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: