Thursday, 29 January 2015
Thursday, 15 January 2015
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
The Drum
What is a drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a drum stick, to produce sound. There is usually a resonance head on the underside of the drum, typically tuned to a slightly lower pitch than the top drumhead. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.
Construction
What is a drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a drum stick, to produce sound. There is usually a resonance head on the underside of the drum, typically tuned to a slightly lower pitch than the top drumhead. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.
Construction
the shell almost invariably has a circular opening over which the drumhead is stretched, but the shape of the remainder of the shell varies widely. In the western musical tradition, the most usual shape is a cylinder, although timpani, for example, use bowl-shaped shells.Drums with two heads covering both ends of a cylindrical shell often have a small hole somewhat halfway between the two heads; the shell forms a resonating chamber for the resulting sound.
History:
The drum is the oldest known instrument in the world dating back to 4000 BCE in Egypt in the northeast corner of Africa. It is present throughout every region of Africa playing different roles amongst the various peoples.Drums made with alligator skins have been found in Neolithic cultures located in China, dating to a period of 5500–2350 BC.
How to position your drum:
This grip is played with your palms facing downward. Notice how every finger tip is lightly rested on the drumstick. Make sure you do not grip the stick too tightly, or you will limit its’ rebound. It is debated which finger is used to grip the stick. Some will use their thumb and index finger; others will use their thumb and middle finger. Both are fine, as long as you chose one early and stick to it!
The Trumpet
What is a trumpet:
A trumpet is a musical instrument. It is the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded oblong shape.
Construction:
What is a trumpet:
A trumpet is a musical instrument. It is the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded oblong shape.
Construction:
The trumpet is constructed of brass tubing bent twice into a rounded oblong shape.As with all brass instruments, sound is produced by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound into the mouthpiece and starting a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the trumpet. The player can select the pitch from a range of overtones orharmonics by changing the lip aperture and tension (known as the embouchure). The mouthpiece has a circular rim, which provides a comfortable environment for the lips' vibration. Directly behind the rim is the cup, which channels the air into a much smaller opening (the back bore or shank) that tapers out slightly to match the diameter of the trumpet's lead pipe. The dimensions of these parts of the mouthpiece affect the timbre or quality of sound, the ease of playability, and player comfort. Generally, the wider and deeper the cup, the darker the sound and timbre.
History:
The earliest trumpets date back to 1500 BC and earlier. The bronze and silver trumpets from Tutankhamun's grave in Egypt, bronze lurs from Scandinavia, and metal trumpets from China date back to this period.Trumpets from the3rd millennium BC of Central Asia have decorated swellings in the middle, yet are made out of one sheet of metal, which is considered a technical wonder.
How to position your trumpet:
The fingers of the left hand should grip the instrument so that the first and little fingers support most of the weight. The two middle fingers operate the third valve slide (one pushes out and the other pulls back in). Be sure that only about a half inch of the ring finger is inserted through the ring. The left thumb is placed in the first valve slide saddle, again by only about a half inch. The palm of the hand should not be pressed tightly (if at all!) against the valves.
how to play the trumpet?
inhale through your mouth, assume the proper lip position, put the instrument up to your lips, and blow. You should feel your lips change tightness as they lock into a note. After playing your first note, try tightening your lips slightly and pushing down valves one and two. Note that valves are numbered one through three. Valve number one is closest to you, and valve number three is toward the bell of the horn. The note should be higher.The Flute
What is a flute:
The flute is a family of musical instrument of the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is anaerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening.
History:
The oldest flute ever discovered may be a fragment of the femur of a juvenile cave bear, with two to four holes, found at Divje Babe inSlovenia and dated to about 43,000 years ago. However, this has been disputed.In 2008 another flute dated back to at least 35,000 years ago was discovered in Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, Germany.The five-holed flute has a V-shaped mouthpiece and is made from a vulture wing bone. The researchers involved in the discovery officially published their findings in the journal Nature, in August 2009.The discovery was also the oldest confirmed find of any musical instrument in history.
How you position the flute:
The flute rests on the lowest section of your left hand’s
index finger. This part of the finger meets the flute
body between the two topmost keys (C and C#) and
supports from below.
If you are guiding the end of the flute forward with
your right hand, the left hand feels like it can support
from beneathe the flute, and does not have to push the
flute toward your chin. Elbows are comfortably down.
Picture the flute as pivoting on the left index finger, so
that it acts as a hinge
How does the flute make sound?
when you breath into the flute, your air stream travels down the piping. The air stream hits against the side of the flute, moving it and creating a sound. To change the pitch of the flute, you simply lift up fingers or cover more finger holes. This changes the resonate frequency creating a different pitch. To make the tone louder you need a larger resonator, or larger air flow, and to make the tone softer it is the opposite.
index finger. This part of the finger meets the flute
body between the two topmost keys (C and C#) and
supports from below.
If you are guiding the end of the flute forward with
your right hand, the left hand feels like it can support
from beneathe the flute, and does not have to push the
flute toward your chin. Elbows are comfortably down.
Picture the flute as pivoting on the left index finger, so
that it acts as a hinge
How does the flute make sound?
when you breath into the flute, your air stream travels down the piping. The air stream hits against the side of the flute, moving it and creating a sound. To change the pitch of the flute, you simply lift up fingers or cover more finger holes. This changes the resonate frequency creating a different pitch. To make the tone louder you need a larger resonator, or larger air flow, and to make the tone softer it is the opposite.
The Violin
Construction and Mechanics:
A violin generally consists of a spruce top (the soundboard, also known as the top plate,table, or belly), maple ribs and back, two endblocks, a neck, a bridge, a soundpost, four strings, and various fittings, optionally including a chinrest, which may attach directly over, or to the left of, the tailpiece. A distinctive feature of a violin body is its hourglass-like shape and the arching of its top and back. The hourglass shape comprises two upper bouts, two lower bouts, and two concave C-bouts at the waist, providing clearance for the bow.
The earliest stringed instruments were mostly plucked (e.g. the Greek lyre).
- Turkic and Mongolian horsemen from Inner Asia were probably the world’s earliest fiddlers. Their two-stringed upright fiddles were strung with horsehair strings, played with horsehair bows, and often feature a carved horse’s head at the end of the neck. The violins,violas, and cellos we play today, and whose bows are still strung with horsehair, are a legacy of the nomads.[3]
It is believed that these instruments eventually spread to China, India, the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East, where they developed into instruments such as the erhu in China, the rebab in the Middle East, the lyra in the Byzantine Empire and the esraj in India. The violin in its present form emerged in early 16th-Century Northern Italy.
How to position your violin:
The violin should rest on the collarbone. The purpose of the chin rest is to protect the varnish, provide a secure and comfortable place for the jaw , and to adjust the distance from the jaw to the collarbone. Generally, flatter simpler chin rests are more comfortable than more contoured ones. A chamois skin or other non-slippery cloth may be used to cover the collarbone for comfort.
The violin resting lightly on the collarbone and the jaw resting gently on the chin rest establish two stable points of contact with the instrument.
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