Going to any kind of musical concert is exciting. But concerts vary according to the type of music that will be played. So when you buy your ticket, how will you know what to expect?

A classical concert

If you are lucky enough to be able to listen to a well-known orchestra playing in a large concert hall, your ticket might be expensive. You might even have to dress up for the occasion! It’s a good idea to listen to a recording of the music beforehand. Then you will know about the music and be able to appreciate it. (More…)

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Repertoire

According to Berlioz the flute ‘is an instrument well-nigh devoid of expression, but which may be introduced anywhere and everywhere, on account of its facility in executing groups of rapid notes, and in sustaining high sounds useful in the orchestra for adding fullness to the upper harmonies.’ This is a fair description of the way the flute is generally written for in orchestral works, but there are many exceptions. The sounds of the middle and upper registers combine well with any ensemble and add lustre. The lower register lacks penetration but has a soft and seductive quality. ‘These low sounds‘, wrote Berlioz in his Treatise on Instrumentation, `are seldom, or else ill, employed by the majority of composers.’ All the great orchestrators have however always known how to write for the low register. (More…)

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The clarinet is generally described as being a stopped cylindrical tube, but in fact only roughly two thirds are perfectly cylindrical. Part of the tube leading to the bell is conical, and so is the mouthpiece, which does not hermetically seal the top.

These factors, plus the fact that the surface of the bore of the tube is not perfectly smooth on account of the key holes, all contribute to the complex timbre. Uneven harmonics are present in force in the lower register and diminish in number towards the higher, where even harmonics are present. (More…)

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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