Take a deep breath and puff out your cheeks. Now blow out the air. Does the air make a sound as it rushes out of your mouth? It probably made a noise like rushing wind. You can make a louder sound with your breath if you blow into a tube. (More…)
dodo
23 Nov, 2008
Nov
23
According to ancient Greek legend, the god Pan had the horns, ears and legs of a goat and the face and body of a man. Pan often fell in love. One day, he was chasing a beautiful nymph called Syrinx. The gods took pity on Syrinx, and turned her into a reed so that she could escape from the god. (More…)
Nov
23
Late one evening in 1919, the Dolmetsch family joined a huge crowd of people waiting for a train at Waterloo Station in London. The family was returning home from a concert at which they had performed. Inside one of their bags was an old kind of duct flute called a recorder. (More…)
Nov
13
Many flutes are held sideways across the player’s mouth. They are called side- blown or transverse flutes. The player blows across the top of a blow hole to play the instrument. Flutes are an ancient kind of instrument which became popular in European concert music about 200 years ago. Early fluteshad open holes along the pipe. You closed these with your fingers to change the pitch, just like a whistle. But early flutes were not easy to play because the fingering was complicated. (More…)
Nov
13
Early trumpets and horns were made from natural materials in just the same way as early pipes. However, unlike pipes, trumpets and horns have a thin end to blow through and a thicker, cone- shaped end to carry the sound out into the air. It’s often difficult to tell the difference between an early trumpet and an early horn. Trumpets are usually straight and horns are usually curved. (More…)
Nov
13
In 1939, a rare silver trumpet with a long, straight tube was blown for the first time in 3,000 years. It was a tense and exciting moment. The effect was shattering. The trumpet broke into several pieces! The trumpet was one of two discovered in the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. (More…)
Nov
13
