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: