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A musical instrument is a device that has been constructed or modified with the purpose
of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound, and can somehow be
controlled by a musician, can serve as a musical instrument; but the expression is
reserved generally to items that have that specific purpose.
The academic study of musical instruments is called organology.
Instruments are often divided by the way in which they generate sound:
II
Valved brass instruments use a set of valves (typically 3 or 4 but as many as 7 or
more in some cases) operated by the player's fingers that introduce additional
tubing into the instrument, changing its overall length. This family includes the
modern trumpet
flugelhorn [brass instrument resembling a cornet but with a wider, conical bore].
sousaphone [valved brass instrument with the same tube length as a tuba, but
shaped differently so that the bell is above the head]
mellophone [The instrument has three valves. However, the valves are pressed
with the right hand for mellophone, instead of the left for a concert horn. Also,
although some of the mellophone fingerings are the same as those of the concert
horn, they generally resemble trumpet fingerings more than horn fingerings]
III.
Slide brass instruments use a slide to change the length of tubing. The main
instrument in this famility is the trombone
and the slide trombone's ancestor the sackbut. Some modern trombones also have
rotary valves in addition to the slide. The folk instrument the bazooka is also in
the slide family.
In the past, a fourth type was common:
IV. Keyed or Fingered brass instruments used holes along the body of the
instrument, which were covered by fingers or by finger-operated pads (keys) in a
similar way to a woodwind instrument. These included:
Cornett
serpent [wind instrument with a mouthpiece like a brass instrument but side holes
like a woodwind instrument] and keyed trumpet [brass instrument that,
contrary to the traditional valved trumpet, uses keys ].
conch (shell)
Wagner tuba
1.
Single Reed instruments [when air is forced between the reed and the
mouthpiece, the vibrations create the sound].
the clarinet
and saxophone
2.
Double Reed instruments use two precisely cut, small pieces of cane
joined together at the base. The finished, bound reed is inserted into the
top of the instrument and vibrates as air is forced between the two pieces
of bound cane. There are two sub-families:
Exposed double reed instruments, where the reed goes between the player's lips.
The oboe
and bassoon
Percussion instruments create sound, with or without pitch, when struck. The shape
and material of the part of the instrument to be struck and the shape of the resonating
cavity, if any, determine the sound of the instrument. Most percussion instruments
have a distinct tone; even drums are tuned. However, a distinction is usually made
based on whether the instrument can play a definite pitch or not.
1]
xylophone
marimba
vibraphone
bell
2]
snare drum
bass drum
afuche
castanets
giro
maracas
mendoza [constructed from a stout pole affixed to a heavy boot at the base], ratchet
[Operating on the principle of the ratchet device, a gearwheel and a stiff board is mounted
on a handle, which can be freely rotated], temple blocks [its sound is similar to that of
the wood block, although temple blocks have a darker, more "hollow" timbre], tom-tom
triangle
vibraslap
washboard
whip [consisting of two wooden boards joined by a hinge at one endand], wood block
Electric cello
Crwth
Double Bass
Fiddle
Gadulka (Bulgaria)
Gudok (Russia)
Nyckelharpa
Viol
Viola
Viola d'amore
Banjo (American)
Bouzouki (Greece)
Chitarrone (Mexico)
Electric bass
Guitar
Gusli (Russia)
Harp
Kora [21 string harp-lute used extensively by Mandingo peoples in West Africa]
Koto (Japan)
Lute (Europe)
Mandolin
Musical bow
Pipa (China)
Sarod
Shamisen (Japan)
Sitar (India)
Ukulele (Hawaii)
Veena (India)
Zither (China)
Hammered dulcimer
Voice, that is, the human voice, is an instrument in its own right. A singer
generates sounds when airflow from the lungs sets the vocal cords into oscillation.
The fundamental frequency is controlled by the tension of the vocal cords and the
tone quality by the formation of the vocal tract; a wide range of sounds can be
created.