The Harp

         The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. It resides in the general family of chordophones (stringed instruments) and has its own sub category, the harps. All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some also have a pillar. These are called frame harps, or open harps. Harp strings are generally made of steal, gut, nylon, or silk. A person who plays the harp is called a harpist or harper.

         The word "harp" comes from the greek word "arpo", meaning to snatch or grasp. Various types of harps are found in Africa, Europe, both North and South America, and Asia. In antiquity, harps and the closely related lyres were very prominent in all early cultures. It was a very popular instrument with medieval bards, troubadours, and minnesingers throughout the Spanish empire. Harps continued to grow in popularity through improvement in their design and construction through the beginning of the 20th century.

         The harp found its early orchestral use in concerti by many baroque and classical composers (Handel, J. C. Bach, Mozart). It later found its way to the London opera houses, where it flourished. From there it skyrocketed in pretty much every genre of music. It is popular in rock, jazz, classical, orchestral, opera, metal, and experimental. It is also strongly used in most church music. In christianity, the harp is associated with the etherial and heaven. Many christian paintings and drawings have angels playing the harp.


          It was nice getting back to a topic that actually has information published about it! To celebrate, here is TWO wonderful harp filled videos: Laser Harp Fully Functional and Beastly harpist playing free bird! And because I feel like it, here are some photos:

Der Daxophone

         The daxophone is an experimental instrument of the friction idiophones category. It consists of a thin wooden blade fixed in a wooden block (often attached to a tripod), which holds one or more contact microphones. It is usually played by bowing the free end, but it can be struck or plucked. This propagates sound in the same way snapping a ruler off the end of a desk does. Many different variants of this instrument exist, each has a unique sound based on the type of wood it is made of, its shape, and its size. Different sounds, such as an erie vocal sounding effect, a grating sound, and an almost violin sounding noise, can all be produced from different amplifiers.

        The daxophone was created by Hans Reichel, a german musician and woodcutter, around 1985. He was born on May, 10, 1949. Reichel started off his musical career by teaching himself violin at the bright old age of seven. As he matured, so did his taste in music. At eleven, he began taking lessons in classical guitar and piano. As he grew older, he decided on woodworking as his career, he stilled played music part time. He began to construct his own instruments, and began to work on one of his own. His goal was to create a wooden instrument without strings. And he did just that. The Daxophone first saw the light of day in 1987 on the LP The Dawn of a Dachsman. In this recording, Reichel plays his interment, and gives detailed information about it. He later released another album entitled Lower Lurum. The daxophone has caught the attention of many (more than seven, probably) an experimental musician sense then. Sadly, its creator Hans Reichel, passed away in his hometown of Wuppertal, Germany on November 22, 2011, at the relatively young age of 62. And even though his will never be a household name, his invention of the daxophone will live on.

                           
                                                                        ~Apologies~
            This blog is incredibly short. In my quest for obscure instruments, I had to find some
            without a wealth of information about them. This blog is probably one of the largest
            coalitions of words written in English about the daxophone. Anyway, here's a video
            and some picture:                              
            Hans Reichel - Street Song



     

The Theremin

        The theremin, also known as the thermephone or etherphone, is an early electronic instrument. It is 
controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. The controlling section usually consists 
of two metal antennas which sense the position of the player's hands and control oscillators  for 
frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other, so it can be played without being 
touched. The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker. I am pretty sure 
a person who plays the theremin is called a theremite. 

        The theremin is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Leon Theremin. Leon was being funded by the Russian government to research proximity sensors, when he created this instrument in october, 1920. After a lengthy tour of Europe, during which time he demonstrated his invention to packed houses, Theremin found his way to the United States, where he patented his invention in 1928. After that, the popularity of the theremin decreased. Until the late 1950's, when a electric musician Robert Moog began building them (while he was in high school). Robert soon graduated and went on to create the moog, which he loosely designed of the instrument. Since the release of the film Theremin: An Electric Odyssey in 1994, the instrument has enjoyed a resurgence in interest and has become more widely used by contemporary musicians. Even though many theremin sounds can be approximated on many modern synthesizers, some musicians continue to appreciate the expressiveness, novelty and uniqueness of using an actual theremin. The film itself has garnered excellent reviews.

        The Theremin is used in many different genres of music. Its been used in electric (obviously), rock, pop, metal, psychedelic rock, and in many films. It is often associated with an eerie sound. It is often used in suspenseful horror scenes. It has been used in works such as: Midsummer Murders, The Lost Weekend, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. 

Here is a video: Leon Theremin playing his own instrument. And here are some pictures:

The Oboe

       The oboe is a soprano-ranged, double reed musical instrument. It belongs to the woodwind family, the same as the english horn, the flute, and the clarinet. It is made from a wooden tube roughly 60 cm long, with metal keys, a conical bore, and a flared bell. Sound is produced by blowing into the reed and vibrating a column of air. This process is the same as whistling with a piece of grass. The sound emitted by the oboe is most often described as "bright". Its sound is higher than the clarinet, and lower than the typical wooden flute. A person who plays the oboe is called an oboist. 

       The oboe first appeared in the mid-17th century, when it was called hautbois. This name was also used for its predecessor, the shawm, from which the basic form of the hautbois was derived. Major differences between the two instruments include the division of the hautbois into three sections, or joints (which allowed for more precise manufacture), and the elimination of the pirouette, the wooden ledge below the reed which allowed players to rest their lips. The exact time, place, and creator of the hautbois is unknown. However it is speculated that it was brought into the musical world around the late 1500's. The classical period brought an oboe whose bore was gradually narrowed, and the instrument became outfitted with several keys, among them were those for the notes D♯, F, and G♯. A key similar to the modern octave key was also added called the "slur key". The slur key is on the opposite of the interment as the keys, allowing the player to quick switch up an octave when released.

       The oboe is most largely used in orchestral music. It also strongly influences classical, traditional, and folk music. It is also used in jazz, rock, and pop. The oboe is also strangely vary prominent in film music. It is often heard in particularly poignant or sad scenes. It appears in such screenplays as Born on the Forth of July, The Mission, Star Wars Episode ll: The Attack of the Clones, and Conan the Barbarian.

I couldn't really find any great oboe videos, this is the best i could find (hope you like Paul McCarney)
Ocean's Kingdom - Follow The Oboe Along With Paul's Notes (In Red). 

The Cello

           The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. It is one of the larger instruments of the family, topped only by some double basses. Despite its large size (a 4/4 sized cello is 47 and 10/16 inches tall) the cello is fairly light, due to its hallow shape and thin wooden frame.

          Early versions of the cello have been around sense the late 11th century. An italian instrument called the viola da gamba (meaning viol for the leg) was almost identical to the modern cello except it was about two feet shorter and considerably quieter. The violoncello was the first cello referred to print in 1556 by Jambe de Fer. It could be strapped to the shoulder, so the cellist could walk around while playing. Modern era cellos are played while sitting down, with a endpin to support the instrument.

         The cello is a very widely used instrument. It is a staple in orchestral, chamber, and strings music. It is also quite often used in blues, rock, bluegrass, progressive rock, metal, popular, and pretty much every genre of music. Its low sound have been favored by famous musicians/bands/orchestras like The Beatles, Apocalyptica, and The London Philharmonic.

         Because the cello is so awesome, here are two videos mostly involving cellos:
Cello Wars (Star Wars Parody) Lightsaber Duel - ThePianoGuys (I recommend checking out more videos by this guy) and  One - Apocalyptica.

Here are some pictures:

The Oud

The oud, or ud, is a pear-shaped stringed instrument. It usually has 12 strings, but 8 and 14 stringed versions exist. Construction of the oud is similar to that of the lute. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths. The oud is readily distinguished by its lack of frets and smaller neck. It is considered an ancestor of the guitar.



In an acient Mesopotamian story, a man named Lamech hung the body of his dead son from a tree. He 

then created the ud in the likeness of his sons bleached skeleton. The oldest known ud was discovered 

in 1969 by British archeologist Dr. Doninique Collon while he was in Mesopotania. It was dated back 

over 5000 years old. He brought it back to Great Britan, and it now resides at the british museum.


The oud is used mostly in cultural music. It is also used in bluegrass and various orchestral workings. 

It was traditionally played by the Africans, Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Iraqis.  




If want to know more of the oud, check out Yurdal Tokcan demonstrates the ud. Yes he is playing with 

a popcycle stick.