The Wonderful Lute

            Ah the lute! Classic! Symbolistic! It simply oozes of zazz! A instrument with such rich history deserves at least two blog posts to cover it! Whats that? I created a blog post last year on the lute? What a coincidence! Enjoy the revised version: 

           The European lute is a musical instrument that hails from Europe (obviously). It originally had four strings, a short slanted neck, and a small rounded hollow body. It was most commonly made of junk, such as small wooden boxes and a variety of hollowed plants such as gourds. However, as their popularity grew, they began to be made with pressed wood and up to as many as forty- eight strings!
       
           The European lute is an idea that was basically stolen from the Arab musical instrument known as al ‘ud, which translates to “the wood”. The ‘ud was introduced to Europe by the Moors during their attempted conquest and occupation of Spain that lasted from 711 AD to 1492 AD. Therefor, the lute probably existed long before this, but we have no way of knowing.  Theopean lute originally had four strings, a short slanted neck, and a small rounded hollow body. It was most commonly made of junk, such as small wooden boxes and a variety of hollowed plants such as gourds. However, as their popularity grew, they began to be made with pressed wood and up to as many as twenty four strings!

         Lutes are still used in music today, although it mostly only appears in Renaissance themed music. It has also been used in all different genres of music through out the ages, such as various blues, jazz, classic and even rock songs. Its unique high-pitched sound has been modified into many interments like the banjo.

A video were the fire complements the playing ncely: Melancholy Galliard - Renaissance LuteWritten by John Dowland (1563-1626) a contemporary of Queen Elizabeth I. 


And, of course, some pictures:

Harpsichord

          The harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces a sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed. It was used widely in Renaissance and Baroque music.  During the late 18th century it gradually faded from the music scene with the rise of the piano. 

          Harpsichords differ in size and shape, but all have the same basic functional arrangement. The build is similar to the piano, except for the plectrums (arms that struck the strings) swung side to side instead of up and down. Harpsichords were often tuned to a sharp, were as pianos are tuned to standard. 

          In the late 20th century, a few composers returned to the harpsichord for variation in musical their sound. It never really caught back on, defeated by the piano. They are available for purchase, but you usually have to special order them. 

Video: Harpsichord Performance: Comparone Plays Scarlatti

Pictures:

The Cassette

         The audio cassette, also called the cassette tape, compact cassette, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally to be used for dictation machines, but improvements led the cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel tape recordings in most non-professional applications. Cassettes consist of two miniature spools, between which a magnetically coated plastic tape is passed and spooled. These parts are help inside a plastic shell. 

         In 1935, AEG released the first reel-to-reel tape recorder called the "Magnetophon". The name derived from the invention of magnet tape by Fritz Pfleumer in 1928. These devises did not start to catch on in the american household until the 1950's, being priced around $700-$1500. These models were very bulky. In the early 60's, prices and weights dropped when the classic vacuum tubes were replaced with transistors. In 1964, Sony released the first "compact cassette", which by the late 1970's had reached their apex, selling over 2.4 million players. 

         The cassette ruled supreme as lead music listing device into the late 80's. However interest started to wane, and by the late 90's the cassette industry had been all but destroyed by the new "compact disk", which never got tangled up in its own player. Cassettes are used today for practically nothing, save for pirating movies and gathering dust. 

No video, but if you want to watch some cassette-related videos, search "cassette tape" on YouTube

Pictures:

         

Cymbals!

         Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals are made of a thin, usually round, plates made from different alloys. They are not often made to be a definite note, but some small round ones are. The most common types of cymbals are found on a drum set. The most common types are the crash, ride, crash/ride, and hi-hat cymbals.

         Cymbals have evolved in many different cultures, and have many close relatives. Some of these relatives includes the gong, crotales, and the zischen. There are many different ways to play the cymbal.  The chines traditionally held one in each hand and bashed them together. The Indians trandionally beat thiers with a large stick. More modern western versions are played by a kick petal and/or drumsticks.

          The cymbal appears in many different genres of music. It is a staple in percussion instruments, most consider a drum set incomplete with a cymbal or two. Cymbals a re very common in jazz, orchestral, metal, rock, pop, and marching band music.


VIdeO:Vibration. See the unseen: Cymbal at 1000 frames per second.
CRAZY KID: Stephen Perkins Splash Cymbal Solo

El Fotos:

The Jukebox, Part 1

*DISCLAIMER* I know the jukebox is not an instrument, but bare with me. This is part 1 of 2 articles.

         The jukebox is a partially automated music-playing devise, very different from the spangled "iPod" devices those hooligans that ruin your lawn listen to. Back in the day, jukeboxes where operated by inserting a coin into the machine. Then you could select a song you wished to listen to, using buttons with letters on them. Then you could sit back and enjoy your club soda while listening to the hottest new track by "Frank Sinatra".

         Coin-operated music boxes and player pianos were the first forms of automated coin-operated musical devices. These instruments used paper roles, metal disks, or metal cylinders to play a musical section on the instrument, or instruments, enclosed within the device. Most machines could only hold one song. These types of devices where very popular in the 1890's. In 1918 Hobart C. Niblack patented an apparatus that automatically switched between records. This lead to one of the first jukeboxes released by the Automated Musical Instrument Company in 1927. This early version was known as the "Audiophone machine". It was very wide and bulky, with a ferris wheel like device inside that held eight different records that could be played. This revolutionized public music listing, and presumedly tormenting many teenagers' parents by making them listen to hardcore music like "Perry Como".

          The term "jukebox" came into use in the United States in the 1940's. The name was derived from the familiar phrase "juke joint", derived from the Gullah word "joog" meaning disorderly, rowdy, or wicked. Song-popularity counters told the owner of the machine the most popularly played albums (A and B sides could not be distinguished). This allowed the the owner to swap the less played records for fresh records. Thus remaining "hip", and "cool".


Here is a very hip and cool video:Jukebox Rhythmjukebox rhythm, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 1, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 2, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 3, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 4, JUKEBOX RHYTHM 5, JUKE BOX RHYTHM 1959 JACK JONES, HULLY GULLY 

And here are some o' them fancy computer-pictures:

The B♭ Trumpet

          The trumpet has the highest register in brass family. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, making a buzzing sound. This starts a standing wave vibration inside the air column of the instrument. They are usually bent twice into a rounded oblong shape. The B♭ pitched trumpet has a length of about 148cm of tubing. The tubing is punctured by three or more piston valves, or more rarely, tree rotary valves. Each valve increases the length of the tubing when enlarged, thereby lowering the pitch. A musician who plays the trumpet is call a trumpet player, or a trumpeter. 

          The earliest trumpets date back to 1500 BC and earlier. The most famous of which are the bronze and silver trumpets that were found in Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt. Other models were found in Scandinavia, China, and Eastern Europe. The bugle is very similar to this instrument, being used as a signaling devise before a musical instrument. In medieval times, trumpet playing was a guarded craft, its instruction occurring only in high level guilds. 

           The trumpet is now played in different places all over the world. It is played in many different genres. It is the main instrument in the English royal band, which plays at coronations and various prestigious events. 

To whom it may be concerned, here is a video and some pictures. Enjoy. Or don't. 

Vid::James Last - trumpet solo'sTrumpetplayers all playing solo 
Pics::

KAAAZZZZOOOOOO

            The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to the player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranphone (a device which modifies the sound of a persons voice by way of a vibrating membrane. The name "kazoo" was  given by Warren Herbert Frost to his invention in Patent #270,543 issued on January 9, 1883. In the text of the patent he refers to it as "This instrument or toy, to which I propose to give the name "kazoo' ". This first kazoo was not the "submarine shape" commonly known.

            Such instruments as the kazoo have been used in Arica for hundreds of years. They were used to disguise ones voice, imitate animals, and often different ceremonies. The classic submarine shaped kazoo, which was also the first metal kazoo, was patented by George D. Smith of buffalo NY, May 27, 1902. In 2010  a museum dedicated to the kazoo was opened in Beaufort, South Carolina. It was apply
named The Kazoo Museum. 

            The kazoo is played professionally in jug bands and comedy music. It is also used by amateurs everywhere. It is one of the few acoustic instruments to be developed in the United States, and one of the easiest melodic instruments to play well, requiring only the ability to vocalize in tune. Kazoos also appear in jazz bands, Dixie, bluegrass, blues, and your neighbor who plays it out in his backyard.

VIDEO:Enter Kazoo Man: Metallica Enter Sandman performed on KAZOO by ...Metallica's "Enter Sandman" performed by Mister Tim www.mistertimdotcom.com 

PICTURES?

YES!

Saxophone

         The saxophone (also referred to as the sax) is a conical-bore, transposing musical instrument. It belongs to the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single reed mouthpiece, similar to that of the clarinet. It has been used in military bands and popular epic viral videos.

         The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker  Adophe Sax in 1846. He wanted to create an instrument that would be the most powerful and vocal of the woodwinds, and the most adaptive of the brass. He patented the saxophone on June 24, 1846 in two groups of seven instruments each. Each group consisted of the instrument tuned to various pitches. The B and E pitched ones where favored by local musicians, so he began producing them. Many of the origonal instruments were bought by the Belgian military for moral music.

         While proving popular in military band music, the saxophone is most commonly associated with jazz and classical music. They also play a substantial roll in most genres of music. The Saxophone has been popularized to the modern youth by The Simpsons' Lisa, the Epic Sax Man video, and via various coffee shops and elevators.

Video. BOOM:Preview not available, click to view full videoGandalf - Epic Sax Guydailymotion.com
not available, click to view full videoGandalf - Epic Sax Guydailymotion.com

Pictures. BOOM:

       

The Amazing Sitar!

         The sitar is plucked string instrument. It derives its resonance from sympathetic strings, a long hallow neck, and a gourd resonating chamber. The word sitar is derived from the Persian word "Seh-Tar". "Seh" meaning three, and "Tar" meaning strings. As one might be able to guess, the sitar usually has three strings. However, five, seven, nine, and 33 stringed versions are also fairly common. Sitar strings fall into one of these three groups of sound: Chikari strings, which contains the highest sounds. Kharaj strings, the lower of the medium strings. And Jod or Baaj strings, being the deepest souding.

         The sitar is believed to have been derived from an ancient Indian instrument called the veena. It was believed to be modified by a Mughal court musician to conform with the tastes of his Persian patrons. Since then, it has undergone many changes. The modern sitar evolved in the 18th century India. Used widely throughout the Indian subcontinent, the sitar became known to the western world though the work Ravi Shanker, beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s after The Kinks' top 10 single "See My Friends" featured a low tuned drone guitar which was widely mistaken for a sitar. The sitar saw further use in 60's pop music when the Beatles and Rolling stones both featured the instrument in more than one of their songs.

        The sitar is most commonly used in Ipop (Indian popular music, not an Apple cereal). It was also used in many different Euro-pop bands in the 60's. It also commonly appears in rock and electric music.
It has also shown up in classical, metal, and progressive music. A person who plays a sitar is known as a "sitarist", as one might have guessed.

   HEY! Here's a video for ya': Amazing Sitar Player Prasanna 
   AND some pictures. Yea baby yea!

The Xylophone

         The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It  consists of wooden (not steel) bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale (either pentatonic, heptatonic, diatonic, or chromatonic). The xylophone is often mistaken for similar instruments, such as the marimba or balafon. Other similar instruments often confused with the xylophone are the lithophone, metallophone, glockenspiel, and the pixiphone.

         The xylophone has many obscure, ancient origins. The excepted history is that it originated in southeast Asia and came to Africa around 500 AD, via a group of Malayo-Polynesian speaking peoples migrating to Africa. There is little to no evidence to support this theory, other than testimonies from different historical documentations. A similar  instruments were found in Europe dated to around 200 AD. 

          The word xylophone is based off the Greek words nylon, meaning "wood", and phonē, meaning "sound". The xylophone is used in elementary education to help  assists in children's musical development. It is used in Orchestral, classical, pop, and many other genres of music.

 Hey, wuzzup. Have a video:Playing 

And some pictures. Kbye.

Tambourine

        The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a frame, often wood or metal, with a pair of metal jingles, called "zils". Tambourines are also commonly used on regular drum sets. They can be mounted, but position is largely down to preference. Tambourines come in many different shapes, but a circular frame is the most common. The word tambourine is derived from the French word tambourin, meaning drum.

         Various versions of the tambourine have been found all over the world. Similar instruments include: the panderoa (found in Germany), the riq (found in Arabia), the buben (found in Russia), the deyereh (found in Persia), the Daf (found in Turkey), and the kanjira (found in southern India). As one can see, there are many variations of the tambourine that have been found. The oldest known instrument similar to the tambourine is the rabana, found in Southeast Asia dating back to around 700 A.D. The modern tambourine was invented in Germany in the eighteen hundreds.

         The tambourine is common in many different genres of music. It most commonly shows up in folk music, popular music, rock music, and gospel. It also plays a roll in classical, metal, Italian pop, progressive and alternative rock.

Here is a video (I recommend skipping a minute or two into the video):Preview not available, click to view full videoThe Tambourine Kingyoutube.com
And here are some "pics":

The Accordion

         The accordion (from Greek a + cordion, meaning without chord) is a box shaped instrument of the bellows driving free-reed aerophone family, sometimes colloquially referred to as a squeezebox. The instrument is played by compressing or expanding the bellows while pressing buttons or keys, causing valves, called pellets, to open. This allows air to flow across strips of brass or steel, called reeds, that vibrate and produce the sound inside the body. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist.

         The accordion's basic form is believed to have been invented in Berlin in 1822 by Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann. Once the instrument traveled out of Germany, a British news paper called The Times (from which The New York Times is derived) said that the instrument would become very popular. And it was. By the 1840's the instrument had become very popular in Europe, especially  in France and England. Around a hundred years later, the instrument was popularized in Brazil and Colombia.

         The accordion is popular in music genres such as pop (who would'a guessed?), polka, classical, rock, and traditional music. It is often associated with busking and advertising. Most modern day Americans also associate the harmonica with one "Weird al Yankovic", under the genre of ''parodic music''.

Here are two (yes two) stupendous videos:    Antonio Vivaldi (bookings: info@nmgeneration.com) and
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Another One Rides the Bus
And here are some photos:

The Bassoon

         The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that usually plays in the bass and tenor registers, rarely higher. The bassoon is a non-transposing instrument known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, a variety of characters, and agility. Their sound is often referred to as dark, warm, reedy timbre to that of a male baritone voice. Someone who partakes in the playing of a bassoon is called a bassoonist.

         Music historians generally consider the dulcian to be the forerunner of the modern bassoon, as the two double reed instruments have a lot in common. The only real differences are the size of the instrument, and the mouthpiece. In both of these cases, the bassoon is larger. The history of the dulcian is very obscure, but it can be traced back to mid-16th century Europe. Later, the dulcian became known as the fagotto in Italy. The translation of fagotto meaning "bundle of sticks", which is misleading because it consisted of one long piece of wood. The bassoon was brought into existence in German, around the early 19th century. The inventor is unknown. Sense then it has flourished in the musical industry.

         The bassoon is most commonly used in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music. It is also strong in jazz, experimental, reed, and bluegrass. Famous bassoonist include: Franz Berwald, Pierre Boulez, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Kristian Oma Rønnes, and Patrick Nunn.

         Here is a quaint video:Preview not available, click to view full videoBOON THE BASSOON

The Harmonica

         The harmonica, also called the French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument. It is played by blowing air out by playing ones lips over individual holes (reed chambers), or multiple holes for a fuller sound. Pressure caused by blowing or inhaling into the reed chambers will cause vibrations which produce sound. There are many different kinds of harmonicas, including diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and various bass versions.

         The harmonica first appeared in Vienna, where harmonicas with chambers were being sound in the early eighteenth century. Joseph Richter was credited with inventing the blow and draw harmonica in 1826. In Germany, violin manufacturer Mr. Meisel from Klingenthal bought a harmonica with chambers (Kanzellen) at the Exhibition in Braunschweig in 1824. He and the ironworker Langhammer in the 3-mile-away Graslitz copied the instruments; by 1827 they had produced hundreds of harmonicas. From there the instrument grew in popularity, now being one of the most sold instruments in the United States. Today Hohner is the largest manufacturer of this instrument. 

         The harmonica is primarily used in blues, American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It also appears in popular music, metal, progressive, and bluegrass. The harmonica is also used for medicinal purposes. Playing the harmonica requires inhaling and exhaling strongly against resistance. This action helps develop a strong diaphragm and deep breathing using the entire lung volume. Pulmonary specialists use the harmonica to rehabilitate COPD patients. 

Congratulations! You are the lucky recipient of (1) video: Awesome Harmonica Player Train Song.    and also several pictures:

Bagpipe

         Bagpipes are in the instrumental class of aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe are the most well known type of bagpipe. Thats the kind that you see being played by a large red-headed, kilt wearing, strongly mustached Scotsman in many movies. However there are many different kinds. The word "bagpipe" is equally correct as singular or plural, although in the English language, pipers most commonly call them "the pipes", "a set of pipes", or "a stand set of pipes". 

         Evidence of Roman and pre-Roman bagpipes is still uncertain, but several textual and visual clues have been brought forth. So there is no real date as to when the bagpipes where invented. In the early part of the second millennium, bagpipes began to appear with frequency in European art and iconography. From there it reaches Ireland, and from there it comes to Scotland where it sticks. During the expansion of the British Empire, spearheaded by British military forces that included Highland regiments the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe became well-known worldwide. This surge in popularity was boosted by large numbers of pipers trained for military service in World War l and World War ll. 

          Bagpipes are mostly used in native folk music and dance. However, it appears in many other genres as well. It is also played in about every American movie depicting anything Irish or Scottish. The film Braveheart and the theatrical tv show Riverdance are great examples. Today, the biggest producer of the bagpipe is Pakistan, where the industry was worth $6.8 million in 2010. 

Here is a wonderful bagpipe filled video, I pity any ears who listen to this:Johnny Bagpipes
And here are some PICTURES. And capital letters.