Causal Listener

Casual Listener Referential Listener Critical Listener Perceptive Listener
Casual listeners are probably the most common type of listeners. So, what is a casual listener? This type of listener likes having music playing, filling the environment with sounds. Whether present as a background to drive, study, work, exercise, or hang out with friends, music is an accompaniment to the casual listener’s daily activities. Sometimes the music simply mask the sounds of a noisy street. The casual listener may be conscious of the sound or merely consider it part of the environment. In any case, this type of listener views music primarily as a mood enhancer or as pleasant part of the environment.

The Referential Listener

Sometimes
music may remind people of past events, or it may bring to mind particular images, feelings, or situations. At times, these external references are so strong that the music is not really heard anymore; instead, the listener is caught up in the memories of the person, event, or feeling. Although it is undeniable that extra-musical connections or associations may be developed through listening, referential listeners tend to relate to music exclusively in that way.

Composers are aware of the associative power of music and sometimes intentionally title their compositions to bring certain connections to mind. Music of this type may follow an explicit story or program, and is therefore known as program music. By contrast, music that is not associated with a particular story, image, object, or event is called absolute music. Regardless of the composer’s intent, those whose main connection with music is through memories of some sort are known as referential listeners.

The Critical Listener

A critical listener's primary motivation is to identify what is wrong with a performance. For very scrupulous critical listeners, every detail of the performance must be perfect, including the accuracy of the notes. Such listeners may even demand perfection in live music, with anything short of perfection considered a poor performance.

Holding music to high artistic and technical standards is not unreasonable. However, listeners ought to consider the differences between live performances and synthetic, perfected recordings that have been edited to eliminate mistakes. In live performances, mistakes occur. Performers miss notes, instruments go out of tune, and there are noises and distractions from the audience. Concentrating on technical perfection while ignoring other aspects of a musical performance may detract from the music, and it often keeps the listener from wholly enjoying the music and what it has to offer.

Furthermore, the piece's purpose may not coincide with the critical listener's motivation. When a mother sings a lullaby to put a child to sleep, the quality of a performance must be judged not by musical standards, but on the basis of whether or not the song has put the child to sleep. It is not important if the mother does not sing every note perfectly so long as the other elements, such as hushed volume, steady speed (tempo), and a big dose of tenderness, are present.

The Perceptive Listener

The last listener type, the perceptive listener, combines the characteristics of the previous three types of listeners but is not limited by them. The perceptive listener:

Like the casual listener, enjoys sound for sound's sake, but asks: What is it in the music that makes me feel this way? Is it the way the performer is interpreting the music? Is it because of the volume or speed at which it is played? Is it because it is sung, played by instruments, or because it has a good balance of unity and variety? Is it a combination of all these elements? If so, which combination is at work?

Like the referential listener, may have associations with the music being heard, but also tries to remember: When and where the music was heard most recently. What other works from that composer or performer she knows.

Like the critical listener, is aware of the quality of a performance but goes beyond the technical aspects to seek understanding and appreciation of the human and cultural values embodied in the music.

Furthermore, the perceptive listener:

Attends concerts regularly and listens with concentration.
Uses appropriate musical vocabulary, not lay terms like “mellow” or “upbeat,” to describe music. Tries to develop an awareness of different musical styles and realizes that there are significant and valid differences among these styles. The perceptive listener is open to all kinds of music. Realizes that music is created for many different purposes and by many different kinds of people. Really tries to understand the music and what makes it interesting before passing judgment on it. Would never decide that she does not like a certain kind of music without having listened to it. Tries to learn something about the music before listening to a live or recorded performance of it. Is aware of the fact that a piece of music, regardless of style, might take some time to reveal its structure, meaning and beauty, and is therefore prepared to reserve judgment until she has heard it many times.

Note Name Symbol Rest Equivalent
Whole Whole note Whole rest
Half Half note Half rest
Quarter Quarter note Quarter rest
Eighth Eighth note Eighth
rest
Sixteenth Sixteenth note Sixteenth rest

Intervals

The distance between two pitches is called an interval. As you know by now, pitches may be indicated by the position of a note on the staff or by a letter name (for example, A, G, or D). Another way of putting it is that an interval is the distance between two letter names.

To find out the interval between two notes, count the number of letter names between the two of them. Make sure to include both notes in your count. For example, the interval from any note to its nearest neighbor (for example, C and D) is two. We call that a second. The interval between D and A would be a fifth. Why? Well, if you count D as note number 1 (remember, you include both letter names in the count), E would be 2, F would be 3, G would be 4, and finally, A would be 5. The interval between E and A includes four consecutive letter names, and is, therefore, a fourth.

Intervals may be ascending (as in the previous example) or descending. Descending intervals are calculated exactly the same way as ascending ones. For example, the descending interval between A and F is a third. Here is the breakdown: count A as note 1. The next letter name counting down from A is G; G is note 2. Before G comes F, our destination, which is note 3. You have easily found that the descending interval between A and F is a third.

Volume, also referred to as dynamics, is one of the most important aspects of sound. Composers use volume as a way of controlling the emotional content and shape of a piece. Therefore, it is interesting to note that composers generally did not mark their scores with instructions about volume until well into the 17th century. Instead, they depended on musicians to determine the appropriate levels of volume for a specific performance space. Composers began writing indications for dynamic levels in scores at about the same time that significant improvements in the construction of various instruments allowed for a greater range and volume control than had been previously possible.
Italian Term Abbreviation English Equivalent pianississimo ppp very, very softly pianissimo pp very softly piano p soft mezzo piano mp half soft mezzo forte mf half loud forte f loud fortissimo ff very loud fortississimo fff very, very loud

Italian Term English Equivalent al niente to nothing crescendo becoming louder decrescendo diminuendo becoming softer morendo dying away
Italian Terms Denoting Gradual Dynamic Changes

Instrument Classification Sound Source Chordophones- Instruments that produce sounds via vibrating strings, such as the guitar. The strings may be plucked, bowed, hit, or strummed.
Aerophones- Instruments that produce sounds via vibrating columns of air, such as the horn. Membranophones- Instruments that produce sounds via vibrating membranes, such as the drum. The membranes may be struck or rubbed. Idiophones- Instruments that produce sounds by vibrating themselves, such as the castanets. This class includes instruments of various materials (e.g., metal, wood, glass, stone) producing sounds using various techniques (e.g., beating, scraping, shaking, plucking, stamping, rubbing) Electrophones- Instruments that produce sounds via electronic means, such as the synthesizer. female voices
Soprano
The soprano is the highest female voice. O mio Babbino caro, an aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini, shows the soprano voice in all its glory.
Mezzo-Soprano
The mezzo-soprano has a lower voice range than the soprano. The Italian term mezzo means medium. It appears that the distinction between soprano and mezzo-soprano started around the middle of the 18th century. It was 19th-century composers, however, that started giving important opera female roles to mezzo-sopranos. One of those composers was Georges Bizet (1838-1875), whose opera Carmen is among the most famous of all operas, with its realistic Spanish setting and strongly dramatic story. The Habanera, sung by the title character Carmen, is one of the most famous compositions for the mezzo-soprano voice.
Contralto
The contralto, or alto for short, has the lowest range of the female voices. In the first operas, this range was used mainly to represent comic old women, and later on, ones of tragic dignity. With time, it evolved to include heroic figures as well as darker characters such as villainesses and sorceresses. The alto voice may also portray a completely different character, as in Bach's incredibly moving ariaErbarme dich mein Gott (Have mercy, my God) from the St. Matthew Passion, in which the dark intensity of the singer's voice embodies the full expression of repentance.
Male Voices
Tenor
The highest of the male voices is the tenor. The expressive qualities of the tenor voice are superbly showcased in this version of E Lucevan le Stelle, which also gives us a glimpse of Puccini's wonderful melodic gift and dramatic sensibility.
Bass
The lowest male voice is the bass. Mozart's opera The Magic Flute features the remarkable O Isis und Osiris, one of the best-known bass arias in the operatic répertoire.
Baritone
Between the tenor and the bass, there is a male voice range that can reach into both the tenor and the bass ranges. This range is called the baritone, a word of Greek origin meaning deep-sounding. The soloist in Dark Eyes, probably one of the most popular Russian folk songs, is a good example of a baritone's voice.
Vocal Groups
Singing seems to be a natural human activity. People of all colors, genders, ages, walks of life, and nationalities seem to enjoy singing regardless of their musical ability or the beauty of their voices. It is not uncommon, therefore, for people to get together to sing. There is something indefinably powerful about the experience of making music in a group, especially when it involves singing. How many people get together does not matter. The number can range from two or three to many. The largest of these groups is called a choir. Choir members may be all male, all female, or mixed. In a mixed choir, the voices are divided by vocal range based on the highest and lowest sounds that a person can produce.
Choir
Choirs may sing accompanied by instruments. However, it is also common for them to sing without any accompaniment, in which case the choir is said to be singing a cappella. Dark Eyes features a mixed choir that alternates with the soloist to produce a powerfully compelling rendition of this beautiful melody.
A cappella
Chamber Choir
Depending on size, choirs may be classified as chamber choirs and full choruses. The following example features a small group of singers (chamber choir). These types of groups traditionally get together in informal environments, for example in private homes (thus the name chamber) or in small concert halls.
Full chorus
The full impact of a grand full chorus accompanied by an equally large orchestral force may be experienced in all its glory in the Entry Chorus from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Nabucco. This piece also gives us the opportunity to hear a group of male voices and a group of female voices that sing separately in certain sections of the piece, even though they form part of the same full chorus.
Conductor

Leonard Bernstein
The symphony orchestra is a very large ensemble of musicians. For this reason, it generally needs a conductor to keep everyone playing together (at the same time) and balanced (with the right level of volume relative to one another). But this is not the only thing a conductor does. Great conductors, like the late Leonard Bernstein, make decisions about how the music should be performed so that the result is the best possible interpretation of the piece. This requires a careful study of the orchestral score, which includes all the parts played by the orchestra musicians. As opposed to what is acceptable practice in other types of ensembles, traditional symphony orchestra musicians do not improvise their parts. An intimate knowledge of the score is, therefore, a must for the professional orchestral conductor.
The most obvious aspect of the conductor's job is to keep all the musicians in the orchestra playing together in a synchronized manner. The famous British conductor Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961) once joked that the two most important things for an orchestra were for the players to start and finish at the same time.
Nowadays, good conductors do much more than just beat time. Every single variation of speed, volume, and the shaping of musical phrases depends largely on the leadership, technical skill, personality, and musical knowledge of the conductor.
A great part of the conductor's activity happens outside the concert hall. Decisions about interpretation (such as the ones listed in the prior paragraph) need to be worked out well in advance during rehearsals, just as decisions about a play, a team sport, or a dance happen in practices and rehearsals. Sometimes orchestras allow the general public to attend rehearsals. Do not let the opportunity of attending an orchestral rehearsal pass you by. You will learn a great deal about the instruments, the music, and the way an orchestra figures out all those details that make for a good rendition of a piece.
Before the 19th century, the job of the conductor was mainly to beat time. In the Baroque period (roughly mid-17th to mid-18th centuries), the conductor was frequently the composer of the music who provided a steady pulse, either from the keyboard or from the violin section by using the bow. German composer Louis Spohr (1784-1859) is supposed to have been the first to use the modern baton in 1820 at a concert in London. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) and Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) (remember the Symphonie Fantastique?) were among the first famous composer-conductors of the 19th century.
Gradually, the role of the conductor became more important. Listing the names of famous conductors would be a monumental task. Keep in mind, also, that there have been famous women conductors. These days, famous conductors are true jet-setters that dash from continent to continent conducting the most prominent orchestras in the world.

The Strings violin, viola, cello, double bass
Four members of the string section
The four main orchestral string instruments are (from highest to lowest pitch): the violins (usually divided into two sections, playing individual parts), the violas, the cellos, and the double basses. Each have four strings arranged in order of pitch and may be played by means of a bow (arco) or plucked (pizzicato). Whereas the violin and viola are played with the instrument resting between the shoulder and the chin, the larger cello (or, to give it its full title, violoncello) is placed between and slightly behind the knees facing outwards, and the bulky double bass is played standing up or seated on a high stool. The way we refer to performers of instruments is derived from the name of the instrument itself. Thus, we speak of violinists, violists, cellists, bassists, guitarists, and harpists, to name a few.
The harp may be a part-time fifth member of the orchestral strings, although it doesn't share the common characteristics listed above.
The Woodwinds flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon
Introduction
Recall from the section on timbre that aerophones produce sound via vibrating columns of air. The family of instruments known as the woodwinds may be classified as aerophones. With these instruments, sound is produced by setting a column of air in motion inside the body of the instrument. A musician may blow a stream of air into one end of the instrument either directly (as in the recorder) or indirectly (as in the flute). In some woodwind instruments, the air is used to set a reed in motion that brings about vibration of the air column (as in the clarinet and oboe).
In string instruments, the length of the string determines pitch. In wind instruments (a designation that includes both woodwind and brass instruments), the pitch is determined by the length of the air column, which the performer alters by opening or closing small holes along the side of the instrument, either with the fingers or with small pads activated by a key mechanism. Volume depends on the energy with which the player produces the air stream.
The variety of timbres among the members of the woodwind family is much greater than that among the members of the string family. Each woodwind instrument has a distinctive tone color produced by a combination of factors, the most significant of which are shape, composition (metal, wood, etc.), and the different ways in which it may be played. The way the performer places his or her lips, teeth, and tongue on the instrument's mouthpiece is a critical factor in tone production. The technical term for this is embouchure (ahm-buh-sher), a French term for mouthpiece. Embouchure is so important that learning how to do it correctly is crucial to playing the instrument well, regardless of the style of music played.
The term woodwind is something of a misnomer. Although most woodwind instruments are indeed made from wood, others may be constructed from metal, ivory, or bone. For example, nowadays flutes are made of metal, while clarinets and oboes are built from ebony (wood) or ebonite (hardened rubber). Electronic instruments that combine breath and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology are able to duplicate the sounds of all woodwind instruments—no air column needed. However, the term woodwind has stuck, and it remains the designation for this wonderful group of instruments.
Woodwinds refer primarily to Western orchestral instruments. There are many other woodwind-type instruments dating as far back as prehistoric times. For example, the term flute applies to a wide variety of instruments encompassing many cultures from Africa, North and South America, Asia, and Europe, as well as to similar instruments in every historical period.
The woodwind section of the traditional symphony orchestra includes the flute, the oboe, the clarinet, and the bassoon. Let's look at each one of these individually. the flute:
In the most general sense, the term flute may refer to any instrument for which an air column confined within a hollow body is set in motion by a stream of air from a player's lips positioned against the sharp edge of a hole. The modern orchestral flute, patented in 1847 by the German maker Theobald Boehm, is a cylindrical tube of metal about 27 inches (66 cm) long and a bit less than an inch wide (2 cm). It has three sections: the head joint where the mouth-hole is located; the body, with most of the keys; and finally, the foot joint, which has a few keys activated by the right-hand little finger. In flute performance, most of the control of the sound comes from the player's lips.
Horizontally-held flutes were present in China as early as 900 BC and first reached Europe around 1100 AD.
Visit the Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection at the Library of Congress to view a vast array of flutes. The collection contains specimens from as early as the 16th century.

The oboe:
Some woodwind instruments are played using reeds. Reeds are blades of thin cane with the ends scraped down to a feather-edge. Woodwind reed instruments may use a single reed or two reeds (a double reed) to produce sound.
The oboe is the main orchestral instrument that belongs to the double reed category. When the oboist places the two reeds between his/her lips and blows through, the reeds vibrate together, transmitting a burst of energy to the column of air inside the body of the instrument. Handling and working on reeds requires extreme skill. Oboists are forever shaving and adjusting them to achieve the right shape and thickness.
The English horn (which is neither English nor a horn) is simply a lower sounding oboe: a tenor oboe to be precise. During the 18th century, it was used mainly in music for military purposes. By contrast, the standard oboe (pictured at left) has a soprano register. Since the English horn is a member of the oboe family, many oboists also play it, and the instrument sits with the oboes in the symphony orchestra.
The predecessor of the oboe is the shawm, a very popular instrument in its time due to the loud, penetrating sound it was capable of producing. A French court musician, Jean Hotteterre, is credited with inventing the oboe around 1660. The oboe quickly gained popularity, and by 1700 most European orchestras included a pair.

the carinet:
The clarinet is the most recently invented member of the woodwind family. Its shape and size are so similar to the oboe's that it is easy to confuse them. The clarinet, however, is very different from its relative in that a single reed sets in motion the column of air that produces the sound. Also, the clarinet is longer than the oboe—26 versus 23 inches—and its flared bell at the end is also wider than the oboe's. Its timbre, as you may hear from the examples, is also quite different.
Another interesting difference between the clarinet and the oboe is the way the performer uses his or her mouth and teeth to create an embouchure. A clarinetist plays his instrument by forming a tight grip on the mouthpiece with the reed at the bottom. The oboist forms a firm cushion of lips around the paired reeds.

The parts of the clarinet mouthpiece
Picture Courtesy of Vandoren (Paris)
The famous German flute maker Johann Christoph Denner invented the clarinet in Nürnberg in the early 1700s. He did so by adjusting a folk reed pipe to play in a higher register. Like the oboe, the clarinet was so quickly adopted that by about 1780, two clarinets were common in orchestras.
Different types of clarinets cover the usual registers from high to low. Out of about thirteen that exist today, six are most commonly used. A symphony orchestra usually includes three clarinets in the keys of A, B-flat, and E-flat (when needed).
The lowest sounding clarinet, the contrabass, was perfected by Adolphe Sax (1814-1894). Sax invented the saxophone, which is also a single-reed woodwind instrument.
The Bassoon
The bassoon is another member of the double reed category of woodwind instruments. Developed in the 17th century, its body consists of four sections. The modern version of this instrument was developed in France around 1636 and later perfected in Germany. Like its other woodwind relatives, the bassoon quickly gained recognition as a solo instrument. It also has a place as a significant member of the orchestra.

The Brass
Introduction

Like the woodwinds, brass instruments are also classified as aerophones and wind instruments.
However, as their name implies, these instruments sound “brassy,” and they are typically fashioned out of metal. In fact, three factors lend brass instruments their characteristic “brassy” timbre: the material, the flare-shaped bell, and the vibration of the player's lips on the mouthpiece.
As is the case with woodwind instruments, pitch in brass instruments depends on the length of the air column. Pitch is therefore directly related to the size of the instrument. The performer alters the length of the air column by opening or closing small holes with pads that are in turn activated by a key mechanism. This key mechanism is usually located along the side of the instrument. In order of pitch range (highest to lowest), the brass instruments most commonly found in an orchestra are the trumpet, horn, trombone, and tuba.
The following listening examples will help convey the individual characteristics of these instruments, in particular their distinctive timbres.
Trumpet
Horn
Trombone
Tuba trumpet: One of the oldest instruments, the trumpet was first used during the 2nd millennium BCE (estimated) in Egypt for military purposes and as a civilian signal instrument. The first trumpets were made of cylindrical lengths of pipe and were capable of playing only 8 or 9 notes of the harmonic overtone series. Referred to as natural trumpets, such instruments were used in orchestras until the early nineteenth century.
The invention of valves in 1828 allowed composers more flexibility in scoring for the trumpet. While in the 20th century the most common type of trumpet was the B-flat, trumpets are now manufactured in C, D, E-flat, F, and G to allow musicians to play a wider range of notes. Most students, however, begin their studies with the B-flat trumpet. The body of the trumpet is about 18 inches (46 cm) long; the total length of the unwound tube is 4 feet, 6 inches (1.4 meters).
The trumpet is a very versatile instrument. Its repertoire includes music from almost every style and historical period, from Latin music to jazz to ‘classical’ concertos. the horn: The horn, also known as the French horn, has traditionally been associated with hunting calls used to signal hunters and dogs during wild animal hunts. This instrument evolved from the hunting horn, which was a cylindrical piece of brass or silver pipe with a flared bell and mouthpiece. In the 16th and 17th centuries, hunting signals were purely rhythmical patterns based upon the notes available from the harmonic series. With the addition of different lengths of crooks in the 18th century—and valves in the 19th—the instruments were able to play more chromatic notes. However, the addition of more metal made them heavier and thus more difficult to play. As the horn continued to be developed, French musicians created elaborate pieces of music called fanfares specifically designed to showcase the novel properties of the instrument.
The modern horn is a coiled cylindrical tube measuring anywhere between 9 and 12 feet (2.8 to 3.6 meters in length) that ends in a widely flared bell. The mouthpiece of the horn is relatively small and funnel-shaped and allows the horn to produce a mellower tone than the trumpet, whose shallow, cup-shaped mouthpiece produces a more brilliant sound. The instrument's pitch is controlled by three valves that the player uses to shorten and lengthen the air column inside the instrument. The horn is a difficult instrument to master, especially when playing notes in the very high or very low registers. the trombone: The name trombone is derived from the Italian term tromba, for trumpet. In a manner of speaking, a trombone may be considered a big trumpet. The trombone appeared around the middle of the 15th century. It was frequently used in church music to support the singer's voices.
Improvements were made in the construction of the instrument throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, and it became an essential instrument in town and court bands. In the 17th century, there were four different types of trombones, one for each register (high to low). Now, only two are consistently used: the tenor and the bass trombone.
Like the trumpet, the trombone has a cylindrical bore extending into a bell. However, rather than using valves as with the trumpet or the horn, trombonists change pitch with a slide that has seven positions, from fully retracted (pulled all the way in) to fully extended. The movement of the slide alters the length of the air column inside the instrument. Up until the 18th century, the trombone was called sackbut, which, translated from the French, meant push-pull. (In Old French sacquer meant to draw out.) However, some notes are produced by the tightening or loosening of the player's lips rather than moving the slide.
The trombone has been popular with composers from all periods and across musical styles. It has become an integral part of the modern symphony orchestra, as well as jazz and Latin bands.
The Tuba
The tuba (from the Latin tube, meaning trumpet) is the lowest pitched instrument of the brass family, with a deep, cup-shaped mouthpiece and an upward pointing bell. It features a range of more than three octaves.
A Prussian bandmaster, Wilhelm Wieprecht, and a German builder, Johann Gottfried Moritz, invented the moderntuba in 1835. It is called the modern tuba to distinguish it from another instrument that was also called the tuba: a straight-built trumpet from ancient Rome. The Roman tuba is not to be confused with the modern tuba; they simply happen to share the same name.

Percussion
Introduction
Making sounds by hitting objects against one another must be one of the oldest activities known to man. The history of percussion instruments is, therefore, extremely rich. Every culture on the planet uses one kind of percussion instrument or another. Drums are perhaps the most universally used. They may be found in African and South American tribal cultures as well as Eastern and Middle Eastern countries such as China, Korea, India, Egypt, and Iran. Aside from fulfilling a purely musical function, drums have played an important role in communication, rituals, and ceremonies in all these cultures.
The percussion section of the orchestra includes most instrumental techniques used to play percussion instruments: rubbing, shaking, and striking the instrument with an implement (such as a mallet or drumstick) or with itself (cymbals and castanets).
Idiophones and Membranophones
Idiophones
Castanets
Idiophones are instruments that produce sounds from the vibration of their own bodies.
Castanets are idiophones that may be further classified under the concussion group, meaning instruments in which two similar objects are clapped together to make sound. Castanets are widely used in Spanish folk music, especially to provide a rhythmic accompaniment to dancing. The dancers loop the castanet string around the thumb, leaving the rest of the fingers free to strike them against the palm of the hand. Orchestral castanets are usually mounted on a stick.
Membranophones
The bass drum
Picture courtesy of Yamaha
Membranophones are instruments that produce sounds by vibrating a membrane or skin that is stretched over a wood or metal frame. Most of these instruments are drums of some kind or another that may be played directly with the hands or with a beater. Drums have been found in almost every age and culture.
The snare drum
Picture Courtesy of United Music Instruments
The bass drum is a large instrument, approximately 36 inches (90 cm) in diameter and 16 inches (40 cm) deep. The one pictured at left is suspended from a swivel frame, which is how it is normally used in the

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Percussion Pitch
Pitch in percussion instruments is an interesting subject. Some percussion instruments are capable of producing definite pitches. These include the timpani (also known as kettledrums), the chimes, and the beautifully sounding—and closely related—xylophone, vibraphone, and marimba. Other percussion instruments, such as the tambourine, triangle, cymbals, and drums, produce sounds of indefinite pitch. (Such instruments may also be described as unpitched or non-pitched.) The sounds that non-pitched instruments produce are made up of such complex frequencies that it is impossible (or relatively difficult) to discern a single pitch.
Let's look at one example from each group.

Timpani (Definite pitch)
The timpani, or kettledrum, was invented in the Middle East around the 10th century. Today, it is the most important percussion instrument of the symphony orchestra, where it is most often used in pairs. Unlike most drums, they are capable of producing an actual pitch. The vibrating membrane is held in place by a metal ring with screws that the player manipulates to vary the tension of the skin—and therefore the instrument's pitch. Kettledrums vary in size from 20 to 32 inches in diameter (50 to 82 cm). The end (or head) of the mallets traditionally used to play them is covered with felt.

Gong (Indefinite pitch)
The gong is a circular metal percussion instrument used primarily in Asian countries. Although some gongs may be tuned, the ones used in the orchestra are of indefinite pitch. They are suspended from a frame and played with a padded (felt or wool) mallet.

The most common orchestral gong is large and flat with a diameter of 76 cm or more. Its circumference is turned over to form a lip. Most are cast and hammered from an alloy of copper and tin.

The Xylophone
Xylophone

Picture Courtesy of Yamaha
Another well-known definite-pitched orchestral instrument that merits special attention is the xylophone, widely used and known for its beautiful sound.
The xylophone is made up of several wooden bars, each of which is tuned to a specific pitch. The bars are arranged in the same order as a piano keyboard. Under each hardwood bar there is a resonator whose length corresponds to the pitch of the bar. The bars are concave on the back. The player strikes them with wooden or hard rubber mallets.
The origin of the xylophone is unclear. Some say it originated in Southeast Asia, while others maintain that it was first developed in Africa. What is certain is that African slaves introduced it to South and Central America, where it is known as the marimba and plays a central role in folk music.

Vibraphone
Picture Courtesy of Yamaha
The vibraphone has metal bars instead of wooden ones.

Marimba
Picture Courtesy of Yamaha
The marimba is the national instrument of Guatemala (Central America), where they often form whole orchestras.

Electronic and Digital Percussion
Computer, microchip, and sound sampling technology has made a wide array of electronic and digital instruments available to performers. These instruments allow musicians to have thousands of percussion sounds at their disposal. Modern digital rhythm boxes and percussion instruments can imitate the sound of most analog instruments. Digital rhythm boxes may also contain thousands of the most commonly used rhythmic patterns in a wide variety of styles. Nevertheless, there is disagreement as to how the use of digital instruments affects the “feel” of the music.

Digital Rhythm Box
Picture Courtesy of Yamaha
David Anthony Clark
Before Africa: A Land Before Eden

Digital Drum Set
Picture Courtesy of Yamaha
David Anthony Clark
Before Africa: Rainmakers

Introduction
Keyboard instruments are sometimes included as part of the orchestra. More often, however, they are featured as solo instruments in music events called recitals, where a soloist plays by him or herself, or in a concerto where a soloist plays accompanied by an orchestra. Keyboard instruments are also widely used to accompany voices or other instruments. In fact, the written répertoire for keyboard instruments is the largest of any instrument family.
Solo instrument
Concerto
The category of keyboard instruments is unique in that it refers to the technique required to play the instrument (i.e., by using a keyboard). However, from that starting point, there are significant differences between members of this category. Take, for example, the organ, piano, harpsichord, and synthesizer. While all four use a keyboard to control sound and feature a set of keys that correspond to unique pitches, each instrument also employs an entirely different mechanism to produce sound, and they are all built very differently. As a result, their individual timbres are distinct, and it is easy to tell them apart.
Organ
Piano
Image Courtesy of Yamaha
Harpsichord
Synthesizer
Image Courtesy of Yamaha
The synthesizer is a unique case unto itself. Although pitches are selected (i.e. controlled) using the familiar keyboard interface—which is why the keyboard is also referred to as controller in electronic instruments—the synthesizer is usually classified as an electrophone. This incredibly versatile instrument is also capable of producing a potentially infinite variety of sounds. Therefore, it defies easy categorization.
These and other topics are discussed in the pages devoted to each of the keyboard instruments.

The Harpsichord
Introduction
On the harpsichord, tones are produced by strings stretched over a soundboard, which is a thin piece of wood that amplifies the sound of the strings.
Harpsichord
When the harpsichordist depresses a key, a simple mechanism causes a plectrum (or quill) to pluck a string. Harpsichords are not necessarily built to the same specifications. Sometimes they have more than one string per key, which means that more than one string may be used to produce a sound.
The harpsichord keyboard is not touch-sensitive. This means that no matter how softly or forcefully one presses a key, the sound the instrument produces will maintain a fairly constant volume level. Well-built harpsichords are capable of producing quite a rich sound.
The first known instance of a harpsichord dates from around 1397. The harpsichord was very important during the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries as both a solo and an accompanying instrument. It was used in chamber and orchestral music and also in opera. When the fortepiano was invented around 1709, it eclipsed the popularity of the harpsichord for the next 200 years. However, contemporary musicians and music lovers have a new appreciation for the sound of the harpsichord and the music written for this beautiful instrument.

The piano is one of the best-known and best-loved musical instruments. It is used in a wide variety of music styles, from Latin jazz to art music to contemporary avant-garde.
Latin jazz
Art music
Contemporary avant-garde
Although it has strings that vibrate to produce sound, the piano may be considered a percussion instrument because depressing the keys causes hammers inside the piano to strike the strings. There are 88 keys in a full-size piano keyboard, each one attached to its own corresponding hammer. When used as part of the orchestra, the piano is often grouped with the percussion instruments.
The name piano is short for pianoforte, literally meaning soft (piano) and loud (forte). The pianoforte was developed from its historical predecessor, the harpsichord. In the harpsichord, sound is produced by strings that are plucked by quills connected to keys—a much simpler mechanism than that of the piano.
Keyboard Mechanism
Grand Piano Keyboard Mechanism
Picture Courtesy of Steinway & Sons
Grand Piano Action
Upright Piano Action
On the piano, the keys are connected to the hammers through a complex mechanism of levers, depicted above. This keyboard mechanism may also be referred to as the piano action.
When the player depresses a key, the hammer connected to that key is launched towards a string, which is the source of the sound. Therefore, as opposed to the voice or a violin, the piano is not capable of sustained tones. However, depending on the performer's instrumental technique and the style of the piece, the piano may produce both lyrical singing tones and bright, percussive sounds.

Hammers

Voicing the Hammers
Picture Courtesy of Steinway & Sons
The quality and consistency of the hammers is a crucial element in the production of a good piano tone because it is the hammers that ultimately come in direct contact with the strings to produce sound.
Here, a master technician reduces the stiffness of a hammer by prickling the felt with a specially designed tool that has a small row of needles at one end. This mellows the tone of the sound associated with that particular key. At the time of manufacture, and later during regular maintenance, each hammer is checked for good tone.
Soundboard

The Soundboard
Picture Courtesy of Steinway & Sons
The soundboard is a major part of the piano. When the piano is played, the soundboard amplifies the vibrations of the strings. In turn, it sets in vibration a much greater amount of air than the strings could by themselves.
There are more than two hundred strings in a piano. Made of steel, they are the sound-generating component of the instrument.
In a grand piano, strings are stretched at tensions of nearly 40,000 pounds over wooden bridges (or supports), which are strongly fastened to the surface of the soundboard. The bridges transmit the smallest motions of the strings to the soundboard within a fraction of a second. The soundboard takes these vibrations and reproduces them faithfully (in tune) over its entire surface, transmitting them to the large body of air surrounding its front and back surfaces. In this way, powerful sound waves are generated that travel immediately to the eardrum of the listener.
Iron Frame

Section of the Metal Frame
Picture Courtesy of Steinway & Sons
At around the end of the 18th century, various piano manufacturers tried to devise a way for the instrument to withstand the vast amount of tension generated by the stretched strings.
In 1825, Alpheus Babcock of Boston invented, developed, and patented the one-piece cast-iron frame, which allowed the frame to sustain the nearly 40,000 pounds of string tension and therefore let the piano produce a more powerful and sustained sound. It also allowed makers to use thicker strings, especially in the lower register of the piano. It further eliminated the need for the instrument to have a closed bottom, which until then had helped structural firmness. The 340-pound one-piece cast-iron frame was a major development in the history of the piano.
Pedals

The Pedals
The pedals are a crucial component of the piano. The function of the soft pedal is to reduce the amount and quality of the sound. When the soft pedal is depressed, the keyboard mechanism shifts sideways so that the hammers strike two instead of three strings with a softer part of the felt. On an upright piano, the soft pedal moves the hammers closer to the strings so they strike with less force, thereby producing less volume.
The sustain or damper pedal on the right shifts control of the sound duration from the hands to the feet by allowing the player to sustain the sound even though he or she might have let go of the keys. Depressing the sustain pedal on either a grand or upright piano lifts all the felt dampers above the strings, allowing them to vibrate freely until the pedal is released.
Correct application of the pedals, both from a technical and an artistic point of view, is a critical component of piano performance.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was one of the first composers to explore the vast sonic potential of the piano. His famous Moonlight Sonata (actually not a name given by Beethoven himself) makes use of the sustain pedal through the first movement.
A Short History of the Piano

Bartolomeo Cristofori
Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) of Florence, Italy is generally credited with the invention of the fortepiano (1709), which he called gravicembalo col piano e forte (meaning harpsichord with soft and loud). This invention was further developed by Gottfried Silbermann and Johann Andreas Stein in Germany, and just a few years later, by manufacturers such as Johannes Zumpe and John Broadwood in England.
Working in France, Sebastian Erard introduced several innovations to the piano mechanism in 1821 that made possible the playing of a key in quick repetition—and therefore some of the virtuoso effects commonly displayed in 19th-century piano music.
Virtuoso effects
Other interesting variations include the upright piano developed by John Isaac Hawkins in Philadelphia at the beginning of the 19th century, and more recently, the digital electronic piano, which combines computer, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), and advanced acoustic technologies.
For a detailed history of the piano, please visit the Virtual Piano Timeline at the Virtual Piano Museum.

The Organ
Introduction

The Organ at United Church of Christ
(Yokohama-Japan)

Picture Courtesy of N. P. Mander, Ltd.
English Organ Builders and Restorers
The organ is a keyboard instrument whose tone is produced by wind flowing through pipes. The organist produces sounds by pressing keys or pedals that are connected to pipes of different lengths and materials. Air passes through the pipes, producing a tone. This means that, unlike the harpsichord and the piano, the organ may sustain sounds as long as keys or pedals are depressed and air is passing through the pipes.
Pictured at right is a small church organ consisting of only one keyboard and pedals. The keyboard on an organ is called a manual. Notice the different lengths of the pipes and the two rows of stops (the white buttons located on either side of the manual), which control the flow of air to the different pipes.
As you know, the length of the pipe determines pitch. The pipes themselves may be made of wood or metal. Sometimes pure tin or copper alloy is used.
There are two types of pipes:
Reed pipes, which produce sound via a vibrating brass strip called a reed.
Flue pipes, which produce sound solely from the vibration of the air column;
The majority of the organ pipes are flue pipes. However, reed pipes supply tones of great variety and brilliance.
Organ Console

Console of the Organ at Princeton University Chapel
Picture Courtesy of N. P. Mander, Ltd.
English Organ Builders and Restorers
The organ has been called “the king of instruments.” The console that you see at right is indeed kingly. It consists of 4 manuals and 109 stops, which control 135 ranks. A rank is a complete set or row of pipes, one for each note of the organ keyboard. As opposed to the piano, which has only one keyboard, the organ may have as many as five keyboards (most have two or three) as well as a pedalboard that is played by the organist's feet.
Organists control timbre and volume level by adjusting levers, buttons, and stops, by moving from one keyboard to another, and by using the pedalboard. Volume is also a factor of wind pressure.
The organ is one of the most complex instruments, and it is certainly the oldest keyboard instrument. Ctesibius, an engineer from Alexandria, is credited with having invented the first organ around 250 BC. He called it the hydraulos, since water was used to control wind pressure.
Although throughout its long and distinguished history it has been mostly associated with church music, the organ has also been used as a solo and an orchestral instrument, as in the famous Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni.
Electronic and Digital Organ

Electronic Organ
Picture Courtesy of Yamaha
Electronic digital organs resemble the pipe organ but generate sound electronically. They have become very popular because their sound capabilities and construction improve as technology advances, even as their cost decreases and maintenance becomes simpler. The electronic organ has replaced the piano as the instrument of choice in many homes. Among other things, people enjoy the ability to add automatic rhythms and harmonies to their music. The electronic organ makes it possible, even for the most amateur musicians, to make music that is immediately satisfying.
Synthesizer
Picture Courtesy of Yamaha
Throughout history, people have experimented with many new types of instruments. Some lasted, many didn't. The synthesizer is, in the grand scheme of things, a very new instrument. So new, in fact, that manufacturers are still struggling with its development.
Let's look at some criteria by which all instruments are measured:
Versatility: an instrument must be versatile enough to be used under many different circumstances (musically speaking).
Identity: an instrument should have a clear sound persona or sound ideal, that is, the way we have come to expect that instrument to sound.
Development: In order to be musically expressive, an instrument must be fully developed in the way it is built and also in terms of instrumental technique (how it is played).
How does the synthesizer meet each of these criteria?
Developed Instruments Versus the Synthesizer
The following table illustrates the main differences between a highly developed musical instrument (for example, the piano or violin) and the synthesizer. Developed instrument Synthesizer
Highly developed playing technique. Great diversity / inconsistency of playing techniques.
Dependable relationship between performance gestures and the sound produced. Relationship between technique and sound varies considerably depending on how the synthesizer is programmed.
Standard shape and construction. May have any shape, size, or controller interface. Controllers range from traditional keyboards to such innovative devices as the Spatial MIDI Controller. Certainly history's least standardized instrument in physical appearance.
Characteristic sound (timbral palette) and sound ideal. Can make almost any sound.
Associated repertoire with all its cultural implications. Virtually no standard repertoire.
Shared terminology and teaching tradition. Terminology is confusing and inconsistent due to contradictory marketing practices of major manufacturers.
Well-established conventions of use in standard ensembles. Use in ensembles is only beginning to emerge.
Let's go back to the three criteria outlined at the beginning of this page. In terms of versatility, the synthesizer may be used in a variety different musical circumstances. However, when it comes to identity and development, the synthesizer falls short. There is no ideal sound that a synthesizer makes; moreover, there is no standard way to develop or play a synthesizer.
Electronic Generation of Sound

The synthesizer generates sounds electronically. As you know, to generate sound you need movement. Something has to vibrate. In the case of electronic instruments, this movement is the oscillation of electric current as it changes polarity from positive to negative. That is, it oscillates back and forth from positive to negative charges.
Movement generates waves, and the timbre and volume of the sound you hear will depend on the shape of the wave, which is also called a waveform.
It is difficult to explain this process without getting too technical, but let's give it a try. There are two basic ways of generating sounds electronically: by synthesis and by sampling. We are concerned mainly with synthesis, which refers to creating sounds electronically from previously-generated waveforms.
How are these waveforms generated? Think of it as a chain of events. The first link in the chain is, as with any other musical instrument, a sound source. In the synthesizer, this sound source is an oscillator. The next links in the chain provide ways of manipulating the sound. This is done using different types of filters. The final link in the synthesis process is to amplify the loudness of the synthesized sound. This is accomplished through an amplifier.