The harpsichord has a shallower cabinet than that of the piano, and the legs are prettier. If historical accuracy has been observed in its making it will have no foot pedals but instead hand stops placed in the right and the left of the keyboard. Very likely there will be two manuals or keyboards which are stepped. Harpsichordists sit very still as they play. As the strings are plucked by means of tiny quills, no additional volume is to be gained by exerting force or using arm weight. Only a rapid, almost plucking action of the fingers is necessary. No changes of volume are possible, but alterations of timbre are, and these are achieved by a combination of the hand stops. The hand stops engage additional ranks of strings, or alter the point at which they are plucked. The number of ranks of strings and hand stops vary according to the date and make of the instrument. (More…)
Whatever the shape and size of those earlier pianos, the makers always strove for elegance. The cabinets of the small squares, supported on elegantly turned legs, became collectors’ pieces of furniture, and many an action was ripped out in order to convert the silent shell into something more useful such as a cocktail cabinet or dressing table. Woods were carefully chosen for their grain and craftsmen indulged in filigree fretwork for the music rack on either side of which glowed merry brass candlesticks. Some grands were decorated with brass inlay and one piano at least was made entirely of brass. Hand-pleated silk of superior quality concealed the sound board and strings of the uprights. All this contributed to making pianos desirable adornments of the home, a pleasure to look at as well as to hear. Mass production spoiled all that and all pianos began to sound alike and to look alike — hence the necessity for writing the name on the instrument as well as in the concert or recital programme. (More…)
The piano is rarely used as an instrument of the orchestra, but when it is the part is written in the score between the percussion and strings. The piano is a percussion instrument since the strings are struck by hammers.
Today the piano is the heaviest of all musical instruments, the cabinet being uniformly sombre in colour and the several legs of muscular appearance on account of the weight they have to bear.Unlike any other instrument of the orchestra the name of the maker could sometimes be read by the audience because it used to be announced in large letters. (More…)
dodo
Classical Music, Drums, Music Box, Music Equipments, Percussion Instruments, Piano
26 Jul, 2008
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An immense variety of harps have been played in different countries at different times. One of the most important is the triple harp, a high-headed frame type with three ranks of strings, the outer two providing the diatonic notes of the scale and the inner, the accidentals. This was known in the 4th century and was the first fully chromatic harp. Like the old Irish harp it had a clear, bell-like sound, the technique in this case being to strike rather than to pluck or pull the strings. It was played well into the 20th century in Wales and was known as the Welsh harp. The only known scoring for it was in Handel’s Esther. (More…)
dodoCD Player, Classical Music, Country Music, Folk Music, Hip Hop Music, Music Box, Music Equipments, Musical Instruments, Popular Music23 Jul, 20084 Comments
The stave for the harp is written under that of the percussion. Reading downwards it is the first stringed instrument in the score. Since it has a wide compass — of six and a half octaves — the music occupies two staves, the notation for the right hand being written in the treble clef and that of the left generally in the bass clef.
There is something lonely-looking and remote about the single harpist, by tradition usually a woman, arriving early on the platform to tune more than forty strings — some of gut or nylon, some wound wire and some copper. A blast or two of hot or cold air from an off-stage corridor can spoil her endeavours, as can the rising heat and humidity in the hall once the audience has seated itself. (More…)
dodoFolk Music, Microphone, Music Book, Music Box, Music Equipments, Music Software, Musical Instruments, Sheet Music23 Jul, 20084 Comments
Today violinists in the orchestra all play the type of instrument evolved during the 18th century, with a Tourte design bow. The more fortunate among them possess original but modified violins of the Cremonese school. These fetch very high prices in the auction rooms today. In the last century £200 to £5oo (then about $800 to $2000) was considered to be an excessive price for a Guarnerius or an Amati for, it was pointed out, the principal violin makers of the late 19th century, Thibouville-Lamy, with extensive premises in London and Paris, manufactured and sold violins for four shillings and sixpence (then about one dollar) and made a profit of 15%. (More…)
The part for the first violins, the first and the most important of the bowed string instruments, is written in the score in the treble clef on a stave above the second violins. The strings of the violin are tuned to G D A E and have a compass of 32 octaves. Until fairly recently some orchestras preferred to have their violins strung exclusively with gut, but the thin top string has a tendency to break easily, so it has been replaced by wire, tuned by a small sensitive screw on the tail piece. Today a violin might be strung entirely with metal, each string having a tail piece screw, or some strings may be gut wound with aluminium, silver or copper.
The variety of sounds and effects that can be produced from the violin exceeds that of any other single instrument of the orchestra, but owing to what is called a formant it is always possible to identify the violin as being the source. (More…)
Viola players sit in a group left or right centre of the conductor. Their strings are tuned to C G D A. The upper two are plain gut, the others wound wire; some players prefer all wound strings.
The viola has a somewhat melancholy timbre which has been little exploited in either solo or orchestral music. By early tradition the viola was ‘of little importance in the musical establishment’ (Quantz, 1752) and viola players were ‘always taken from among the refuse of violinists’ (Berlioz). Fingering for the viola is the same as for the violin but because the instrument is larger it requires a stronger hand with a bigger stretch. The bow is also larger and heavier than that of the violin. (More…)
There are fewer cellos in the orchestra than violins because a cello produces a larger volume of sound than a violin. Cellists sit either to the right of the conductor or, if the second violins are placed there, in front of him.
The cello being derived from the viola da gamba, which was supported by the leg, it appears to be clutched and supported by the knees; in fact the weight is taken to the floor by a spike. The compass of the cello is five octaves, and the strings are tuned an octave lower than those of the viola: C G D A. The first two strings are of gut and the others wound, although there is today a tendency to use metal for all four strings. (More…)
The part for the double bass is written on the bottom stave of the score. The notes sound an octave lower than written. Unlike any other member of the violin family the strings are tuned in fourths — GDAE; this is because with strings of such length and thickness the intervals between the stopped notes are very wide and if they were tuned to the usual fifths there would be insuperable physical difficulties in fingering. The greater length of thicker string gives a smaller, not wider, compass on account of the notes being so widely spaced. The compass is about two and a quarter octaves. (More…)
