Keyboards

1 of 1 Pages

In the history of musical instruments, the keyboard is something of a Johnny-come-lately, having first appeared some 2,250 years ago. The earliest instrument of all is the human voice, and some form of rudimentary percussion probably came next. The plucked string – ancestor of the harpsichord family – is likely to have arrived with the firing of the first arrow, if not before; the wind family with a blade of grass ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
920 Words Read More

Like its close relation the concertina, the accordion is a glorified mouth organ, in which the ‘reeds’ (now generally made of tempered steel) are set in vibration by a rectangular bellows. The bellows are operated by the left hand, which also – as in all keyboard instruments – manipulates the so-called bass keyboard, in this case a collection of buttons, rather than keys proper, which produce both single notes and certain ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
277 Words Read More

On the face of it, barrels and music would seem unlikely bedfellows. Their alliance, however, goes back at least to the ninth century, when the first detailed description of a barrel organ appeared in an Arab treatise. Mechanics of the Barrel Organ The mechanical principle underlying all such instruments, from the automated organ and piano to the spectacular mechanical orchestras of the nineteenth century, for which Beethoven composed his notorious Battle Symphony. ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
508 Words Read More

The history of musical instruments has always been very closely linked to the history of music itself. New musical styles often come about because new instruments become available, or improvements to existing ones are made. Improvements to the design of the piano in the 1770s, for instance, led to its adoption by composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91), who quickly developed a new, individual style of keyboard writing. On the ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
5434 Words Read More

One of the oldest keyboard instruments, the clavichord has its origins in the late-fourteenth century, and was used throughout Western Europe during the Renaissance. It maintained its popularity in German lands into the first quarter of the nineteenth century, when, like its cousin the harpsichord, it was decisively superseded by the piano. Pitch and Timbre The clavichord is the most touch-responsive keyboard instrument yet devised. The piano’s range of dynamics and tone ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
563 Words Read More

The affectionately nicknamed ‘squeeze box’ is the smallest of all conventional keyboard instuments, and the lowliest cousin of the organ (except the shirt-pocket harmonica). Strictly speaking, however, it has neither keys nor a keyboard. Nor has it a uniform shape. Playing Technique Whereas the standard English concertina is hexagonal, German and American models are square. The basic principle, though, is common to all: tuned metallic reeds are set in motion by ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
450 Words Read More

Often regarded as the country cousin (and hence the bumpkin) of the organ family, the harmonium did add a touch of warmth to many nineteenth-century rural homes, where the purchase of a piano would have been an unaffordable luxury. But the two instruments often cohabited, too. Harmonium Compositions Today, unlike the piano, the harmonium is a rarity, ousted among other things by its electronic successors, but it was never a bumpkin. Many ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
658 Words Read More

In one form or another, the harpsichord ruled the domestic keyboard roost throughout Europe – and later in America – from the late-sixteenth to the early-nineteenth centuries. Apart from the organ, it was the grandest and most versatile of all keyboard instruments until the advent of the mature fortepiano in the mid- to late-eighteenth century. Rise and Fall of the Harpsichord Its prevalence may be gauged by the fact that the first ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
1189 Words Read More

Keyboard percussion instruments include the western xylophone, marimba, vibraphone and glockenspiel, the log xylophones and marimbas of Africa and Central America, and the barred instruments played in the Indonesian gamelan. The orchestral xylophone, marimba and glockenspiel have thin wooden or metal rectangular bars laid out like a chromatic piano keyboard. The back row of bars – the sharps and flats – are raised above those in front. The bars of the ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
1151 Words Read More

Zither The zither is part of a group of instruments which are linked by the fact that sets of strings run parallel to their main body, and that – unlike the lute, lyre or harp – they can still be played even without a resonating device. In the concept’s least advanced state, native instruments exist which are little more than a stick carrying strings along its length. Closely identified with the Alpine ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer
2133 Words Read More

The organ is an instrument of extremes – the biggest, the loudest, the lowest, the highest, the oldest, the newest and the most complex, it is also among the smallest, the most intimate, the most modest, and the simplest. Organ Extremes The aptly named portative organ – much played from the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries – rested comfortably on the player’s lap, while being pumped with the left hand and played ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
1364 Words Read More

In 1905, and probably for several decades before that, there were more pianos in the United States than there were bathtubs. In Europe, throughout the nineteenth century, piano sales increased at a greater rate than the population. English, French and German makers dispatched veritable armies of pianos to every corner of the Earth. It was the instrument of the age. A Romantic Symbol Born around 1700, in the twilight of the traditional ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
2931 Words Read More

The name ‘player piano’ is a misnomer, indeed the precise opposite of the truth. In fact, this is a playerless piano – a piano that plays itself. Origins of the Player Piano Though almost exclusively associated with the early-twentieth century, the idea of a self-playing piano had been around for centuries. Henry VIII’s self-playing virginals and Clementi’s studded-cylinder piano of 1825 were part of the same dream. The key to its fulfilment ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
528 Words Read More

The spinet is known by many names and has several definitions. Perhaps the most misleading is the American usage of the term to denote a small upright piano. The most confusing is the use of the word to describe a square piano, and a more ancient confusion arises from its use as a synonym for the virginals or, indeed, any small harpsichord. Spinet Construction The word itself derives from the Latin spina ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
279 Words Read More

The sole remaining mystery of the virginals is its name – and its singular plurality. A virginals? Nor need there be two instruments to speak of a ‘pair’ of virginals. This was common parlance in Tudor times. Origins of the Virginals As to the singular or plural form, both are acceptable these days – but why ‘virginal’ in the first place? Can this be an instrument conceived never to be played? A ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins
484 Words Read More
1 of 1 Pages

AUTHORITATIVE

An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...

CURATED

Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.

Rock, A Life Story

Rock, A Life Story

The ultimate story of a life of rock music, from the 1950s to the present day.

David Bowie

David Bowie

Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers his life, music, art and movies, with a sweep of incredible photographs.