Performing Media

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Performing Media

• The different instruments that create music
• (page 11-31 in you textbook)

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Why its important to know what instruments sound
like

• Can identify motives and melodies that return
  only in one instrument
• Composers can use different instruments to
  express different ideas

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Vocal Music

• Professional singers have a range of two or more
  octaves
• Untrained singers often have a range of an octave
  and a half or less
• Mens voices are lower because their vocal folds
  are longer and thicker

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General Voice Parts
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Musical Instruments

• An instrument is any mechanism that produces
  sound
• Classified into six families- Brass, Woodwind,
  String, Percussion, Keyboard, electronic
• Tone color varies according to the register of
  the instrument, which is the range the instrument
  plays

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String Instruments

• Violins, Violas, Cellos, Double Bass (or
  sometimes just the bass)
• These are bowed strings, meaning the are played
  with a bow
• Notes are changed by placing fingers on the
  fingerboard

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Fingerboard
Pegs
F-Hole
Bridge
Tailpiece
Chin rest
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String Techniques

• Pizzicato- Plucking the strings
• Double stop- Playing two strings at once
• Vibrato- The player rocks his or her hand back
  and forth to create a fluctuation in pitch
• Tremolo- Moving the bow back and forth rapidly on
  one string
• Harmonics- high pitch tones where the played

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Other string instruments

• The harp
• The guitar and bass guitar
• These two are often played with a pick or a
  plectrum

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Woodwind instruments

• Named because they were traditionally made of
  wood
• Create sound by vibrating a column of air inside
  the instruments
• Pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes
  in the instrument

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Woodwind instruments
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Woodwind instruments

• Single reed instruments have one reed
• Clarinet, Saxophone
• Double reeds have two reeds
• Oboe, Bassoon
• Flutes and piccolos have no reeds. Vibration is
  caused by blowing across an edge

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Brass Instruments

• Brass instruments all have a funnel shaped
  mouthpiece.
• Vibrations are caused by the musicians lips
• All have a bell to amplify the sound
• Pitch is controlled by the musicians lips and the
  valves or slides

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Brass Instruments

• Trumpets
• Trombone
• French Horn
• Tuba
• Brass players can alter the tone color by using a
  mute, a cone shaped piece of wood or plastic
  inserted into the bell.

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Percussion instruments

• Any instrument that is struck, shaken, or rubbed
  together
• Divided into two groups Definite pitch or
  indefinite pitch

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Keyboard Instruments

• Each played with a series or keys that allows
  multiple sounds to be played easily at once
• Each of the instruments sounds very different
  from each other

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Keyboard Instruments Piano

• Vibrations caused by hammers hitting metal
  strings
• Have two to three pedals
• Damper pedal- Allows all notes to be sustained
  after the pianist releases the keys
• Mute pedal- shifts hammers over so it only hits
  one or two strings for each key
• Sostenuto- sustains only the keys being held down
  when the pedal is pressed

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Keyboard Instruments Harpsichord

• Similar looking to a piano
• Gut strings are plucked, and so cant be
  sustained
• May have two sets of keys, called manuals

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Keyboard Instruments Organ

• Vibrations caused by air moving through pipes
• Wide variety of tone colors
• May have several manuals
• Pipes are controlled by stops, switches that
  control which pipes the air go through
• Also have pedals, a keyboard played by the feet

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Electronic Instruments

• Any instrument that amplifies or produces sound
  through electronic means
• Range from electric pianos to synthesizers and
  computers
• Have had a significant effect on all music since
  1950

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Electronic Instruments Tape Studio

• Composer recorded various sounds- could be a
  flute or birds singing
• Manipulation the sounds in various ways
• Rhythm controlled fully, as the length depended
  only on the length of the tape
• Time consuming, difficult, and inaccurate

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Electronic Instruments Synthesizers

• Electronic components that generate, modify, and
  control sound
• Generate a wide variety of musical sounds and
  noises
• Can be played by means of a keyboard
• Uses several different ways to generate sound

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Electronic Instruments Computers

• Used as both control devices and to drive MIDI
  equipment
• Can generate sounds, help composers write scores,
  store audio samples
• Computer Music- All music is created by the
  computer
• The line between computer music and synthesized
  music is very blurry

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The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra by
Benjamin Britten

• Written to introduce people to the instruments of
  a typical modern orchestra
• Based on a theme by Henry Purcell
• Thirteen variations are played by individual
  instruments