is normally built as a bass in E-flat or F (lowest sounding note: second B-flat or second C below middle C) or as a contrabass in B-flat or C (lowest sounding note: second E-flat or second F below middle C). The B-flat contrabass is sometimes known as the "double B-flat" tuba. A tuba with circular coiling is a helicon; the sousaphone is a variety of helicon. Wagner tubas are four-valve instruments with a narrower bore, designed for the German composer Richard Wagner.

The term tuba is also applied to other low brasses, especially saxhorns. Percussion: 1. Timpani: European orchestral kettle drums with a single head, or membrane, of skin stretched over a cauldron-shaped frame, or shell. The timpani was derived from the medieval European naker's, in turn taken from the of the Islamic countries. Timpani are tunable and produce notes of definite pitch that can be altered by turning screws at the rim of the kettle, thus tightening or relaxing the skin. A mechanical device now widely used enables the timpani player to increase or relax the tension by means of a pedal.

A variety of drumsticks can be used to produce a harder or softer impact when playing the instrument. Timpani were originally used in pairs tuned to the tonic key, the central tone of a musical composition, and the dominant key, the fifth note of the scale. Mechanisms were introduced during the 19th century to allow pitch changes during a performance. An average symphony orchestra will have up to five timpani, tuned to a range of pitches.