Rhythm machines=drum machines

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music. They are also a common necessity when session drummers are not available or desired.

Most modern drum machines are sequencers with a sample playback (rompler) or synthesizer component that specializes in the reproduction of drum timbres as well as the sound of other traditional percussion instruments. Though features vary from model to model, many modern drum machines can also produce unique sounds (though usually percussive in nature), and allow the user to compose unique drum beats.

Early drum machines were often referred to as "rhythm machines." In 1930–32, the spectacularly innovative and complex Rhythmicon was realized by Léon Theremin on the commission of composer-theorist Henry Cowell, who wanted an instrument with which to play compositions whose multiple rhythmic patterns, based on the overtone series, were far too difficult to perform on existing keyboard instruments.

Drum sound synthesis

GM Standard Drum Map

A key difference between such early machines and more modern equipment is that they used analog sound synthesis rather than digital sampling in order to generate their sounds. For example, a snare drum or maraca sound would typically be created using a burst of white noise whereas a bass drum sound would be made using sine waves or other basic waveforms. This meant that while the resulting sound was not very close to that of the real instrument, each model tended to have a unique character. For this reason, many of these early machines have achieved a certain "cult status" and are now sought after by producers for use in production of modern electronic music, most notably the Roland TR-808.[4]

Digital sampling

Linn LM-1 (1980)

The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer (released in 1980, and expensive at $4,999) was the first drum machine to use digital samples. Only 500 were ever made, but the list of those who owned them was impressive. Its distinctive sound almost defines 1980s pop, and it can be heard on hundreds of hit records from the era, including The Human League's Dare, Gary Numan's Dance, Devo's "New Traditionalists", and Ric Ocasek's Beatitude. Prince bought one of the very first LM-1s and used it on nearly all of his most popular recordings, including 1999 and Purple Rain.

Many of the drum sounds on the LM-1 were composed of two chips that were triggered at the same time, and each voice was individually tunable with individual outputs. Due to memory limitations, a crash cymbal sound was not available except as an expensive third-party modification. A cheaper version of the LM-1 was released in 1982 called the LM-2 (or simply LinnDrum). It cost around $3,000 and not all of its voices were tunable, making it less desirable than the original LM-1. The Linndrum included a crash cymbal sound as standard and, like its predecessor the LM-1, featured swappable sound chips. The Linndrum can be heard on records such as Men Without Hats' Rhythm of Youth and The Cars' Heartbeat City.

It was feared the LM-1 would put every session drummer in Los Angeles out of work and it caused many of L.A's top session drummers (Jeff Porcaro is one example) to purchase their own drum machines and learn to program them themselves in order to stay employed.

Oberheim DMX (1981) SCI drumtracks (1984)

Following the success of the LM-1, Oberheim introduced the DMX, which also featured digitally-sampled sounds and a "swing" feature similar to the one found on the Linn machines. It became very popular in its own right, becoming a staple of the nascent hip-hop scene.

Other manufacturers soon began to produce machines, e.g. the Sequential Circuits Drum-Traks and Tom, the E-mu Drumulator and the Yamaha RX11.

The 1986 SpecDrum by Cheetah Marketing made drum machines inexpensive by offering a drum machine for £30 when similar models cost around £250.[7]

[edit] Roland TR-808 and TR-909 machines

The famous Roland TR-808, an early programmable drum machine, was also launched in 1980. At the time it was received with little fanfare, as it did not have digitally sampled sounds; drum machines using digital samples were much more popular. In time, though, the TR-808, along with its successor, the TR-909 (released in 1984), would become a fixture of the burgeoning underground dance, techno and hip-hop genres, mainly because of its low cost (relative to that of the Linn machines) and the unique character of its analogue-generated sounds, which included five unique percussion sounds: “the hum kick, the ticky snare, the tishy hi-hats (open and closed) and the spacey cowbell.” It was first utilized by Yellow Magic Orchestra in the year of its release, after which it would gain further popularity with Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" and Afrikaa Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" in 1982.[4]

In a somewhat ironic twist it is the analogue-based Roland machines that have endured over time as the Linn sound became somewhat overused and dated by the end of the decade. The TR-808 and TR-909's beats have since been widely featured in pop music, and can be heard on countless recordings up to the present day.[4] Since the mid-1980s, it has been used on more hit records than any other drum machine,[8] and has thus attained an iconic status within the music industry.[4]

[edit] Programming

Programming can be done (depending on the machine) in real time: the user creates drum patterns by pressing the trigger pads as though a drum kit were being played; or using step-sequencing: the pattern is built up over time by adding individual sounds at certain points by placing them, as with the TR-808 and TR-909, along a 16-step bar. For example, a generic 4-on-the-floor dance pattern could be made by placing a closed high hat on the 3rd, 7th, 11th, and 15th steps, then a kick drum on the 1st, 5th, 9th, and 13th steps, and a clap on the 5th and 13th. This pattern could be varied in a multitude of ways to obtain fills, break-downs and other elements that the programmer sees fit, which in turn could be sequenced — essentially the drum machine plays back the programmed patterns from memory in an order the programmer has chosen. The machine will quantize entries that are slightly off-beat in order to make them exactly in time.

If the drum machine has MIDI connectivity, then one could program the drum machine with a computer or another MIDI device.

[edit] MIDI breakthrough

E-mu SP-1200 (1985)

Because these early drum machines came out before the introduction of MIDI in 1983, they used a variety of methods of having their rhythms synchronized to other electronic devices. Some used a method of synchronization called DIN-sync, or sync-24. Some of these machines also output analog CV/Gate voltages that could be used to synchronize or control analog synthesizers and other music equipment. The Oberheim DMX came with a feature allowing it to be synchronized to its proprietary Oberheim Parallel Buss interfacing system, developed prior to the introduction of MIDI.

Alesis HR-16B (1989) / HR-16 (1987)

By the year 2000, standalone drum machines became much less common, being partly supplanted by general-purpose hardware samplers controlled by sequencers (built-in or external), software-based sequencing and sampling and the use of loops, and music workstations with integrated sequencing and drum sounds. TR-808 and other digitized drum machine sounds can be found in archives on the Internet. However, traditional drum machines are still being made by companies such as Roland Corporation (under the name Boss), Zoom, Korg and Alesis, whose SR-16 drum machine has remained popular since it was introduced in 1991.

There are percussion-specific sound modules that can be triggered by pickups, trigger pads, or through MIDI. These are called drum modules; the Alesis D4 and Roland TD-8 are popular examples. Unless such a sound module also features a sequencer, it is, strictly speaking, not a drum machine.

Sampler (musical instrument)

A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings (or "samples") of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or compose music. Because these samples are now usually stored in digital memory the information can be quickly accessed. A single sample may often be pitch-shifted to produce musical scales and chords.

Often samplers offer filters, modulation via low frequency oscillation and other synthesizer-like processes that allow the original sound to be modified in many different ways. Most samplers have polyphonic capabilities - they are able to play more than one note at the same time. Many are also multitimbral - they can play back different sounds at the same time.

Prior to computer memory-based samplers, musicians used tape replay keyboards, which store recordings on analog tape. When a key is pressed the tape head contacts the tape and plays a sound. The Mellotron was the most notable model, used by a number of groups in the late 1960s and the 1970s, but such systems were expensive and heavy due to the multiple tape mechanisms involved, and the range of the instrument was limited to three octaves at the most. To change sounds a new set of tapes had to be installed in the instrument. The emergence of the digital sampler made sampling far more practical.

The first digital sampler was the EMS Musys system, developed by Peter Grogono (software), David Cockerell (hardware and interfacing) and Peter Zinovieff (system design and operation) at their London (Putney) Studio c. 1969. The system ran on two mini-computers, Digital Equipment’s PDP-8s. These had 12,000 (12k) bytes of read-only memory, backed up by a hard drive of 32k and by tape storage (DecTape). EMS equipment was used to control the world's first digital studio.

The first commercially available sampling synthesizer was the Computer Music Melodian by Harry Mendell (1976), while the first polyphonic digital sampling synthesiser was the Australian-produced Fairlight CMI, first available in 1979. The E-mu SP-1200 percussion sampler progressed Hip-Hop away from the drum machine sound upon its release in August 1987, ushering in the sample-based sound of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Akai pioneered many processing techniques, such as crossfade looping and "time stretch" to shorten or lengthen samples without affecting pitch and vice versa.

During the 1980s hybrid synthesizers began to utilize short samples (such as the attack phase of an instrument) along with digital synthesis to create more realistic imitations of instruments than had previously been possible. Examples are Korg M1, Korg O1/W and the later Korg Triton and Korg Trinity series, Yamaha's SY series and the Kawai K series of instruments. Limiting factors at the time were the cost of physical memory (RAM) and the limitations of external data storage devices, and this approach made best use of the tiny amount of memory available to the design engineers.

The modern-day music workstation usually uses sampling, whether simple playback or complex editing that matches all but the most advanced dedicated samplers, and also includes features such as a sequencer. Samplers, together with traditional Foley artists, are the mainstay of modern sound effects production. Using digital techniques various effects can be pitch-shifted and otherwise altered in ways that would have required many hours when done with tape.

Computer Music Melodian

Computer Music Inc. was started in New Jersey USA in 1972 by Harry Mendell and Dan Coren. The company was established to develop and market musical instruments based on computer software.

The Melodian was based on the Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-8 computer and hand wired D/A and A/D conversion and tracking anti-aliasing filters. The Melodian was first used by Stevie Wonder in the "Journey through the Secret Life of Plants" (1979). The Melodian was a monophonic synth with 12 bit A/D and sampling rates up to 22 kHz. It was designed to be compatible with analog synthesizers and had a feature where it would sync to the pitch of an analog synth, such as an Arp 2600. This means the Melodian captured all of the frequency

modulation effects, including the touch ribbon control. It also could trigger off the ARPs keyboard so it could almost be thought of as a hybrid sampler/analog synth, making best use of the technology that was available at the time.

Synclavier PSMT with VPK (1984) [1]

[edit] Synclavier

Main article: Synclavier

The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer and sampler, manufactured by New England Digital. First released in 1975, it proved to be highly influential among both music producers and electronic musicians, due to its versatility, its cutting-edge technology and distinctive sound. Synclavier Systems were expensive - the highest price ever paid for one was about $500,000, although average systems were closer to about $200,000 - $300,000. Although this made it inaccessible for most musicians, it found widespread use among producers and professional recording studios, and it competed in this market with other high-end production systems, such as the Fairlight CMI. Though scarce, the Synclavier remains in use in many studios to this day.

[edit] Fairlight Instruments

Fairlight CMI (1979)

Fairlight Series III (1985)

Main article: Fairlight CMI

Fairlight Instruments was started in Sydney Australia in 1975 by Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie. The company was originally established as a manufacturer and retailer of video special effects equipment.

The Fairlight CMI or Computer Music Instrument, released in (1979), started life as the QASAR M8. The M8 was handwired and legend has it that it took 2 hours to boot up. The CMI was the first commercially available digital sampling instrument. The original Fairlight CMI sampled using a resolution of 16 bits per sample at a rate of 24 kHz, and used two 8-bit Motorola 6800 processors (later upgraded to the more powerful 16/32-bit Motorola 68000).[2] It was equipped with two six-octave keyboards, an alphanumeric keyboard, and an interactive video display unit (VDU) where soundwaves could be edited or even drawn from scratch using a light pen. Software allowed for editing, looping, and mixing of sounds which could then be played back via the keyboard or the software-based sequencer. It retailed for around US$25,000.

Fairlight later released the Series IIx, which increased the sampling rate to 32 kHz[2] and was the first to feature basic MIDI functionality. In 1985, the Series III was released with two significant upgrades: bit rate and sampling rate were increased to CD quality (16 bit/44.1khz) and SMPTE time code was now supported. Notable users of the Fairlight CMI include Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, Trevor Horn, Art of Noise, Yello, Pet Shop Boys, Jean Michel Jarre,and Kate Bush.

[edit] E-mu Systems

Emulator II+ (1984)

E-mu SP-1200 (1987),

a successor　of SP-12 (1985)

Main articles: E-mu Systems, E-mu Emulator, and E-mu SP-1200

E-mu Emulator (1981) was E-mu Systems initial foray into sampling, and saved the company from financial disaster after the complete failure of the Audity due to a price tag of $70,000. The name 'Emulator' came as the result of leafing through a thesaurus and matched the name of the company perfectly. The Emulator came in 2-, 4-, and 8-note polyphonic versions, the 2-note being dropped due to limited interest, and featured a maximum sampling rate of 27.7 kHz, a four-octave keyboard and 128 kB of memory.

E-mu Emulator II (1984) was designed to bridge the gap between the Fairlight CMI and Synclavier and the Ensoniq Mirage. It featured 8 notes polyphony, 8-bit sampling, 512kb of RAM (1mb in the EII+ though only accessible as two independent 512kb banks), an 8-track sequencer, and analog filtering. With the addition of the hard disk option, the Emulator II was comparable to samplers released 5 years later.

E-mu Emulator III (1987) was a 16-bit stereo digital sampler with 16-note polyphony, 44.1 kHz maximum sample rate and had up to 8 MB of memory. It featured a 16 channel sequencer, SMPTE and a 40 MB hard disk.

E-mu SP-1200 was, and still is, one of the most highly regarded samplers for use in hip-hop related production. Its 12-bit sampling engine gave a desirable warmth to instruments and a gritty punch to drums. It featured 10 seconds of sample time spread across four 2.5-second sections.

E-mu Emax, sold between 1985 & 1995, and aimed at the lower end of the market.

E-mu ESI-32 (1994) was a stripped down, far cheaper, and simplified EIIIx, and could use the same samples. The unit could accommodate up to 32 MB RAM. 32 note polyphony and sounds could be routed internally to one of four polyphonic outputs. Via optional SCSI interface, the ESI-32 could access external CD-ROM, Zip-100, and hard drives.

[edit] Akai

Linn LM-1 (1980)

Akai MPC60 (1988)

Akai S612 (1985)

Akai S900 (1986)

Akai S1000 (1988)

Main articles: Akai, S900, S1000, Akai S3000XL, and Music Production Center

Akai entered the electronic musical instrument world in 1984 when Roger Linn, the creator of the Linn LM-1, the Linn 9000, and the Linn Drum partnered with the Japanese Akai Corporation to create samplers similar to the ones created at Linn's own company, Linn Electronics. With this came the first in a series of affordable samplers, the S612, a 12 bit digital sampler module. The S612 was superseded in 1986 by the S900.

The Akai S900 (1986) was the first truly affordable digital sampler. It was 8-note polyphonic and featured 12-bit sampling with a frequency range up to 40 kHz and up to 750 kB of memory that allowed for just under 12 seconds at the best sampling rate. It could store a maximum of 32 samples in memory. The operating system was software based and allowed for upgrades that had to be booted each time the sampler was switched on.

The Akai MPC60 Digital Sampler/Drum Machine and MIDI Sequencer (1988) was the first non-rack mounted model released. It is also the first time a sampler with touch sensitive trigger pads was produced by AKAI, giving birth to the popular MPC series of sampler sequencers.

The Akai S950 (1988) was an improved version of the S900, with a maximum sample frequency of 48 kHz and some of the editing features of the contemporary S1000.

The Akai S1000 (1988) was possibly the most popular 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo sampler of its time. It featured 16-voices, up to 32 MB of memory, and 24-bit internal processing, including a digital filter (18dB/octave), an LFO, and two ADSR envelope generators (for amplitude and filtering). The S1000 also offered up to 8 different loop points. Additional functions included Autolooping, Crossfade Looping, Loop in Release (which cycles through the loop as the sound decays), Loop Until Release (which cycles through the loop until the note begins its decay), Reverse and Time Stretch (version 1.3 and higher).

Other samplers released by AKAI include the S01, S20, S700, S2000, S2800, S3000, S3000XL, S5000, S6000, MPC500, MPC1000, MPC2000, MPC2000XL, MPC2500, MPC3000, MPC3000XL, MPC3000LE, MPC4000, MPC5000, Z4 and Z8.

[edit] Roland

Main article: Roland Corporation

Roland Corporation manufactured the S series. These were true samplers that provide all of the features described above, including sampling, sample editing, pitch transposition, and keyzone mapping:

Roland S-10

Roland S-50

Roland S-330

Roland S-550

Roland S-760

Roland S-770

More recently, Roland introduced the Groove Sampler concept. These devices are renowned for their ease of use, but a few lack the pitch transposition and keyzone mapping capabilities that most samplers have. Some have limits to rendering loops or sound effects samples that are played back at the same pitch they were recorded. Although these machines are equipped with a wide range of built-in effects, a few lack pitch transposition and keyzone mapping that diminishes their utility significantly. The Roland Groove Sampler line includes the following:

Roland DJ- 70mkII

Roland DJ- 70

Roland JS- 30

Roland MC- 909

Roland MC- 808

Roland MC- 09

Roland MS- 1

Roland MV- 8800

Roland MV- 8000

Roland SP- 808EX

Roland SP- 808

Roland SP- 606

Roland SP- 555

BOSS SP- 505

Roland SP- 404

Roland SP- 303

BOSS SP- 202

Roland W- 30

[edit] Other manufacturers

Ensoniq Mirage DSK (1985)

Korg DSS-1 (1986)

Yamaha TX16W (1988)

Kurzweil K-250 (1984)

Alesis Casio (no longer in production) Dynacord (no longer in production) Ensoniq Korg Kurzweil Native Instruments Rebis (no longer in production) Publison Sequential Circuits (no longer in production) Steinberg Tascam / NemeSys Waveframe Yamaha

Synthesizer

A synthesizer (often abbreviated "synth") is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones. Synthesizers can usually produce a wide range of sounds, which may either imitate other instruments ("imitative synthesis") or generate new timbres.

Synthesizers use a number of different technologies or programmed algorithms, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Among the most popular waveform synthesis techniques are subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis, wavetable synthesis, frequency modulation synthesis, phase distortion synthesis, physical modeling synthesis and sample-based synthesis. Other sound synthesis methods, like subharmonic synthesis or granular synthesis, are not found in music synthesizers.

Synthesizers are often controlled with a piano-style keyboard, leading such instruments to be referred to simply as "keyboards". Several other forms of controller have been devised to resemble violins, guitars (see guitar synthesizer) and wind-instruments. Synthesizers without controllers are often called "modules", and they can be controlled using MIDI or CV/Gate methods.

Control interfaces

Modern synthesizers often look like small pianos, though with many additional knob and button controls. These are integrated controllers, where the sound synthesis electronics are integrated into the same package as the controller. However many early synthesizers were modular and keyboardless, while most modern synthesizers may be controlled via MIDI, allowing other means of playing such as;

Fingerboards and touchpads Wind controllers Guitar-style interfaces Drum pads

Music sequencers Non-contact interfaces akin to theremins

[edit] Fingerboard controller

A ribbon controller or other violin-like user interface may be used to control synthesizer parameters. The ribbon controller has no moving parts. Instead, a finger pressed down and moved along it creates an electrical contact at some point along a pair of thin, flexible longitudinal strips whose electric potential varies from one end to the other. Older fingerboards used a long wire pressed to a resistive plate. A ribbon controller is similar to a touchpad, but a ribbon controller only registers linear motion. Although it may be used to operate any parameter that is affected by control voltages, a ribbon controller is most commonly associated with pitch bending.

Fingerboard-controlled instruments include the Hellertion, Heliophon, Trautonium, Electro-Theremin, Fingerboard-Theremin and The Persephone. A ribbon controller is used as an additional controller in the Yamaha CS-80 and CS-60, the Korg Prophecy and Korg Trinity series, the Kurzweil synthesizers, Moog synthesizers and others.

Rock musician Keith Emerson used it with the Moog modular synthesizer from 1970 onward. In the late 1980s, keyboards in the synth lab at Berklee College of Music were equipped with membrane thin ribbon style controllers that output MIDI. They functioned as MIDI managers, with their programming language printed on their surface, and as expression/performance tools. Designed by Jeff Tripp of Perfect Fretworks Co., they were known as Tripp Strips. Such ribbon controllers can serve as a main MIDI controller instead of a keyboard, as with the Continuum instrument.

[edit] Wind controllers

Wind controllers are convenient for woodwind or brass players or emulation, being designed along the lines of those instruments. These may be analog or MIDI controllers or may include built-in synthesizers. In addition to a key arrangement the controller has breath-operated pressure transducers, and may have gate extractors, velocity sensors and bite sensors. Saxophone style controllers have included the Lyricon, and products by Yamaha, Akai and Casio. The mouthpieces range from alto clarinet to alto saxophone sizes. Melodica or recorder style controllers have included the Variophon, Martinetta, Tubophon and Joseph Zawinul's custom Korg Pepe. A Harmonica style interfaces was the Millionizer.

Trumpet style controllers have included products by Steiner, Yamaha, Morrison and Akai. A breath controller may be used as an adjunct to a conventional synthesizer. The Steiner Master's Touch and products which interface to the Yamaha Breath Controller are examples.[25][26] Several controllers also provide breath-like articulation capabilities.

[edit] Others

The Ondes Martenot control touche d’intensité, Theremin, footpedal and lightbeam controllers are examples. Envelope following systems, the most sophisticated being the vocoder, follow the power or amplitude of an audio signial, rather than using pressure transducers. Various companies make accordion controllers that use pressure transducers on

bellows for articulation. More direct articulation using the vocal tract without breath is the Talk box.

[edit] MIDI control

Main article: Musical Instrument Digital Interface

Synthesizers became easier to integrate and synchronize with other electronic instruments and controllers with the introduction of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) in 1983.[27] First proposed in 1981 by engineer Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits, the MIDI standard was developed by a consortium now known as the MIDI Manufacturers Association.[28] MIDI is an opto-isolated serial interface and communication protocol.[28] It provides for the transmission from one device or instrument to another of real-time performance data. This data includes note events, commands for the selection of instrument presets (i.e. sounds, or programs or patches, previously stored in the instrument's memory), the control of performance-related parameters such as volume, effects levels and the like, as well as synchronization, transport control and other types of data. MIDI interfaces are now almost ubiquitous on music equipment and are commonly available on personal computers (PCs).[28]

The General MIDI (GM) software standard was devised in 1991 to serve as a consistent way of describing a set of over 200 tones (including percussion) available to a PC for playback of musical scores.[29] For the first time, a given MIDI preset would consistently produce an instrumental sound on any GM-conforming device. The Standard MIDI File (SMF) format (extension .mid) combined MIDI events with delta times - a form of time-stamping - and became a popular standard for exchange of music scores between computers. In the case of SMF playback using integrated synthesizers (as in computers and cell phones), the hardware component of the MIDI interface design is often unneeded.

Open Sound Control (OSC) is another music data specification designed for online networking. In contrast with MIDI, OSC allows thousands of synthesizers or computers to share music performance data over the Internet in realtime.

[edit] Arpeggiator

An arpeggiator is a feature available on some synthesizers that automatically steps through a sequence of notes based on an input chord, thus creating an arpeggio. The notes can often be transmitted to a MIDI sequencer for recording and further editing. An arpeggiator may have controls to manipulate the order and speed in which the notes play; upwards, downwards, or in a random order. More advanced arpeggiators allow the user to step through a complex sequence of notes or play several arpeggios at once. Some allow a pattern to be sustained even if the keys are released: in this way an arpeggiated pattern may be built up over time by pressing several keys one after the other. Arpeggiators are also commonly found in sequencing software. Some sequencers expand this into a full phrase sequencer, which allows the user to trigger complex, multi-track blocks of sequenced data from a keyboard or input device, typically synchronised with the tempo of the master clock.

Arpeggiators grew from hardware sequencers of the late 1960s and 1970s, such as the 16-step ARP Sequencer, and the sequencers of modular synthesizers and were commonly fitted to keyboard instruments through the late 1970s and early 1980s. Notable examples are the Roland Jupiter 8, Oberheim OB-Xa, Roland SH-101, Sequential Circuits Six-Trak and Korg

Polysix. A famous example can be heard on Duran Duran's song "Rio", in which the arpeggiator on a Roland Jupiter-4 is heard playing a C minor chord in random mode. They fell out of favour by the latter part of the 1980s and early 1990s and were absent from the most popular synthesizers of the period but a resurgence of interest in analog synthesizers during the 1990s, and the use of rapid-fire arpeggios in several popular dance hits, brought with it a resurgence.

[edit] Imitative synthesis

Sound synthesis can be used to mimic acoustic sound sources. Generally, a sound that does not change over time will include a fundamental partial or harmonic, and any number of partials. Synthesis may attempt to mimic the amplitude and pitch of the partials in an acoustic sound source.

When natural sounds are analyzed in the frequency domain (as on a spectrum analyzer), the spectra of their sounds will exhibit amplitude spikes at each of the fundamental tone's harmonics corresponding to resonant properties of the instruments (spectral peaks that are also referred to as formants). Some harmonics may have higher amplitudes than others. The specific set of harmonic-vs-amplitude pairs is known as a sound's harmonic content. A synthesized sound requires accurate reproduction of the original sound in both the frequency domain and the time domain. A sound does not necessarily have the same harmonic content throughout the duration of the sound. Typically, high-frequency harmonics will die out more quickly than the lower harmonics.

In most conventional synthesizers, for purposes of re-synthesis, recordings of real instruments are composed of several components representing the acoustic responses of different parts of the instrument, the sounds produced by the instrument during different parts of a performance, or the behavior of the instrument under different playing conditions (pitch, intensity of playing, fingering, etc.)

[edit] Patch

A synthesizer patch (some manufacturers chose the term program) is a sound setting. Modular synthesizers used cables ("patch cords") to connect the different sound modules together. Since these machines had no memory to save settings, musicians wrote down the locations of the patch cables and knob positions on a "patch sheet" (which usually showed a diagram of the synthesizer). Ever since, an overall sound setting for any type of synthesizer has been known as a patch.

By 1978, patch memory (allowing storage and loading of 'patches' or 'programs') began to appear in synths like the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5. After MIDI was introduced in 1983, more and more synthesizers could import or export patches via MIDI SYSEX commands. When a synthesizer patch is uploaded to a personal computer which has patch editing software installed, the user can alter the parameters of the patch and download it back to the synthesizer. Because there can be no standard patch language it is rare that a patch generated on one synthesizer can be used on a different model. However sometimes manufacturers will design a family of synthesizers to be compatible.

[edit] Synth pad

A synth pad is a sustained chord or tone generated by a synthesizer, often employed for background harmony and atmosphere in much the same fashion that a string section is often used in acoustic music. Typically, a synth pad plays many whole or half notes, sometimes holding the same note while a lead voice sings or plays an entire musical phrase. Often, the sounds used for synth pads have a vaguely organ, string, or vocal timbre. Much popular music in the 1980s employed synth pads, this being the time of polyphonic synthesizers, as did the then-new styles of smooth jazz and New Age music. One of many well-known songs from the era to incorporate a synth pad is "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys, who were noted users of the technique.

The main feature of a synth pad is very long attack and decay time with extended sustains. In some instances pulse-width modulation (PWM) using a square wave oscillator can be added to create a "vibrating" sound.

[edit] Synth lead

A synth lead is generally used for playing the main melody of a song, but it is also often used for creating rhythmic or bass effects. Although most commonly heard in electronic dance music, synth leads have been used extensively in hip-hop and rock songs since the 1980s. Most modern music relies heavily on the synth lead to provide a musical hook to sustain the listener's interest throughout an entire song. Heavy use of synth lead is used by artists such as Lil Jon in Snap Yo Fingas and Usher in "Yeah!" as representative of the Crunk music genre.

[edit] Bass synthesizer

A 1970s-era Moog Taurus synth

The bass synthesizer (or "bass synth") is used to create sounds in the bass range, from simulations of the electric bass or double bass to distorted, buzz-saw-like artificial bass sounds, by generating and combining signals of different frequencies. Bass synth patches may incorporate a range of sounds and tones, including wavetable-style, analog, and FM-style bass sounds, delay effects, distortion effects, envelope filters. A modern digital synthesizer uses a frequency synthesizer microprocessor component to generate signals of different frequencies. While most bass synths are controlled by electronic keyboards or pedalboards, some performers use an electric bass with MIDI pickups to trigger a bass synthesizer.

An example of a classic analog bass synthesizer sound. Four sawtooth bass filter sweeps with gradually increasing resonance.

In the 1970s miniaturized solid-state components allowed self-contained, portable instruments such as the Moog Taurus, a 13-note pedal keyboard which was played by the feet. The Moog Taurus was used in live performances by a range of pop, rock, and blues-rock bands. An early use of bass synthesizer was in 1972, on a solo album by John Entwistle (the bassist for The Who), entitled Whistle Rymes. Stevie Wonder introduced synth bass to a wider audience in the early 1970s, notably on Superstition (1972) and Boogie On Reggae Woman (1974). In 1977 Parliament's funk single Flashlight used the bass synthesizer. Lou Reed, widely considered a pioneer of electric guitar textures, played bass synthesizer on "Families", from his 1979 album The Bells.

When the programmable music sequencer became widely available in the 1980s (e.g., the synclavier), bass synths were used to create highly syncopated rhythms and complex, rapid basslines. Bass synth patches incorporate a range of sounds and tones, including wavetable-style, analog, and FM-style bass sounds, delay effects, distortion effects, envelope filters. A particularly influential bass synthesizer was the Roland TB-303, featuring a built-in sequencer and released in late 1981, and which would later become synonymous with acid house music. One of the first to utilize it was Charanjit Singh in 1982, though it wouldn't be popularized until Phuture's "Acid Tracks" in 1987.[30]

In the 2000s, several companies such as Boss and Akai produced bass synthesizer effect pedals for electric bass players, which simulate the sound of an analog or digital bass synth. With these devices, a bass guitar is used to generate synth bass sounds. The BOSS SYB-3 was one of the early bass synthesizer pedals. The SYB-3 reproduces sounds of analog synthesizers with Digital Signal Processing saw, square, and pulse synth waves and user-adjustable filter cutoff. The Akai bass synth pedal contains a four-oscillator synthesizer with user selectable parameters (attack, decay, envelope depth, dynamics, cutoff, resonance). Bass synthesizer software allows performers to use MIDI to integrate the bass sounds with other synthesizers or drum machines. Bass synthesizers often provide samples from vintage 1970s and 1980s bass synths. Some bass synths are built into an organ style pedalboard or button board.

MIDI keyboardFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A close up of one style of MIDI keyboard based on the piano user interface

A MIDI keyboard is typically a piano-style user interface keyboard device used for sending (MIDI) signals or commands over a USB or MIDI cable to other devices connected and operating on the same MIDI protocol interface. This could also be a personal computer running software such as a digital audio workstation (DAW) that listens to and sends MIDI information to other MIDI devices connected by cable or running internal to the personal computer system. The basic MIDI keyboard does not produce sound. Instead, MIDI information is sent to an electronic module capable of reproducing an array of digital sounds or samples that resemble traditional analog musical instruments. These samples or waveforms are also referred to as voices or timbres.

Not all MIDI keyboards are based on the piano style user interface. Many MIDI keyboard controllers have pads or buttons that also send MIDI signals, and most pads have a velocity sensing capability so that varying volumes of sound can be played/voiced. Another such keyboard device is the Continuum Fingerboard which is based on a "fretless" type keyboard interface enabling portamento style note changes at will during play.

An illustration of the Continuum Fingerboard.

Another MIDI keyboard implementation is the Tonal Plexus keyboard that provides for up to 1266 different tonal pitches possible in the TPX6 1266 Keys (Microtonal MIDI Controller). There are numerous other MIDI controllers that are also not based on the piano style user interface, but on newer interfaces with broader application possible because of computer technology.

In the MIDI protocol used in each of these midi controllers, an encoding scheme is used to map a MIDI value to a specific instrument sample. Also, other sound parameters such as note volume (velocity), aftertouch, pitch bend and modulation controls are also included in the

MIDI protocol scheme. The keyboard merely acts as a MIDI controller of sound modules and other MIDI devices, including activating sounds by MIDI control within DAW software.

MIDI keyboards are a very common feature of a recording studio, and any DAW setup. Most include a transpose function and the ability to set different octaves. Many MIDI keyboards have pitch bend and modulation wheels. Some also have extra sets of assignable rotary knobs and/or buttons for sending custom MIDI messages to the synthesiser, sampler or DAW software. Devices with extra features (also including rhythm input, instrument selection, transport control) are sometimes called keyboard controllers.

Other features that some MIDI keyboards might include are:

Input for foot switch (usually used as a sustain pedal) Input for a foot expression controller Semi-weighted or fully weighted keys Capability of sending aftertouch Direct USB connection for use with computers

MIDI keyboards come in a range of sizes, from 25 keys (two octaves) to full 88-key length. MIDI keyboards with fewer than 61 keys tend not to have weighted keys.

ClavinetFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clavinet

Keyboard instrument

Other names Clav, Clavi

Classification Keyboard Chordophone Electric piano

Playing range

F1 – E6

Related instruments

Cembalet, Pianet, Duo, Clavichord

Builders

Hohner

A Clavinet is an electrophonic keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.

Various models were produced over the years, including the models I, II, L, C, D6, and E7. Most models consist of 60 keys and 60 associated strings, giving it a five-octave range from F1 to E6.

Each key uses a small rubber tip to perform a "hammer on" (forcefully fret the string) to a guitar-type string when it is pressed, as with a conventional clavichord. The end of each string farthest from the pickups passes through a weave of yarn. When the key is released, the yarn makes the string immediately stop vibrating. This mechanism is completely different from the other Hohner keyboard products, the Cembalet and Pianet, which use the principle of plectra or sticky pads plucking metal reeds.

Most Clavinets have two sets of pickups, which are positioned above and below the strings. The Clavinet has pickup selector switches, and a guitar-level output which can be patched to a guitar amp. Early Clavinet models featured single-coil pickups; the D6 introduced a six-core pickup design.

Originally the instrument was designed for home use and aimed at playing early European classical and folk music. The Clavinet L, introduced in 1968 was a domestic model and featured a wood-veneered triangular body with wooden legs, reverse-colour keys and an acrylic glass music stand. The final E7 model saw the culmination of several engineering improvements to make the instrument more suitable for use in live amplified rock music, where its use had become commonplace. By 1982 however, the Hohner corporation had ceased production of the Clavinet. The "Clavinet DP" name was applied by Hohner to a range of Japanese-made digital pianos during the late 1980s. These instruments were designed for the home market and made no attempt to emulate any characteristics of the true Clavinet. In 2000 Hohner disassociated themselves from the Clavinet completely by unloading their spare parts inventory to restoration website Clavinet.com.

KeytarFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2010)

A keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard (with or without a built-in synthesizer) that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands. The instrument has a musical keyboard for triggering musical notes and sounds. Controls for pitch bends, vibrato, portamento, and sustain are placed on the instrument's "neck". The term "keytar" is a portmanteau of the words "keyboard" and "guitar". Keytars may either contain their own synthesis engines, or simply be controllers, triggering notes on another MIDI capable synthesizer.

Korg RK-100 (1984) MIDI remote contoller

Hammond organFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A close-up of the Hammond L-100 organ, with the drawbars in the foreground

The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard instrument for jazz, blues, rock music, church and gospel music.

The original Hammond organ used additive synthesis of waveforms from harmonic series made by mechanical tonewheels that rotate in front of electromagnetic pickups. The component waveform ratios are mixed by sliding drawbars mounted above the two keyboards. Although many different models of Hammond organs were produced, the Hammond B-3 organ is most well-known. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s the

distinctive sound of the B-3 organ (often played through a Leslie speaker) was widely used in Blues, progressive rock bands and blues-rock groups. The last electromechanical Hammond organ came off the assembly line in the mid-1970s.

In the 1980s and 1990s, musicians began using electronic and digital devices to imitate the sound of the Hammond, because the vintage Hammond organ is heavy and hard to transport. By the 1990s and 2000s digital signal processing and sampling technologies allowed for better imitation of the original Hammond sound.[citation needed]

History

Hammond B3 organ, and Leslie speaker cabinet.

In 1897 Thaddeus Cahill patented an instrument called the Telharmonium (or Teleharmonium, also known as the Dynamaphone). Using tonewheels to generate musical sounds as electrical signals by additive synthesis, it was capable of producing any combination of notes and overtones, at any dynamic level. This technology was later used to design the Hammond organ.

About 30 years later American engineer and inventor Laurens Hammond filed U.S. Patent 1,956,350[1] for a new type of "electrical musical instrument" that could recreate a pipe organ-type sound. He got the idea for the tonewheel by listening to the moving gears of his electric clocks and the tones produced by them. He understood the fact that every instrument sounds the way it does because of its many harmonic overtones and their varied intensities. The invention was unveiled to the public in April 1935 and the first model, the Model A, was made available in June of that year. The organ was first used for popular music by Milt Herth, who played it live on WIND (AM) soon after it was invented.[2][3] Radio shows of the 1930s and 40s used the Hammond for not only mood music but more significantly, for sound effects. For example, if you wanted a clock chime, you would set the drawbars at 010010603.[citation needed] The Hammond organ was widely used in United States military chapels and post theaters during the Second World War, and returning soldiers' familiarity with the instrument may have helped contribute to its popularity in the post-war period.[4]

Hammond had intended his invention to be an affordable substitute for pipe organs, as a replacement for the piano in middle-class homes, and as an instrument for radio broadcasting. However, by the 1950s, jazz musicians such as Jimmy Smith began to use the organ's distinctive sound. By the 1960s, the Hammond became popular with pop groups and was used on the British pirate station Radio 390. In Britain the organ became associated with elevator music and ice rinks music. However, the overdriven sound of the Hammond gained a new image when it became part of 1960s and 1970s rock with artists like Alan Price, Gregg

Allman, Steve Winwood, Rick Wright, Keith Emerson, Jon Lord, Matthew Fisher, Rick Wakeman and 1990s acid rock artists such as The Brand New Heavies, Jack McDuff and Tony Monaco.[citation needed]

Originally located at 4200 West Diversey Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, Hammond is now owned by Suzuki Musical Inst. Mfg. Co., Ltd., and distributed by Hammond Suzuki Co., Ltd. Today, Hammond builds electronic organs that closely replicate the tonewheel organ sound using current technology.

Jammer keyboardFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A jammer made from two Axis-49s, one sub-keyboard for each hand. Note the mirror-imaged key layout; this allows a fingering learned by one hand to be picked up quickly by the other.

A jammer is a new musical instrument characterized by

1. at least one isomorphic keyboard, and2. thumb-operated and/or motion-sensing expressive controls.

The instrument is designed to be fast to learn to play, very fast to play and very expressive.

Research suggests that the combination of thumb-controls and internal motion sensors could give jammers more expressive potential than other polyphonic musical instruments such as the piano, guitar, and accordion.[1] Isomorphic keyboards similar to those used in a jammer have been shown to accelerate the rate at which students grasp otherwise-abstract concepts in music theory.[2][3]

Pipe organFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about organs that produce sound by driving wind through pipes. For an overview of related instruments, see Organ (music).

The pipe organ in Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, Paris [1]

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called wind) through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass. Most organs have multiple ranks of pipes of differing timbre, pitch and loudness that the player can employ singly or in combination through the use of controls called stops.

A pipe organ has one or more keyboards (called manuals) played by the hands, and a pedalboard played by the feet, each of which has its own group of stops. The organ's continuous supply of wind allows it to sustain notes for as long as the corresponding keys are depressed, unlike the piano and harpsichord, the sounds of which begin to decay the longer the keys are held. The smallest portable pipe organs may have only one or two dozen pipes and one manual; the largest may have over 20,000 pipes and seven manuals.[2]

The origins of the pipe organ can be traced back to the hydraulis in Ancient Greece in the 3rd century BC,[3] in which the wind supply was created with water pressure. By the sixth or 7th century AD, bellows were used to supply organs with wind.[3] Beginning in the 12th century, the organ began to evolve into a complex instrument capable of producing different timbres. By the 17th century, most of the sounds available on the modern classical organ had been developed.[4] From that time, the pipe organ was the most complex man-made device,[5] a distinction it retained until it was displaced by the telephone exchange in the late 19th century.[6]

Pipe organs are installed in churches, synagogues, concert halls, and other public buildings and are used for the performance of classical music, sacred music, and secular music. In the early 20th century, pipe organs were installed in theaters to accompany films during the silent movie era, in municipal auditoria, where orchestral transcriptions were popular, and in the homes of the wealthy, equipped with player mechanisms.[7] The beginning of the 21st century has seen a resurgence in installations in concert halls. The organ boasts a substantial repertoire, which spans over 400 years.[8]

AccordionFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Accordion (disambiguation).

Accordion

A piano accordion (top) and a Russian bayan (bottom)

Keyboard instrument

Other names

Danish (free-bass): Accordeon. Danish (standard-bass), Hungarian & Icelandic: Harmonika French:Accordéon German:Akkordeon Greek:Ακορντεον Italian:Fisarmonica Norwegian:Trekkspill Polish:Akordeon, harmonia Russian:Bajan

Swedish:Dragspel[1]

Hornbostel-Sachs classification

412.132(Free-reed aerophone)

Developed Early 19th century

Playing range

Depends on configuration: Right-hand manual

Chromatic button accordion Diatonic button accordion Piano accordion

Left-hand manual

Stradella bass system Free-bass system

Related instruments

Hand-pumped: Bandoneón, Concertina, Flutina, Garmon, Trikitixa, Indian harmonium

Foot-pumped: Harmonium, Reed organ

Mouth-blown: Melodica, Harmonica, Laotian Khene, Chinese Shêng, Japanese Shō

Electronic reedless instruments: Electronium, MIDI accordion, Roland Virtual Accordion

Combination acoustic/electronic instruments:

Cordavox, Duovox

Musicians

Accordionists (list of accordionists).

More articles

Accordion, Chromatic button accordion, Bayan, Diatonic button accordion, Piano accordion, Stradella bass system, Free-bass system, Accordion reed ranks & switches

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist.

It is played by compressing or expanding a bellows whilst pressing buttons or keys, causing valves, called pallets, to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or steel, called reeds, that vibrate to produce sound inside the body.[notes 1]

The instrument is sometimes considered a one-man-band as it needs no accompanying instrument. The performer normally plays the melody on buttons or keys on the right-hand manual, and the accompaniment, consisting of bass and pre-set chord buttons, on the left-hand manual.

The accordion is often used in folk music in Europe, North America and South America. It is commonly associated with busking. Some popular music acts also make use of the instrument. Additionally, the accordion is sometimes used in both solo and orchestra performances of classical music.

The oldest name for this group of instruments is actually harmonika, from the Greek harmonikos, meaning harmonic, musical. Today, native versions of the name accordion are more common. These names are a reference to the type of accordion patented by Cyrill Demian, which concerned "automatically coupled chords on the bass side".[2]

Octapad is a range of MIDI percussion controllers

larger memory that could store up to 64 different patches. Another 64 patches could be stored onto a Roland M-256E memory card.[2] Further improvements to the MIDI specification included the control of modulation, pitch bend and aftertouch using a foot pedal.[3] The Pad-80 had a patch chain function that allowed a series of 32 patches to be arranged in any sequence, eight of these chains could be stored in memory.[

Bandoneon ( A type of Concertina )

Classification

Wind Free reed Aerophone Developed Germany mid 1800s Related instruments Chemnitzer concertina, Concertina,

harmonica, melodeon, reed organ, Yu Musicians

Ástor Piazzolla Aníbal Troilo

The bandoneón is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It plays an essential role in the orquesta típica, the tango orchestra. The bandoneón, called bandonion by a German instrument dealer, Heinrich Band (1821–1860), was originally intended as an instrument for religious music and the popular music of the day, in contrast to its predecessor, the German concertina (or Konzertina), considered to be a folk instrument by some modern authors. German sailors and Italian seasonal workers and emigrants brought the instrument with them to Argentina in the late 19th century, where it was incorporated into the local music, such as tango.

How the instrument is played

Like concertinas, the bandoneón is played by holding the instrument between both hands and either pushing in or pulling out the instrument while simultaneously pressing one or more buttons with the fingers. It is considered part of the concertina family of instruments rather than the accordion family, although both are free reed instruments. In the concertina family the direction of button movement is parallel with the direction of bellows movement, whereas in the accordion family the direction of button or key movement is perpendicular to the bellows movement.

Unlike the piano accordion, the bandoneón does not have keys as per a piano, but has buttons on both sides. Additionally the notes produced on push and pull are different (bisonoric). This means that each keyboard has actually two layouts: one for the opening notes, and one for the closing notes. Since the right and left hand layouts are also different, this adds up to four different keyboard layouts that must be learned in order to play the instrument. However, there is the advantage that the notes tend to progress from the bass clef on the left hand to above the treble clef on the right. To make matters even more confusing, there are bandoneóns that are monosonoric (same note on push and pull). These variants are more compatible with a chromatic tuning structure.

None of these keyboard layouts is structured to facilitate playing scale passages of notes. Instead the structure is designed to aid the playing of chords, which makes sense when one considers the origin of the instrument and its intended purpose. For a beginning player, certain runs and musical forms can be difficult, but to an experienced player they come quite naturally.

With its arrival in Argentina around 1870, the bandoneón was adopted by those wishing to incorporate it into the Milonga music of that time (which requires a very fast player indeed). What sprang from that is Tango.

[edit] Famous musicians

The Argentinian composer and tango performer Ástor Piazzolla was the leading proponent of the bandoneón in the 20th century. His "Fugata" from 1969 showcases the instrument which plays the initial fugue subject on the 1st statement, then moves on to the outright tango played after the introduction. Piazzolla combined a musical architecture very much derived from classical music (which he had studied intensively in his formative years) with traditional instrumental tango, and with his solos and accompaniment on the bandoneón.

List of some bandoneonists:

Alejandro Barletta Alexander Mitenev Aníbal Troilo (1914–1975) Tránsito Cocomarola Ástor Piazzolla (1921–1992) Carel Kraayenhof Bruno Mendoza Carlittos Magallanes Claudio Constantini David Alsina David Tudor Dino Saluzzi Edgardo Pedroza Eduardo Arolas (1892–1924) Gabriel Merlino Gabriel Rivano Isaco Abitbol John Spiers Miguel Caló Osvaldo Barrios Pauline Oliveros Pedro Laurenz (1902–1972) Pedro Maffia (1899–1967) Rene Marino Rivero (?-2010) Ricardo Souza Melo Rodolfo Mederos Rubén Juárez Ryōta Komatsu Tolga Salman

modern bandoneón:

Carillon ( bells controlled by keyboard )

a musical instrument that is usually housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord. A carillon is played by striking a keyboard the keys of which are sometimes called "batons" with the fists and by pressing the keys of a pedal keyboard with the feet. The keys mechanically activate levers and wires that connect to metal clappers that strike the bells, allowing the performer, the carillonneur, to vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key.

The carillon is the heaviest of all extant musical instruments;[1] the total weight of bells alone can be 100 tons in the largest instruments. The greatest concentration of carillons is still found in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Northern France, where they were symbols of civic pride and status. Some of the most spectacular are now protected by UNESCO as part of the world heritage site the Belfries of Belgium and France.

History

In medieval times, bells were first used as a way of notifying people of fires, storms, wars and other events. The great bell Rowland announced births, deaths, fires, and military attacks. A ringing of bells rung from the lowest note to the highest note indicated that an attack had taken place. The use of bells in a musical fashion originated in the 14th century in the Low Countries.

In the 17th century, François and Pieter Hemony developed the art of bell-founding, designing, and tuning, which they passed on to Antwerp bellfounder Melchior de Haze. In the 18th century, several members of the Van den Gheyn bellfounders dynasty also mastered the skill of bell tuning, such as Andreas Joseph Van den Gheyn. Unfortunately his techniques also died with him. It was not until the 19th century in England under the John Taylor Bellfounders at Loughborough, England, that bell tuning was re-invented.

The greatest concentration of carillons is still found in the Netherlands, Belgium, and in the north of France, where they were mounted in the grand towers of rich cities as tokens of civic pride and status. Carillons were usually housed in church towers, belfries, or in municipal buildings. In Germany, a carillon is also called a Glockenspiel.

Musical characteristics

The 56-bell carillon at the Plummer Building

Since each separate note is produced by an individual bell, a carillon's musical range is determined by the number of bells it has. Different names are assigned to instruments based on the number of bells they comprise:

Carillons with 23 through 27 bells are referred to as two-octave carillons. Players of these instruments often use music arranged specifically for their limited range of notes.

The "keyboard" of a carillon is called a baton console. A concert carillon has a range of at least four octaves (47 bells). This is sometimes referred to

as the "standard-sized" carillon.

The Riverside Carillon in New York City has (or did have—there may be other instruments with larger bourdons) the largest tuned bell in the world, which sounds the C two octaves below middle C on the piano.

Travelling or mobile carillons are not placed in a tower, but can be transported. Some of them can even be played indoor—in a concert hall or church—like the mobile carillon of Frank Steijns.[2]

Modern imitation instruments (such as those made by Schulmerich) use semantra (rectangular metal bars roughly the diameter of a pencil, but of varying lengths) struck by an electric solenoid. They may be played from a keyboard, organ console, or by means of music rolls. The resulting sound is electronically amplified and broadcast by loudspeakers. Although called "carillons" or "electronic carillons", their sound does not conform to the definitions given by the World Carillon Federation[3] or the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.[4] The GCNA as of 2000 has disqualified all instruments in which more than 12 bells are played electrically. Twelve bells are allowed so that automatic chiming of tunes may take place. Chiming means that one bell at a time is usually played.

The carillonneur or carillonist is the title of the musician who plays the carillon. The carillonneur/carillonist usually sits in a cabin beneath the bells and presses down, with a loosely closed fist, on a series of baton-like keys arranged in the same pattern as a piano keyboard. The batons are almost never played with the fingers as one does a piano, though this is sometimes used as a special carillon playing technique. The keys activate levers and wires that connect directly to the bells' clappers; thus, as with a piano, the carillonneur can vary the intensity of the note according to the force applied to the key. In addition to the manual keys, the heavier bells are also played with a pedal keyboard. These notes can either be played with the hands or the feet.

To a musician's ear, a carillon can sound "out of tune." Poorly tuned bells often give this impression and also can be out of tune with themselves. This is due to the unusual harmonic characteristics of foundry bells, which have strong overtones above and below the fundamental frequency. Foundry bells are tuned to have the following set of partials (overtones):

Octave above prime Fifth Minor third Prime and strike tone resultant

Hum tone (an octave below prime)

Additionally, there is a major 10th, 12th, and 15th which are not typically individually tuned, but are usually present anyway. They all combine to create a "resultant" pitch, which is in unison with prime on a well-tuned bell. Properly tuned bells emphasize the fundamental frequency of the bell.

[edit] Music

Carillonneur playing Oh Shenandoah.

There is no standard pitch range for the carillon. In general, a concert carillon will have a minimum of forty-eight bells. The range of any given instrument usually depends on funds available for the fabrication and installation of the instrument: more money allows more bells to be cast, especially the larger, more costly ones. Older carillons can be transposing instruments, generally transposing upward. Most modern instruments sound at concert pitch. A carillon clavier has both a manual and a pedal keyboard.

Carillon music is typically written on two staves. Notes written in the bass clef are generally played by the feet. Notes written in the treble clef are played with the hands. Pedals range from the lowest note (the bourdon) and may continue up to two and half octaves. In the North American Standard keyboard, all notes can be played on the manual.

Because of the acoustic peculiarities of a carillon bell (the prominence of the minor third, and the lack of damping of sound), music written for other instruments needs to be arranged specifically for the carillon.

The combination of carillon and other instruments, while possible, is generally not a happy marriage. The carillon is generally far too loud to perform with most other concert instruments. The great exceptions to this are some late twentieth- and early twenty-first century compositions involving electronic media and carillon. In these compositions, sound amplification is able to match the extreme dynamic range of the carillon and, in the case of sensitive composers, even the most delicate effects are possible.

Recording the carillon is notoriously difficult. The extreme amount of sound waves that are generated and the layout of a carillon present problems not found in normal recording

situations. PZM microphones can handle the enormous waves of sound, but it isn't possible to decide on the location of the microphones without experimentation.

[edit] Composers for carillon

George Crumb Margriet Ehlen Hans Kockelmans Vincent Persichetti Olesya Rostovskaya Roman Turovsky-Savchuk Merlijn Twaalfhoven [5] [6]

Celesta

The celesta (  / s ɨ ̍ l ɛ s t ə / ) or celeste (  / s ɨ ̍ l ɛ s t / ) is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano (four- or five-octave) or of a large wooden music box (three-octave). The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates suspended over wooden resonators. On four or five octave models one pedal is usually available to sustain or dampen the sound. The three-octave instruments do not have a pedal because of their small "table-top" design. One of the best-known works that makes use of the celesta is Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from The Nutcracker.

The sound of the celesta is similar to that of the glockenspiel, but with a much softer and more subtle timbre. This quality gave the instrument its name, celeste meaning "heavenly" in French.

The celesta is a transposing instrument; it sounds an octave higher than the written pitch. The original French instrument had a five-octave range, but because the lowest octave was considered somewhat unsatisfactory, it was omitted from later models. The standard French four-octave instrument is now gradually being replaced in symphony orchestras by a larger, five-octave German model. Although it is a member of the percussion family, in orchestral terms it is more properly considered as a member of the keyboard section and usually played by a keyboardist. The celesta part is normally written on two bracketed staves, called a grand staff.

History

The celesta was invented in 1886 by Parisian harmonium builder Auguste Mustel. His father, Victor Mustel, had developed the forerunner of the celesta, the typophone or the dulcitone, in 1860. This consisted of struck tuning forks instead of metal plates, but the sound produced was considered too small to be of use in an orchestral situation.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky is usually cited as the first major composer to use this instrument in a work for full symphony orchestra. He first used it in his symphonic poem The Voyevoda, Op. posth. 78, premiered in November 1891.[1] The following year, he used the celesta in passages in his ballet The Nutcracker (Op. 71, 1892), most notably in the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", which also appears in the derived Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a. However, Ernest Chausson preceded Tchaikovsky by employing the celesta in December 1888 in his incidental music, written for a small orchestra, for La tempête (a French translation by Maurice Bouchor of Shakespeare's The Tempest).[2] The celesta is also notably used in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6, particularly in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th movements. Gustav Holst employed the instrument in his 1918 orchestral work The Planets, particularly in the final movement, "Neptune, the Mystic". It also features prominently in Béla Bartók's 1936 Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. George Gershwin included a celesta solo in the score to An American in Paris.

The celesta is used in many 20th century opera scores, including Puccini's Tosca (1900), Ravel's L'heure espagnole (1911), Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (1911), Ariadne auf Naxos (1912), and Die Frau ohne Schatten (1918), Busoni's Arlecchino (1917) and Doktor Faust (1925), Orff's Der Mond (1939), Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball (1937), Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), Susa's Transformations (1973), and Philip Glass' Akhnaten (1984).

[edit] Use in other musical genres

[edit] Jazz

Since its adoption by Earl Hines in 1928, the celesta has been used occasionally by jazz pianists as an alternative instrument. Fats Waller in the 1930s sometimes played the celesta with his right hand and the piano simultaneously with his left hand. Other notable jazz pianists who occasionally played the celesta include Meade "Lux" Lewis, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, McCoy Tyner, Sun Ra, and Herbie Hancock. A celesta provides the introduction to a song Louis Armstrong recorded for RCA entitled "Someday You'll Be Sorry", and is featured prominently throughout the song. The instrument is used prominently in the introduction to the 1928 recording by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five of Basin Street Blues.'

[edit] Rock and pop

While the celesta is not overly common in popular music, it has been used now and again. A number of recordings made by Frank Sinatra for Columbia in the 40s feature the instrument (most notably "I'll Never Smile Again".) Some of Sinatra's 50s work also features celesta, namely In the Wee Small Hours and Songs For Swingin' Lovers. Others include The Velvet Underground ("Sunday Morning"), the Beatles ("Baby It's You" and "Good Night"), The Beach Boys ("Girl Don't Tell Me"), Buddy Holly ("Everyday"), They Might Be Giants ("I'm Impressed"), Grateful Dead ("New Potato Caboose", "Row Jimmy"), The Stooges ("Penetration") and Pink Floyd ("The Gnome" and the re-recorded version of "Mother", used in the movie The Wall).

[edit] Soundtrack

A standard instrument used when music of a heavenly or dream-like quality is desired, the celesta has been commonplace in film soundtracks since the silent era. The celesta is featured playing the signature opening of "Pure Imagination", a well known song from the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (sung by Gene Wilder). Composer John Williams's scores for the first three Harry Potter films notably use the celesta to evoke the films' magical settings, particularly in the first two films' frequent statements of "Hedwig's Theme."

The opening of "Won't You Be My Neighbor", the theme song of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, begins with a dreamy sequence on a celesta. The tune was written by Fred Rogers in 1967 and was played by Johnny Costa who also played other keyboards on the show.

Viola Organista

an experimental musical instrument invented by Leonardo da Vinci. It was the first bowed keyboard instrument (of which any record has survived) ever to be devised.

[edit] Description

Leonardo's original idea, as preserved in his notebooks of 1488–1489 and in the drawings in the Codex Atlanticus, was to use one or more wheels, continuously rotating, each of which pulled a looping bow, rather like a fanbelt in an automobile engine, and perpendicular to the instrument's strings. The strings would be pushed downward into the bow by the action of the keys, causing the moving bow to sound the pitch of the string. In one design, the strings were fretted with tangents, so that there were more keys than strings (several notes, for example C and C#, would all be played on one string). In another design each note had its own string.

Apparently Leonardo did not build his instrument. The first similar instrument actually to be constructed was the Geigenwerk of 1575 by Hans Haiden, a German instrument inventor.

A modern reconstruction of the viola organista by Akio Obuchi was used in a concert in Genoa, Italy in 2004.

The earliest known design for a bowed keyboard instrument is found in the 1488-89 notebook of Leonardo da Vinci, whose sketches of a viola organista were discovered in 1967 by the art historian Ladislao Reti.1 A four-string fretted keyboard instrument with a single wheel, the viola organista can be viewed as a link between the hurdy-gurdy and the Geigenwerk, which was invented in 1575 by Hans Haiden (or Hyden), a Nuremberg builder.2 About 1625 the Spanish priest and harpsichord maker Fray Raymundo Truchado built an example of the similar instrument, which is preserved in the Mahillon collection of the Musée Instrumental (no. IV-21) in Brussels.3

Over the past 500 years a number of builders have made variants of bowed keyboard instruments and given them individual names. Although these instruments are now obsolete, several early examples do survive, and a few still function.4 Among the various types, Carolyn W. Simons has distinguished three distinct groups: the Geigenwerk, which uses a

system of wheels to activate the strings; the Streichklavier, which uses leather belts instead of friction wheels to sustain the strings' vibrations; and the piano-quatuor, which uses a friction drum instead of wheels.5

In the Geigenwerken by Haiden and Truchado, the wrest plank was located at the front, and the hitchpin plate was places along the edge of the soundboard neat the bentside and tail piece. The strings were positioned in a manner similar to those of the harpsichord and other keyboard instruments, i.e., straight back from the keyboard. A friction wheel was located under each of four (Truchado) or five (Haiden) groups of strings, while a small clearance was maintained between the wheel and each string in its group. When the keys were depressed, the strings of the notes selected were puled down to touch the friction wheel, which in turn started their vibration. To prolong the sound, the player kept the wheels rotating with either a foot treadle or a manual crank mechanism. Unlike its close relatives, the harpsichord and clavichord the Geigenwerk could then sustain its tone as long as the keys were depressed and its wheels remained in motion. By changing the rotation speed of the wheels, the player moderated the normal tension between them and the strings, thereby producing a limited range of dynamics.

Clavichord

The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was widely used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades called tangents. Vibrations are transmitted through the bridge(s) to the soundboard. The name is derived from the Latin word clavis, meaning "key" (associated with more common clavus, meaning "nail, rod, etc.") and chorda (from Greek χορδή) meaning "string, especially of a musical instrument".

From John Mainwaring's biography of Handel:

From his very childhood Handel had discovered such a strong propensity to Music, that his father, who always intended him for the study of the Civil Law, had reason to be alarmed. Perceiving that this inclination still increased, he took every method to oppose it. He strictly forbad him to meddle with any musical instrument; nothing of that kind was suffered to remain in the house, nor was he ever permitted to go to any other, where such kind of furniture was in use. All this caution and art, instead of restraining, did but augment his passion. He had found means to get a little clavichord privately convey’d to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly stole when the family was asleep. He had made some progress before Music had been prohibited, and by his assiduous practice at hours of rest, had made such farther advances, as, tho’ not attended to at that time, were no slight prognostications of his future greatness.

Developed Early 14th century

Glasschord

glasschord (or glasscord) is a crystallophone that resembles the celesta but uses keyboard-driven hammers to strike glass bars instead of metal bars.

Harpsichord

a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.

In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard.[citation needed] In a broader sense, "harpsichord" designates the whole family of similar plucked keyboard instruments, including the smaller virginals, muselar, and spinet.

The harpsichord was widely used in Renaissance and Baroque music. During the late 18th century it gradually disappeared from the musical scene with the rise of the piano. But in the 20th century it made a resurgence, used in historically informed performance of older music, in new (contemporary) compositions, and in popular culture.

In modern usage, "harpsichord" can mean any member of the family of instruments. More often, though, it specifically denotes a grand-piano-shaped instrument with a roughly triangular case accommodating long bass strings at the left and short treble strings at the right. The characteristic profile of such a harpsichord is more elongated than a modern piano, with a sharper curve to the bentside.

History

the harpsichord was most probably invented in the late Middle Ages. By the 16th century, harpsichord makers in Italy were making lightweight instruments with low string tension. A different approach was taken in Flanders starting in the late 16th century, notably by the Ruckers family. Their harpsichords used a heavier construction and produced a more powerful and distinctive tone. They included the first harpsichords with two keyboards, used for transposition.

The Flemish instruments served as the model for 18th century harpsichord construction in other nations. In France, the double keyboards were adapted to control different choirs of strings, making a more musically flexible instrument. Instruments from the peak of the French tradition, by makers such as the Blanchet family and Pascal Taskin, are among the most widely admired of all harpsichords, and are frequently used as models for the construction of modern instruments. In England, the Kirkman and Shudi firms produced sophisticated harpsichords of great power and sonority. German builders extended the sound repertoire of the instrument by adding sixteen foot and two foot choirs; these instruments have recently served as models for modern builders.

In the late 18th century the harpsichord was supplanted by the piano and almost disappeared from view for most of the 19th century: an exception was its continued use in opera for accompanying recitative, but the piano sometimes displaced it even there. 20th century efforts to revive the harpsichord began with instruments that used piano technology, with heavy strings and metal frames. Starting in the middle of the 20th century, ideas about harpsichord making underwent a major change, when builders such as Frank Hubbard, William Dowd, and Martin Skowroneck sought to re-establish the building traditions of the Baroque period. Harpsichords of this type of historically informed building practice dominate the current scene.

rep·er·toire

noun/ˈrepə(r)ˌtwär/ 

A stock of plays, dances, or pieces that a company or a performer knows or is prepared to perform

Cat organA cat organ or cat piano (Katzenklavier in German) is a musical instrument which consists of a line of cats fixed in place with their tails stretched out underneath a keyboard so that cats cry out in pain when a key is pressed. The cats would be arranged according to the natural tone of their voices.

This instrument was described by the French writer Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin in his book Musiciana, extraits d’ouvrages rare ou bizarre (Musiciana, descriptions of rare or bizarre inventions):[1]

When the King of Spain Felipe II was in Brussels in 1549 visiting his father the Emperor Charles V, each saw the other rejoicing at the sight of a completely singular procession. At the head marched an enormous bull whose horns were burning, between which there was also a small devil. Behind the bull a young boy sewn into a bear skin ride on a horse whose ears and tail were cut off. Then came the archangel Saint Michael in bright clothing, and carrying a balance in his hand.

The most curious was on a chariot that carried the most singular music that can be imagined. It held a bear that played the organ; instead of pipes, there were sixteen cat heads each with its body confined; the tails were sticking out and were held to be played as the strings on a piano, if a key was pressed on the keyboard, the corresponding tail would be pulled hard, and it would produce each time a lamentable meow. The historian Juan Christoval Calvete, noted the cats were arranged properly to produce a succession of notes from the octave... (chromatically, I think).

This abominable orchestra arranged itself inside a theater where monkeys, wolves, deer and other animals danced to the sounds of this infernal music.[2]

The instrument was described by Athanasius Kircher in his work Musurgia Universalis.

The instrument was described by German physician Johann Christian Reil (1759–1813) for the purpose of treating patients who had lost the ability to focus their attention. Reil believed that if they were forced to see and listen to this instrument, it would inevitably capture their attention and they would be cured (Richards, 1998).

The instrument was recreated using squeaky toys by Henry Dagg for a garden party held at Clarence House in 2010 by Prince Charles to support his Start initiative for sustainable living. The tune "Over the Rainbow" was played and caused great amusement.[3][4]

The People's Republic Of Animation, a professional animation studio, released an animation titled The Cat Piano. This work tells the tale of a city of cats whose musicians are kidnapped by a human in order to make a cat piano. This short film has received several awards, as well as nominations for awards. The Academy announced that it was shortlisted for an Oscar for Best Animated Short. However, it was not nominated.

Recorder

The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle and ocarina. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple.[1] It is distinguished from other members of the family by having holes for seven fingers (the lower one or two often doubled to facilitate the production of semitones) and one for the thumb of the uppermost hand. The bore of the recorder is tapered slightly, being widest at the mouthpiece end and narrowest towards the foot on Baroque recorders, or flared almost like a trumpet at the bottom on Renaissance instruments.

The recorder was popular in medieval times through the baroque era, but declined in the 18th century in favour of orchestral woodwind instruments, such as the flute, oboe, and clarinet. During its heyday, the recorder was traditionally associated with pastoral scenes, miraculous events, funerals, marriages and amorous scenes. Images of recorders can be found in literature and artwork associated with all these. Purcell, Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi used the recorder to suggest shepherds and imitate birds in their music, a theme that continued in 20th century music.[2]

The recorder was revived in the 20th century, partly in the pursuit of historically informed performance of early music, but also because of its suitability as a simple instrument for teaching music and its appeal to amateur players. Today, it is often thought of as a child's instrument, but there are many professional players who demonstrate the instrument's full solo range.[3] The sound of the recorder is remarkably clear and sweet, partly because of the lack of upper harmonics and predominance of odd harmonics in the sound.[4]

Types of recorders

RECORDER FAMILY

Instruments in C Range Instruments in F Range

garkleinsopraninoListen to it

descant (soprano)Listen to it

treble (alto)

tenorbass

(bass in F)

great bass(bass in C)

contra bass

subcontra bass/ contra great bass

sub-subcontrabass/double contra bass

(octocontrabass)

Recorders are made in a variety of sizes. They are most often tuned in C or F, meaning their lowest note possible is a C or an F. However, instruments in D, B flat, G, and E flat were not uncommon historically and are still found today, especially the tenor recorder in D, which is called a "voice-flute."[8] The table shows the recorders in common use, though the large ones are very rare; however, a still larger instrument, descending to sixteen foot C (the lowest C on the piano keyboard), exists and is known as an octosubcontrabass. This has an extended compass of 3 octaves and a third and is manufactured by Jelle Hogenhuis in Holland.[9]

The recorder most often used for solo music is the treble recorder (known as alto in the USA), and when the recorder is specified without further qualification, it is this size that is meant.[10] The descant (known as the soprano in the USA) also has an important repertoire of solo music (not just school music) and there is a little for tenor and bass recorders.[11] Classroom instructors most commonly use the descant. The largest recorders, larger than the bass recorder, are less often used, since they are expensive and their sizes (the contrabass in F is about 2 metres tall) make them hard to handle.[citation needed] An experimental 'piccolino' has also been produced which plays a fourth above the garklein. Although it might be considered that the garklein is already too small for adult-sized fingers to play easily and that the even smaller piccolino is simply not practical, the fact that the holes for each finger are side by side and not in a linear sequence make it quite possible to play.[12]

For recorder ensemble playing, the descant/soprano, treble/alto, tenor and bass are most common - many players can play all four sizes. Great basses and contrabasses are always welcome but are more expensive. The sopranino does not blend as well and is used primarily in recorder orchestras and for concerto playing.[citation needed] The larger recorders have great enough distances between the finger holes that most people's hands can not reach them all. So, instruments larger than the tenor have keys to enable the player to cover the holes or to provide better tonal response; this is also true of the tenor itself, over the last hole, and much more rarely the alto. In addition, the largest recorders are so long that the player cannot simultaneously reach the finger holes with the hands and reach the mouthpiece with the lips. So, instruments larger than the bass (and some bass recorders too) may use a bocal or crook, a thin metal tube, to conduct the player's breath to the windway, or they may be constructed in sections that fold the recorder into a shape that brings the windway back into place.[citation

needed]

Today, high-quality recorders are made from a range of hardwoods: maple, pear wood, rosewood, grenadilla, or boxwood with a block of red cedar wood.[13] Plastic recorders are produced in large quantities. Plastics are cheaper and require less maintenance and quality plastic recorders are equal to or better than lower-end wooden instruments (especially Aulos and Yamaha). Beginners' instruments, the sort usually found in children's ensembles, are plastic and can be purchased quite cheaply.

Most modern recorders are based on instruments from the Baroque period, although some specialist makers produce replicas of the earlier Renaissance style of instrument. These latter instruments have a wider, less tapered bore and typically possess a less reedy, more blending tone more suited to consort playing.[citation needed]

In the early part of the twentieth century, Peter Harlan developed a recorder which allowed for apparently simpler fingering. This is German fingering. A recorder designed for German fingering has a hole five which is smaller than hole four, whereas baroque and neo-baroque recorders have a hole four which is smaller than hole five. The immediate difference in fingering is for ‘F’ and ‘B♭’ which on a neo-baroque instrument must be fingered 0 123 4-67. With German fingering, this is becomes a simpler 0 123 4---. Unfortunately, however, this causes many other chromatic notes to be too badly out of tune to be usable.[14] German fingering became popular in Europe, especially Germany, in the 1930s, but rapidly became obsolete in the 1950s as the recorder began to be treated more seriously and the limitations of German fingering became more widely appreciated.[15] Despite this, many recorder makers continue to produce German fingered instruments today, essentially for beginner use only.[citation needed]

Some newer designs of recorder are now being produced. Larger recorders built like organ pipes with square cross-sections are cheaper than the normal designs if, perhaps, not so elegant.[16] Another area is the development of instruments with a greater dynamic range and more powerful bottom notes. These modern designs make it easier to be heard when playing concerti.[citation needed] Finally, recorders with a downward extension of a semitone are becoming available; such instruments can play a full three octaves in tune. The tenor is especially popular, since its range becomes that of the modern flute; Frans Brüggen has publicly performed such flute works as Density 21.5 by Edgar Varèse on an extended tenor recorder.[citation needed]

[edit] Standard pitch

Recorders are most commonly pitched at A=440 Hz. However, among serious amateurs and professionals, two other standard pitches are commonly found. For baroque instruments, A=415 Hz is the de facto standard,[17] while renaissance instruments are often pitched at A=466 Hz.[18] Both tunings are a compromise between historical accuracy and practicality. For instance, the Stanesby Sr alto, copied by many contemporary makers is based on A=403 Hz; some makers indeed offer an instrument at that pitch.[19] Some recorder makers offer 3-piece instruments with two middle sections, accommodating two tuning systems.[20]

The 415 pitch has the advantage that it is an exact semitone lower than 440 Hz; there are harpsichords that can shift their keyboard in a matter of minutes.[21] The A=392 Hz pitch, is similarly another semitone lower.

Sheet music notation

Sheet music for recorder is nearly always notated in 'concert key,' meaning that a written "C" in the score actually sounds as a "C." This implies that the player must learn two different sets of similar fingerings, one for the C recorders and another for the F recorders.

However, many sizes of recorder do transpose at the octave. The garklein sounds two octaves above the written pitch; the sopranino and soprano sound one octave above written pitch. Alto and tenor sizes do not transpose at all, while the bass and great bass sound one octave above written (bass clef) pitch. In modern scores, these transpositions are indicated by adding a small figure "8" above the treble or bass clef on sopranino, soprano or bass recorder parts, but in the past and still commonly today, the transpositions are not indicated and instead are assumed from context. Contrabass and subcontrabass are non-transposing while the octocontrabass sounds one octave below written pitch.

Sizes from garklein down through tenor are notated in the treble clef while the bass size and lower usually read the bass clef. Professionals can usually read C-clefs and often perform from original notation.

Alternative notations which are only occasionally used:

1. Bass recorder in F may be written in treble clef so that the low F is written an octave above real pitch (i.e. sound an octave below written pitch), so that its fingerings are completely octave-identical to the alto in F.

2. Great bass recorder in C may be written in treble clef. If so, it would probably be written up an octave to match the fingering of the tenor in C.

3. Tenor recorder in C may be written in bass clef one octave below real pitch in order to read choral parts for tenor voice.

4. Alto recorder in F may be written down an octave to read alto vocal parts.5. All recorders may be transposed by both octave and key so that the lowest note is always

written as middle C below the treble clef. In this system, only the tenor is non-transposing while all other parts would transpose up or down in fourths, fifths and octaves as appropriate.

6. Urtext editions of baroque music may preserve the baroque practice of writing treble(alto) recorder parts in the Violin clef (G clef on the bottom line of the stave). From the player's point of view, this is equivalent to using bass(et) recorder fingerings on the treble/alto recorder.

As a rule of thumb, recorders sound one octave above the human voice after which they are named (soprano recorder is an octave above soprano voice, alto an octave above alto voice, etc.) The recorder's mellow tone and limited harmonics allows for the seemingly deeper sound.[22]

Recorder fingering

Recorder fingerings (baroque): Lowest note through the nominal range of 2 octaves and a tone

Note

First Octave Second Octave Third Octave

Tuned³

in F

Tuned

in C

Hole

0

Hole

1

Hole

2

Hole

3

Hole

4

Hole

5

Hole

6

Hole

7

Hole

0

Hole

1

Hole

2

Hole

3

Hole

4

Hole

5

Hole

6

Hole

7

Hole

0

Hole

1

Hole

2

Hole

3

Hole

4

Hole

5

Hole

6

Hole

7

F C ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ◐ ● ○ ○ ● ● ○ ○

F#

C#

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ◐ ○ ● ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ◐ ● ○ ● ● ○ ●

●1

,

2

G D ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ○ ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ◐ ● ○ ● ● ○ ●●²

G#

D#

● ● ● ● ● ● ◐ ○ ○ ○ ● ● ● ● ● ○ ◐ ○ ● ● ○ ● ● ○

A E ● ● ● ● ● ● ○ ○ ◐ ● ● ● ● ● ○ ○

A#

F ● ● ● ● ● ○ ● ● ◐ ● ● ● ● ○ ● ○

BF#

● ● ● ● ○ ● ● ○ ◐ ● ● ● ○ ● ○ ○

C G ● ● ● ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ◐ ● ● ● ○ ○ ○ ○

Note 1: The bell must be stopped to play this note.Note 2: Individual recorders may need this hole to be closed (●), half closed (◐), or open (○) to play the note in tune.Note 3: See the section Types of recorders concerning recorders tuned in C or in F.

● means to cover the hole. ○ means to uncover the hole. ◐ means half-cover.

The range of a modern recorder is usually taken to be about two octaves except in virtuoso pieces. See the table above for fingerings of notes in the nominal recorder range of 2 octaves and 1 whole tone. Notes above this range are more difficult to play, and the exact fingerings vary from instrument to instrument, so it is impractical to put them into the table here.[23] The numbers at the top correspond to the fingers and the holes on the recorder, according to the pictures. In the table, "●" signifies a closed hole, "○" signifies an open hole, and "◐" signifies a half-closed hole.

The note two octaves and one semitone above the lowest note (C# for soprano, tenor and great bass instruments; F# for sopranino, alto and bass instruments) is difficult to play on most recorders. These notes are best played by covering the end of the instrument (the

How the fingers and holes are numbered

The fingers The holes

"bell"); players typically use their upper leg to accomplish this. Some recorder makers added a special bell key for this note — newer recorder designs with longer bores also solve this problem and extend the range even further. The note is only occasionally found in pre-20th-century music, but it has become standard in modern music.[14]

[edit] Half-holing and forking

The lowest chromatic scale degrees — a semitone and a minor third above the lowest note — are played by covering only a part of a hole, a technique known as "half-holing." Most modern instruments are constructed with double holes or keys to facilitate the playing of these notes; such double holes are occasionally found on baroque instruments, where even the hole for the third finger of the left hand can be doubled. Other chromatic scale degrees are played by so-called "fork" fingerings, uncovering one hole and covering one or more of the ones below it. Fork fingerings have a different tonal character from the diatonic notes, giving the recorder a somewhat uneven sound. Budget tenor/bass recorders might have a single key for low C/F but not low C#/F#, making this note virtually impossible to play. Double low keys allowing both C/F and C#/F# are more or less standard today.[14]

[edit] Pinching

Most of the notes in the second octave and above are produced by partially closing the thumbhole on the back of the recorder, a technique known as "pinching". The placement of the thumb is crucial to the intonation and stability of these notes, and varies as the notes increase in pitch, making the boring of a double hole for the thumb unviable. To play the notes in the second octave, the player must tongue somewhat harder in order to excite the second and third harmonics of the instrument.[14]

[edit] Notes in the third octave

A skilled player can, with a good recorder, play chromatically over two octaves and a fifth. Use of notes in the 3rd octave is becoming more common in modern compositions; several of these notes require closure of the bell or shading of the window area[24] (i.e. holding the palm of the hand above the window, partially restricting the air emerging from it). In the hands of a competent player, these upper notes are not especially loud or shrill.

The renaissance recorder had a range of two octaves and a sixth,[25] though writers on woodwind instruments in general from that period, e.g. Praetorius, often give shorter ranges. This might reflect a distinction between skilled and unskilled players in the renaissance or the differences in instruments made in one region versus another or over time. Modern reproductions of renaissance instruments, especially those from middle of the last century, often have a range as little as one and a half octaves[26] but more recent makers now produce reproduction renaissance instruments with the full range and Ganassi's fingerings. Consequently many publishers of recorder music refer to 'music for Ganassi recorder', or a similar phrase, when they mean recorder music with a range greater than two octaves and a tone.

[edit] Dynamics

Changes in dynamics are not easy to achieve on the recorder if the player is accustomed to other wind instruments. The general belief is that if the player blows harder to play louder, or more softly to play softer, the pitch changes and the note goes out of tune, and unlike the transverse flute, the player cannot change the position of the mouth in relation to the labium in order to compensate, and that therefore the recorder is not capable of dynamic changes. This is misleading. It is true that in the hands of a skilled player changes in dynamics by simply blowing harder or softer are possible provided the instrument is of a high quality and the player knows the instrument well. Subtle changes in wind pressure are possible if the player has a good ear for tuning and knows how hard the instrument can be pushed before pitch changes become noticeable. But this is not the correct approach to recorder dynamics.[14]

[27] On the recorder it is better to think of the breath controlling pitch, and the fingers controlling dynamics; for example by resting the fingers lightly on the holes breath leaks around them, lifting the pitch; and the resulting instinctive change in breath pressure to bring the pitch back also drops the volume. Advanced players use alternative fingerings to enable changes in dynamics.[28] The recorder is notable for its sensitivity to articulation; in addition to its obvious use for artistic effect skilled players can also use this sensitivity to suggest changes in volume.[27]

History

[edit] Early recorders

Internal duct-flutes have a long history: an example of an Iron Age specimen, made from a sheep bone, exists in Leeds City Museum.[29]

The true recorders are distinguished from other internal duct flutes by having eight finger holes (in use - see below); seven on the front of the instrument and one, for the upper hand thumb, on the back, and having a slightly tapered bore, with its widest end at the mouthpiece. It is thought that these instruments evolved in the 14th century, but an earlier origin is a matter of some debate, based on the depiction of various whistles in medieval paintings. To this day whistles -as used in Irish folk music- have six holes. The original design of the transverse flute (and its fingering) was based on the same six holes, but it was later much altered by Theobald Böhm.[citation needed]

One of the earliest surviving instruments was discovered in a castle moat in Dordrecht, the Netherlands in 1940, and has been dated to the 14th century. It is largely intact, though not playable. A second more or less intact 14th century recorder was found in a latrine in northern Germany (in Göttingen): other 14th-century examples survive from Esslingen (Germany), Tartu (Estonia), and Nysa (Poland). There is a fragment of a possible 14th-15th-century bone recorder in Rhodes (Greece); and there is an intact 15th-century example from Elblag (Poland).[2]

The earliest recorders were designed to be played either right-handed (with the right hand lowermost) or left-handed (with the left hand lowermost). The holes were all in a line except for the lowest hole, for the lower hand little finger. This last hole was offset from the center line, and drilled twice, once on each side. The player would fill in the hole they didn't want to use with wax. It is this doubled hole (not to be confused with the later double holes for semitones) which accounts for the early French name flute à neuf trous. In later years, the right-hand style of playing was settled on as standard and the second hole disappeared.[citation

needed]

Renaissance recorders

[edit] The Renaissance

The recorder achieved great popularity in the 16th and 17th centuries. This development was linked to the fact that art music (as opposed to folk music) was no longer the exclusive domain of nobility and clergy. The advent of the printing press made it available to the more affluent commoners as well. The popularity of the instrument also reached the courts however. For example, at Henry VIII's death in 1547, an inventory of his possessions included 76 recorders.[30] There are also numerous references to the instrument in contemporary literature (e.g. Shakespeare [31] and Milton [32] ).[33]

During the Renaissance musical instruments were principally used in dance music and as accompaniment for voices. There are many vocal works with non-texted lines, which possibly were written for instruments. In addition, some vocal music was easily playable with instruments, chansons, for example. Nevertheless, composers also produced more and more works exclusively for instruments, often based on dance music. (e.g. the Lachrimae Pavans by John Dowland). Often they did not specify the instruments to use although some, such as Anthony Holborne, indicated that their music was suitable for the recorder.[34] However, even when the composer specified, for instance, viols, the music could successfully be played on recorders. A taste for ensembles of like instruments developed in this era, and so arose "consorts" (groups of musicians playing the same type of instrument) and the families of instruments of various sizes. The diversity of sizes in an instrument family allowed the consort to play music with a very large pitch range. Some of the well known Renaissance composers who wrote instrumental music, or whose vocal music plays well on recorders, were:[35]

Guillaume Dufay Johannes Ockeghem Josquin des Prez Heinrich Isaac Ludwig Senfl Orlando di Lasso William Byrd John Dowland Anthony Holborne

Polyphony was the dominant music style of the Renaissance, but composers also began to write chordal pieces. The Medieval custom of juxtaposing 2 or 3 different melodies coexisted with "imitative polyphony". Imitative polyphony uses only one melodic line, but breaks it in pieces and divides it among the different parts. One part plays the melody, then the other parts play it in their turns. The music of this epoch was characterized by complex improvised ornamentation.[36]

Many instruments survive from this period, including an incomplete set of recorders in Nuremberg which date from the 16th century and are still partially playable.[citation needed] Similar to the Medieval recorders, and unlike the Baroque style recorders typically used today, Renaissance recorders have a wide, more or less cylindrical bore. They have powerful low notes (much more so than the Baroque recorders). The wide bore means that a greater quantity of air is required to play the instrument, but this makes them more responsive.[37] Many reproduction instruments, especially from the middle of the last century, can only be played reliably over a range of an octave and a sixth; but more and more makers are producing recorders capable of the full range that Ganassi[25] reports, and with his fingerings in tune throughout. When modern music is written for 'Ganassi recorders' it is this type of recorder which is intended. Historically there was, in truth, no such thing as the 'Ganassi' recorder as a distinct type; it was simply the ordinary Renaissance recorder played by a good player who understood the instrument.[38]

[edit] Baroque recorders

Several changes in the construction of recorders took place in the seventeenth century, resulting in the type of instrument generally referred to as Baroque recorders, as opposed to the earlier Renaissance recorders. These innovations allowed baroque recorders to possess a tone which was regarded as "sweeter" than that of the earlier instruments,[39] at the expense of a reduction in volume, particularly in the lowest notes, and a slightly reduced range.

In the 18th century, rather confusingly, the instrument was normally referred to simply as Flute (Flauto) — the transverse form was separately referred to as Traverso. In the 4th Brandenburg Concerto in G major, J.S. Bach calls for two flauti d'echo. The musicologist Thurston Dart mistakenly suggested that it was intended for flageolets at a higher pitch, and in a recording under Neville Marriner using Dart's editions it was played an octave higher than usual on sopranino recorders. An argument can be made that the instruments Bach identified as flauti d'echo were echo flutes, an example of which survives in Leipzig to this day. It consisted of two recorders in f' connected together by leather flanges: one instrument was voiced to play softly, the other loudly. Vivaldi wrote three concertos for the flautino and required the same instrument in his opera orchestra. In modern performance, the flautino was initially thought to be the piccolo. It is now generally accepted, however, that the instrument intended was some variant of the sopranino recorder.[40]

[edit] The decline of the recorder

The instrument went into decline after the 18th century, being used for about the last time as an otherworldly sound by Gluck in his opera Orfeo ed Euridice. Many reasons have been put forward for this decline. One possible reason is that the main flute innovators of the time, Grenser and Tromlitz et al., extended the transverse flute's range and evened out its tonal consistency, making it more appealing than the recorder. Also, the fixed relationship of the windway to the labium limits the range of dynamics and expression of the recorder, when

compared with the transverse flute.[41] Another possible reason was the fact that music as an amateur pastime was declining in favour of the "professional" musician combined with the fact that composers began writing exclusively for professional ensembles. Other possible reasons include an apparent lack of sufficient professional players; a change in musical tastes; a lack of appreciation of the true nature of the recorder by composers; the high pitch of the instrument; the problems (for makers and players) of utilising the full chromatic range; and a perceived "bad reputation" of the instrument based on all these factors.[42]

By the Romantic era, the recorder had been almost entirely superseded by the flute and clarinet. One variant of the recorder survived into the 19th Century concert halls, however: the keyed recorder known as the czakan or flute douce.[citation needed]

The art of recorder making never completely died, though. Berchtesgaden Fleitl continue to be made to this day by Bernhard Oeggle, whose great-grandfather Georg learned his craft from Paul Walch (ca 1862-1873), the last of three generations of the Walch family of recorder makers.[43] Similarly, the careers of the Schlosser family of woodwind makers from the towns of Oberzwota and Zwota can be traced over five generations. Their founder was Johan Gabriel Sr who was active in the early 19th century; Rüdiger, who seems to have been the last maker, died in 2005. Heinrich Oskar (1875–1947) made instruments sold by the firm of Moeck in Celle and helped to design their Tuju series of recorders.

Recorder ensembles

From top to bottom: bass, tenor, alto, descant (soprano) and sopranino recorders

The recorder is a very social instrument. Many amateurs enjoy playing in large groups or in one-to-a-part chamber groups, and there is a wide variety of music for such groupings including many modern works. Groups of different sized instruments help to compensate for the limited note range of the individual instruments. Four part arrangements with a soprano, alto, tenor and bass part played on the corresponding recorders are common, although more complex arrangements with multiple parts for each instrument and parts for lower and higher instruments may also be regularly encountered.[citation needed]

One of the more interesting developments in recorder playing over the last 30 years has been the development of recorder orchestras.[citation needed] They can have 60 or more players and use up to nine sizes of instrument. In addition to arrangements, many new pieces of music, including symphonies, have been written for these ensembles.[citation needed] There are recorder orchestras in Germany, Holland, Japan, the United States, Canada, the UK and several other countries.