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…)

dodoEntertainment, Music, Sheet Music, Trumpet13 Nov, 20082 Comments

In the 800s monks invented a way of writing music down. Before that time all music was learned by heart, or it was forgotten as soon as it had been played. Look at this piece of music, which was written in 1420. You can see that it is not that different from modern written music. You might think that the colours and decoration make it more attractive! (More…)

dodoMusic Book, Music Box, Piano, Sheet Music16 Oct, 20082 Comments

Every performer needs a few simple pieces of equipment, if nothing else, to give a successful performance. It is well worth spending a little time beforehand to make sure of a worthwhile result.

The metronome

First make sure you play your music at the right speed. A machine called a metronome tells you what the speed should be. But how fast is fast? (More…)

dodoMusic Box, Music Equipments, Sheet Music16 Oct, 20082 Comments

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…)

dodoCD Player, Headphones, Home Theater, Internet Radio, Jazz, Microphone, Music Box, Music Software, Sheet Music, Stage Lighting, Yamaha25 Aug, 20083 Comments

The saxophone has to be treated as a family of seven instruments of different sizes, each one covering 4 octaves and all seven a compass of 51 octaves. Saxophones look like outsize metal tobacco pipes supported by neck slings, apart from the sopranos which are shorter, parabolic cones. All have a single reed, clarinet-type mouthpiece. Classed as woodwinds, though made of brass, their part is written in a treble clef on a stave beneath the clarinets. (More…)

dodoBrass, Home Theater, Jazz, Multimedia, Music Book, Music Equipments, Music Software, Piano, Popular Music, Saxophone, Sheet Music, Woodwinds25 Aug, 20083 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