1.
Keyboard instrument
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A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various keyboards, including synthesizers. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, today, the term keyboard often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers. Another important use of the keyboard is in historical musicology. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the piano were in competition. Hence in a phrase like Mozart excelled as a player the word keyboard is usefully noncommittal. The earliest known keyboard instrument was the Ancient Greek hydraulis, a type of pipe organ, the keys were likely balanced and could be played with a light touch, as is clear from the reference in a Latin poem by Claudian, who says magna levi detrudens murmura tactu. Intent, that is “let him thunder forth as he presses out mighty roarings with a light touch”, from its invention until the fourteenth century, the organ remained the only keyboard instrument. Often, the organ did not feature a keyboard at all, almost every keyboard until the fifteenth century had seven naturals to each octave. The clavichord and the harpsichord appeared during the 14th century—the clavichord probably being earlier, the harpsichord and clavichord were both common until widespread adoption of the piano in the 18th century, after which their popularity decreased. The piano was revolutionary, because a pianist could vary the volume of the sound by varying the vigor with which each key was struck. The pianos full name is gravicèmbalo con piano e forte meaning harpsichord with soft and loud but can be shortened to piano-forte, which means soft-loud in Italian. In its current form, the piano is a product of the late 19th century, in fact, the modern piano is significantly different from even the 19th-century pianos used by Liszt, Chopin, and Brahms. See Piano history and musical performance, keyboard instruments were further developed in the early twentieth century. Early electromechanical instruments, such as the Ondes Martenot, appeared early in the century and this was a very important contribution to the keyboards history. Much effort has gone into creating an instrument that sounds like the piano but lacks its size, the electric piano and electronic piano were early efforts that, while useful instruments in their own right, did not convincingly reproduce the timbre of the piano. Electric and electronic organs were developed during the same period, more recent electronic keyboard designs strive to emulate the sound of specific make and model pianos using digital samples and computer models. Concerns celebrated keyboard players and the various instruments used over the centuries
2.
Musical instrument classification
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Throughout history, various methods of musical instrument classification have been used. The most commonly used system divides instruments into string instruments, woodwind instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments, the oldest known scheme of classifying instruments is Chinese and dates from the 3rd millennium BC. It grouped instruments according to the materials they are made of. However, the Chou-Li, an anonymous treatise compiled from sources in about the 2nd century BC, had the following order, metal, stone, clay, leather, silk, wood, gourd. The same order was presented in the Tso Chuan, attributed to Tso Chiu-Ming, more usually, instruments are classified according to how the sound is initially produced. The modern system divides instruments into wind, strings and percussion, the scheme was later expanded by Martin Agricola, who distinguished plucked string instruments, such as guitars, from bowed string instruments, such as violins. Classical musicians today do not always maintain this division, but distinguish between wind instruments with a reed and those where the air is set in motion directly by the lips, many instruments do not fit very neatly into this scheme. The serpent, for example, ought to be classified as a brass instrument, however, it looks more like a woodwind instrument, and is closer to one in many ways, having finger-holes to control pitch, rather than valves. Keyboard instruments do not fit easily into this scheme, for example, the piano has strings, but they are struck by hammers, so it is not clear whether it should be classified as a string instrument or a percussion instrument. Ottoman encyclopedist Hadji Khalifa also recognized the three classes in his Kashf al-Zunun an Asami al-Kutub wa al-Funun, a treatise on the origin. The division pervades Tboli thought about cosmology, social characters of men and women, victor-Charles Mahillon later adopted a system very similar to this. This scheme was taken up by Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs who published an extensive new scheme for classication in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie in 1914. Their scheme is used today, and is most often known as the Hornbostel-Sachs system. Electrophones, such as the guitar or electric bass, which produce sound through electricity and is required to be plugged in to an amplifier. Later Sachs added a category, electrophones, such as theremins. Modern synthesizers and electronic instruments fall in this category, within each category are many subgroups. The system has been criticised and revised over the years, in 1932, comparative musicologist André Schaeffner developed a new classification scheme that was exhaustive, potentially covering all real and conceivable instruments. The Kpelle of West Africa also use this system and they distinguish the struck, including both beaten and plucked, and the blown
3.
Wind instrument
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The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of the effective length of the vibrating column of air. In the case of wind instruments, sound is produced by blowing through a reed. Using different air columns for different tones, such as in the pan flute and this method is used on nearly all brass instruments. Changing the length of the air column by lengthening and/or shortening the tube using a sliding mechanism. This method is used on the trombone and the slide whistle, changing the frequency of vibration through opening or closing holes in the side of the tube. This can be done by covering the holes with fingers or pressing a key which then closes the hole and this method is used in nearly all woodwind instruments. Making the column of air vibrate at different harmonics without changing the length of the column of air, almost all wind instruments use the last method, often in combination with one of the others, to extend their register. A more accurate way to determine whether an instrument is brass or woodwind is to examine how the player produces sound, in brass instruments, the players lips vibrate, causing the air within the instrument to vibrate. For example, the saxophone is typically made of brass, but is classified as an instrument because it produces sound with a vibrating reed. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, wind instruments are classed as aerophones, sound production in all wind instruments depends on the entry of air into a flow-control valve attached to a resonant chamber. The resonator is typically a long cylindrical or conical tube, open at the far end, a pulse of high pressure from the valve will travel down the tube at the speed of sound. It will be reflected from the end as a return pulse of low pressure. Under suitable conditions, the valve will reflect the pulse back, with increased energy, Reed instruments such as the clarinet or oboe have a flexible reed or reeds at the mouthpiece, forming a pressure-controlled valve. Standing waves inside the tube will be odd multiples of a quarter-wavelength, with a pressure anti-node at the mouthpiece, the reed vibrates at a rate determined by the resonator. For Lip Reed instruments, the controls the tension in their lips so that they vibrate under the influence of the air flow through them. They adjust the vibration so that the lips are most closed, and the air flow is lowest, standing waves inside the tube will be odd multiples of a quarter-wavelength, with a pressure anti-node at the mouthpiece, and a pressure node at the open end. For Air Reed instruments, the thin grazing air sheet flowing across an opening in the pipe interacts with an edge to generate sound. The jet is generated by the player, when blowing through a thin slit, for recorders and flue organ pipes this slit is manufactured by the instrument maker and has a fixed geometry
4.
Free reed aerophone
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A free reed aerophone is a musical instrument that produces sound as air flows past a vibrating reed in a frame. Air pressure is generated by breath or with a bellows. The following illustrations depict the type of reed typical of harmonicas, pitch pipes, accordions, one side of the reed frame is omitted from the images for clarity, in reality, the frame completely encloses the reed. Airflow over one side of the reed creates an area of low pressure on that side, the reed frame is constructed so that the flexing of the reed obstructs the airflow, which reduces or eliminates the low pressure area and allows the reed to flex back. Each time the reed passes through the frame, it interrupts air flow and these rapid, periodic interruptions of the air flow create the audible vibrations perceived by the listener. Of secondary importance to the pitch are the dimensions of the chamber in which the reed is fitted. As an exception, the pitch of the Chinese bawu and hulusi are determined by fingering recorder-like tone holes along the instrument body, various free reed instruments appear to have been invented since antiquity, but were unknown in the West until the early modern period. The most likely precursor to free reed aerophones is the Jews harp, an instrument known to many cultures throughout the world, in this instrument, the main sound producer is the vibrating reed tongue itself, rather than the air flow. Among the ancient instruments, the khene of Laos, the shēng of China, the sheng was traditionally made with bamboo pipes, and was first mentioned in the Shi Jing of the Zhou Dynasty. The Chinese sheng is considered the ancestor of the harmonica, harmonium, concertina, accordion, a free reed organ was invented in the Arab world in the 13th century, while the German Heinrich Traxdorf of Nuremberg built one around 1460 AD. It is thought that the classical Chinese sheng traveled west through Russia during the 19th century and it has been claimed that this inspired a series of inventions in the early 19th century that were the foundation of the development of the modern free reeds. At Copenhagen, one of instruments with brass pipes and free reeds in-caved into the sides of this pips inspired the organ builder Mr. Kirsnick to fit similar reeds into portable organs. 1880 Kirsnick moved to Saint Petersburg improved this new organ pipes to adjustable pitch with a hook, christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein built also his speaking machine in Copenhagen and he was in contact with Mr. Kirsnick. Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein got an award for the machine in Petersburg and his machine or a copy of this machine came to Paris very shortly after 1880. He also held lessons at universities and did all to promote this new type of reeds, not only in German-speaking regions of Europe. The actual work was done by different organ builders, and very many people ware involved, in the two years from 1802 to 1804 in Vienna, he spent time with Johann Nepomuk Mälzel and Mälzel changed the type of reeds used in his Panharmonicon to free reed pipes. Vogler, Maelzel and Friedrich Kaufmann were then at the time in Paris in 1807. Friedrich Kaufmann, a maker, went back home to Dresden
5.
Aerophone
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Aerophones categorically comprise the largest and most complex group of instruments in the Americas. The first class includes instruments which, when played, do not contain the vibrating air and this class includes free reed instruments, such as the harmonica, but also many instruments unlikely to be called wind instruments at all by most people, such as sirens and whips. The second class includes instruments which contain the air when being played. This class includes almost all instruments generally called wind instruments — including the didgeridoo, brass instruments, additionally, very loud sounds can be made by explosions directed into, or being detonated inside of resonant cavities. Detonations inside the calliope, as well as the pyrophone might thus be considered as class 42 instruments, according to Ardal Powell, flute is a simple instrument found in numerous ancient cultures. There are three legendary and archeologically verifiable birthplace sites of flutes, Egypt, Greece and India, of these, the transverse flute appeared only in ancient India, while the fipple flutes are found in all three. It is likely, states Powell, that the modern Indian bansuri has not changed much since the medieval era. Archaeological studies have found examples of globular flutes in ancient Mexico, Colombia and Peru, the use of shells of Conches as an aerophone have also been found to be prevalent in areas such as Central America and Peru. Examples of aerophone type instruments in China can be dated back to the Neolithic period, fragments of bone flutes can be found at the burial sites of the Jiahu settlements of ancient China, and they represent some of the earliest known examples of playable instruments. The instruments were carved from the wing bone of the red-crowned crane. The flutes were efficient enough to sound in a nearly accurate octave. Examples of flutes made out of bamboo in China date back to 2nd Century BC and these flutes were known as Dizis or simply Di and typically had 6 holes for playing melodies that were framed by scale-modes. Flutes including the famous Bansuri, have been a part of Indian classical music since 1500 BC. A major deity of Hinduism, Krishna, has been associated with the flute, some early flutes were made out of tibias. Free aerophones are instruments where the air is not enclosed by the instrument itself. The air-stream meets a sharp edge, or an edge is moved through the air. Occasionally called percussive aerophones, plosive aerophones are sounded by percussion caused by a single compression, an example of a plosive aerophone is the scraper flute which has tubes with ridged or serrated edges so that they can be scraped with a rod to produce sound. Non-free aerophones are instruments where the air is contained within the instrument
6.
Musical instrument
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A musical instrument is an instrument created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument, the history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have used for ritual, such as a trumpet to signal success on the hunt. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment, Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications. The date and origin of the first device considered an instrument is disputed. The oldest object that some refer to as a musical instrument. Some consensus dates early flutes to about 37,000 years ago, many early musical instruments were made from animal skins, bone, wood, and other non-durable materials. Musical instruments developed independently in many populated regions of the world, however, contact among civilizations caused rapid spread and adaptation of most instruments in places far from their origin. By the Middle Ages, instruments from Mesopotamia were in maritime Southeast Asia, development in the Americas occurred at a slower pace, but cultures of North, Central, and South America shared musical instruments. By 1400, musical instrument development slowed in areas and was dominated by the Occident. Musical instrument classification is a discipline in its own right, Instruments can be classified by their effective range, their material composition, their size, etc. However, the most common method, Hornbostel-Sachs, uses the means by which they produce sound. The academic study of instruments is called organology. Once humans moved from making sounds with their bodies—for example, by using objects to create music from sounds. Primitive instruments were designed to emulate natural sounds, and their purpose was ritual rather than entertainment. The concept of melody and the pursuit of musical composition were unknown to early players of musical instruments. A player sounding a flute to signal the start of a hunt does so without thought of the notion of making music. Musical instruments are constructed in an array of styles and shapes
7.
Chemnitzer concertina
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A Chemnitzer concertina is a musical instrument of the hand-held bellows-driven free-reed category, sometimes called squeezeboxes. The Chemnitzer concertina is most closely related to the bandoneón, more distantly to the other concertinas and it is roughly square in cross-section, with the keyboards consisting of cylindrical buttons on each end arranged in curving rows. A strap, usually of leather, is fitted at each end to hold the players palm against the instrument for playing. Compare to the English concertina where the thumb holds a strap, the finger is held on a rest. The instrument is bisonoric, meaning that each button corresponds to two notes, one when the bellows is compressed, and another when it is expanded, on most instruments, two or more reeds sound for each note. The tones produced are either in octaves, unison, or in some combination thereof and this arrangement resembles that of the Russian accordion, the bayan. Uhligs patent dates to 1834, and while Wheatstone patented a related instrument, uhligs first instrument had five buttons on each side, but the keyboard was quickly expanded and as it did so, it diverged into different lineages. Heinrich Bands was sold under the name Bandonion, strictly speaking, the Chemnitzer layout is one of 38,39,51 or 52 buttons, or one of the American expanded versions of the 52-button system. Especially in English-speaking countries, the term Chemnitzer is frequently applied to any of the square German concertinas that are not bandonions. In the United States, especially in the Midwest, where other types are not as well known as the Chemnitzer concertina. Otto Schlicht patented an action in 1932 which improved the method of the action levers. However the instrument, especially in its 52-button and larger versions, is capable of performing in musical contexts. Bandonion und Konzertina, Ein Beitrag zur Darstellung des Instrumententyps, ISBN 3-87397-070-8 United States Concertina Association Czech Area Concertina Club
8.
Concertina
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A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows, and buttons typically on both ends of it, when pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons, which travel perpendicularly to the bellows. The concertina was developed in England and Germany, most likely independently, the English version was invented in 1829 by Sir Charles Wheatstone, while Carl Friedrich Uhlig announced the German version five years later, in 1834. Various forms of concertina are used for music, for the traditional musics of Ireland, England, and South Africa. Because the concertina was developed nearly contemporaneously in England and Germany, systems can be divided into English, Anglo-German. To a player proficient in one of these systems, a concertina of a different system may be quite unfamiliar, the English concertina and the Duet concertina bear similarities in history and construction. Both systems generally play a scale, and are unisonoric. Both these English-developed instruments are smaller than German concertinas, and tend to be hexagonal, though occasionally having 8,10, the English system alternates the notes of the scale between two hands, enabling rapid melodies. The Duet system places the low notes on the hand and high on the right. The English concertina is credited to Sir Charles Wheatstone, who first patented such a design in 1829 in Great Britain, Wheatstone was also the first to patent a Duet concertina, in 1844. The German concertinas, developed within Germany itself for its market and diaspora. They are generally bisonoric, use a different style of long plate reeds, unlike the English and Anglo, they sometimes have more than one reed per note, creating a vibrato effect. Various German concertina systems share common features and core button layout. In the United States, particularly in the Midwest where there are many German and Central European descendants, a related variant is the Carlsfelder concertina of C. F. Zimmerman, unveiled in 1849. and at the 1851 London Industrial Exposition. The bandoneon is a German concertina system with an original bisonoric layout devised by Heinrich Band, though the typical bandoneon is bisonoric, the 1920s saw the development of unisonoric variants such as the Ernst Kusserow and Charles Peguri systems, both introduced around 1925. Bandoneons typically have more than one reed per button, dry-tuned with the reeds an octave apart, Ástor Piazzolla was one of the most famous exponents of this instrument. The Anglo or Anglo-German concertina is, historically, a hybrid between the English and German concertinas, the button layouts are generally the same as the original 20-button German concertinas designed by Uhlig in 1834, and in a bisonoric system. Within a few years of its invention, the German concertina was an import in England, Ireland
9.
Harmonica
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There are many types of harmonica, including diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the mouth to direct air into or out of one or more holes along a mouthpiece, behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one reed. A harmonica reed is a flat elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, when the free end is made to vibrate by the players air, it alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound. Reeds are pre-tuned to individual pitches, tuning may involve changing a reeds length, the weight near its free end, or the stiffness near its fixed end. Longer, heavier and springier reeds produce deeper, lower sounds, an important technique in performance is bending, causing a drop in pitch by making embouchure adjustments. Such two-reed pitch changes actually involve sound production by the normally silent reed, the basic parts of the harmonica are the comb, reed plates and cover plates. The comb is the body of the instrument, which. The term comb may originate from the similarity between this part of a harmonica and a hair comb, Harmonica combs were traditionally made from wood but now are also made from plastic or metal. Some modern and experimental designs are complex in the way that they direct the air. There is dispute among players about whether comb material affects the tone of a harmonica, among those saying yes are those who are convinced by their ears. Few dispute, however, that comb surface smoothness and air-tightness when mated with the reedplates can greatly affect tone, the main advantage of a particular comb material over another one is its durability. In particular, a comb can absorb moisture from the players breath. This can cause the comb to expand slightly, making the instrument uncomfortable to play, various types of wood and treatments have been devised to reduce the degree of this problem. Much effort is devoted by serious players to restoring wood combs, some players used to soak wooden-combed harmonicas in water to cause a slight expansion, which they intended to make the seal between the comb, reed plates and covers more airtight. Modern wooden-combed harmonicas are less prone to swelling and contracting, players still dip harmonicas in water for the way it affects tone and ease of bending notes. The reed plate is a grouping of several reeds in a single housing, the reeds are usually made of brass, but steel, aluminium and plastic are occasionally used. Individual reeds are usually riveted to the plate, but they may also be welded or screwed in place. Reeds fixed on the side of the reed plate respond to blowing
