Performing Media

Performing Media: Instruments, Voices,

EnsemblesChapter 5

Musical Acoustics: The Science of Sound

AirEnergy source

Vocal cordsVibrating element

Oral cavity

Resonating chamber

Wavesair

EarEar

canals

Musical Instruments• Can do four things:

– 1. Produce their characteristic sound

– 2. Modify their basic timbre

– 3. Play different pitches

– 4. Start and stop their sounds

Categories of Musical Instruments: Overview

• String Instruments: vibrating strings are source of sound

• Brass Instruments: vibrating lips are source of sound

• Woodwind Instruments: vibrating reeds OR air blown over a mouth hole are sources of sound


• Percussion Instruments: sources of sound (examples)– vibrating plates (cymbals)– vibrating bars (marimba, xylophone)– vibrating stretched skins, called membranes

(timpani, drums)– other vibrating objects (claves, triangle, maracas)– struck with the hands or with various mallets


• Keyboard Instruments: sources of sound– plucked vibrating strings (harpsichord)– hammered vibrating strings (piano), – air columns in pipes (organ)– steel bars struck with hammers (celesta)

• Electronic Instruments: Electrical currents create moving transistors that transmit sounds through speakers or headphones

Families of Instruments: Bowed String Instruments

• Violin: shortest strings, highest range (tessitura): player holds to neck

• Viola: longer strings, richer sound: player holds to neck, 5-note lower range

• Cello: longer strings, rich, low, mellow sound: player sits and holds between legs, octave lower then viola

• String Bass: very long strings: very low sound: player stands or sits on stool, tuned in 4ths

Families of Instruments: Plucked String Instruments

• Harp: strings run parallel to the resonating body of the instrument

• Lutes: Instruments with a neck that is separate from the resonating body– Guitar: six strings, all the same length, but of

different thickness– Mandolin: 4 paired strings, all same length– Banjo: 4 or 5 strings; 5th string may be shorter

Strings: Interesting Information

• Hollow body of instrument provides amplification

• Use of vibrato• Placement of fingers on fretboard allow for

different pitch production• Double or triple stops-two or more pitches

sounded at the same time

Strings: Interesting Information

• May be bowed or plucked (pizzicato)

• May use a “mute”

• Violins are divided into 1st & 2nd parts

• String bass has many names: double bass, contrabass, and standing bass

Woodwinds• Produce sound by reed

vibration• Pitches produced by

opening and closing of tone holes or keys(lengthening and shortening the air column)

• Use of different tonguing techniques(double or flutter)

Families of Instruments: Woodwinds With Reeds

• Single reeds– Clarinet: Keyed woodwind with straight wooden

body– Saxophone: Keyed woodwind with bent metal

body

• Double reeds– Oboe: Keyed woodwind with straight wooden

body– Bassoon: Keyed woodwind, longer than oboe,

with straight wooden body

Families of Instruments: Woodwinds Without Reeds

• Flute: air moves over an open hole and vibrates in metal tube

• Piccolo: like flute, but shorter (so higher-pitched)

Woodwinds: Interesting Information

• Modern flutes are not made of wood– They are played by blowing air across the hole

(transverse flutes)– Earlier versions of the flute were wooden and were

played by blowing into the tube (recorders)• Saxophones aren’t usually found in an

orchestra• Orchestras may have an even lower

woodwind instrument called contrabassoon


• Many woodwind Instruments are transposing– The notes written on the page are NOT the notes

that are sounded when played– These include clarinets and saxophones

• Others are non-transposing: the notes written are what sound– These include piccolos, flutes, oboes, English

horns, and bassoons


• Early woodwind instruments had holes that were covered with the fingers

• Theobald Boehm developed a keying system for woodwind instruments that made them much more versatile and easier to play– Opening and closing the holes with the keys

makes the tubes longer or shorter, creating different pitches

• Many woodwind instruments come in a variety of sizes

Families of Instruments: Valved Brass Instruments

• How Valves Work: Player depresses piston valves and releases them, opening and closing off parts of the tube; – The longer the tube, the lower the sound– The shorter the tube, the higher the sound

• Trumpet: players’ lips vibrate air in brass tube, “buzzing”; valves open and close

• French Horn: players lips vibrate air in brass tube; rotary valves open and close

Families of Instruments: Valved Brass Instruments

• Baritone Horn: players’ lips vibrate air in brass tube; tube is longer than trumpet and French Horn, so range is lower; valves open and close

• Tuba: players’ lips vibrate air in brass tube; tube is longer than trumpet, French Horn, and Baritone Horn, so range is even lower; valves open and close

Families of Instruments: A Unique Brass Instrument

• Trombone: has no valves– Player pulls slide in an out to lengthen and

shorten the tube; longer tube = lower pitches; shorter tube = higher pitches

– Trombone is considered a “low brass” instrument, but not as low as the baritone horn or tuba

Brasses: Interesting Information

• Some brass instruments are transposing (trumpet, French horn); some are not (trombone, tuba)

• All brass instruments have “mutes” which can soften the sound, double/triple tounging

Percussion

• Anything you can beat on, shake, rattle, roll

Families of Instruments: Percussion

• Two basic subcategories:– Idiophones: those which create sound

by striking the object itself (e.g., triangles, cymbals)

– Membranophones: those which create sound by striking a membrane or head stretch over a vibrating chamber

Families of Instruments: Percussion

• Another subcategorization of percussion Instruments:– Pitched Percussion Instruments: those

which create recognizable pitches – Nonpitched Percussion Instruments:

those which create sounds with no recognizable pitch

Pitched & Nonpitched Membranophones

NONPITCHED• Snare drum: played

with sticks; rattles (called snares) are attached underneath the head

• Bass drum: large drum played with large soft mallet

PITCHED• Timpani: Small kettle drums, eached tuned to a specific note

Some Pitched Idiophones

• Xylophone: wooden bars struck with mallets • Vibraphone: Metal bars struck with mallets;

amplified electrically• Glockenspiel: small metal bars struck with

mallets• Orchestra Bells: a series of increasingly

longer metal tubes, struck with a mallet

Some Nonpitched Idiophones

• Cymbals: metal plates struck with mallets or crashed together

• Triangle: metal triangular shaped instrument, struck with metal mallet

• Claves: 2 wooden sticks, struck together

Percussion: Interesting Information

• Most Percussionists (except the timpani player) usually play many instruments.

• Watch the percussion section during a concert; they are always running around!

• Percussion instruments can be played in more than one way.

• Percussionists tend to be experts in one of three areas: drums, timpani, or “mallets.”

Keyboard Instruments

• Sound produced:– Hammer strikes a string– Quill plucks a string– Air released through pipes

• Pitch depends on keys struck

• Can produce many sounds

The Keyboard Instruments: The Organ

• Largest and most powerful keyboard instrument • Air pumped through “ranks” of pipes which are

opened closed by depressing keys on keyboard• Pipes create sounds that mimic many other

instruments: woodwinds, brasses, strings.• Early organs used people to pump bellows.• Modern organs used electricity to move air.

Keyboard Instruments• Organ

– Has several manuals– Pedalboard played with feet– “Stops”-knobs that change tone colors– Dynamics changed by adding or reducing number of

pipes• Accordion

• Free steel rods controlled by treble keyboard• Bass keyboard with buttons• Air from bellows make reed vibrate

The Keyboard Instruments: The Harpsichord

• Small, delicate instrument• Has two keyboards or “manuals”• Black & white keys opposite of piano• Keys operate a plectrum (a pick-like device made of

leather or a bird quill), which plucks the string.• The plectrum produces a twang-like sound.• Knobs that affect coupling of strings• The player cannot vary the dynamics of the sound on

a harpsichord.• Lost popularity around 1750

The Keyboard Instruments: The Piano

• Larger and more robust than the harpsichord

• Keys activate hammers that strike strings

• Full range of dynamics• Pianos became very

popular instruments for the home; all “educated” women could play.

Keyboard Instruments• Piano

– 1st constructed about 1709– Soundboard underneath strings amplifies

sound– 88 keys– Grand vs upright– Three pedals(damper, soft pedal, sostenuto)– Very versatile

Electronic Instruments

• Keyboards: can produce a large variety of sounds– Played like regular piano– Usually have about 66 keys, rather than

standard 88– Can produce rhythms, harmonies, etc.

because of built in computers

Electronic Instruments• Synthesizers: created to imitate the sounds

of acoustic instruments electronically– Very sophisticated, appeared 1955– Can be hooked up to computers with MIDI

(standardized computer interface for music)– Analog synthesis– Digital Frequency modulation– Sampling– Effects Devices

The Human Voice

The Human Voice

• Sound production: vibration of vocal chords in the larnyx, action of diaphragm pushing air through the larnyx

• Basic timbre: depends upon shape of oral/nasal cavities

• Pitch: determined by amount of tension in vocal chords and length of vocal chords

Basic Voice Classifications

• Soprano: the highest female voice• Mezzo-Soprano: a moderately high voice

with a more mellow timbre• Alto: a low female voice, heavier and darker

than mezzo• Tenor: the highest male voice• Baritone: the middle range male voice, with

darker timbre than tenor• Bass: the lowest male voice, dark timbre

Some Specialized Voices: Sopranos

• Coloratura Soprano: high range with great virtuosity (can sing many fast notes)

• Dramatic Soprano: powerful voice for very dramatic opera roles

• Lyric Soprano-lighter voice for sweeter opera roles or solo recital singing

Some Specialized Voices: Tenors

• Robusto Tenor: a full, powerful tenor voice for strong operatic roles

• Lyric Tenor: a lighter voice, for smooth lyrical singing roles

• Heroic Tenor: a powerful, expressive, virtuostic voice with great agility (can sing many fast notes)

Some Specialized Voices: Basses and Baritones

• Profondo: deep range, powerful voice for solemn roles

• Cantate: smooth, lyrical singing voice for lighter roles

• Buffo: agile voice for comic roles

Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34(1946)-Benjamin Britten

• Englishman Britten wrote as introduction to the instruments of the orchestra

• Used theme by Henry Purcell in thirteen variations

Education

Performing Media