Instruments

The Voice

It is impossible to have music without musical instruments; the most important musical instrument being the voice. Thus everybody with a voice (which is technically every person) have with them an instrument to produce music. In certain settings the voice is the only instrument, for instance in a cappella singing, which is often used in religious music. A cappella music is singing without instrumental accompaniment.

Voices differ greatly in their timbre. Listen, for instance to Doris Day singing “Dream a Little Dream of Me”. Now compare her voice with that of Louis Armstrong singing the same song. How do these examples differ in timbre?

Wind Instruments

“Wind instruments are those in which the sounds is produced by a vibrating column of air” (Crossroads in Music, p. 49). Wind instruments are divided into woodwinds and brass-winds.

String Instruments

“Instruments in which the sound is generated by a vibrating string are called string instruments” (Crossroads in Music, p. 50).

Percussion

“Percussion instruments that produce a sound when struck or shaken. Drums are almost exclusively percussion instruments in which the sounds is produced by the vibration of a stretched piece of skin or plastic (a head)” (Crossroads in Music, p. 50).

Synthetic Instruments

“Synthetic instruments are those in which the sound is produced electronically, not by the vibration of some natural material. Instruments such as synthesizers use oscillators to produce sound electronically. Other instruments such as the electric guitar, in which a natural vibration is amplified and/or modified electronically, are not synthetic instruments” (Crossroads in Music, p. 56).

“Instruments that do not create sound but trigger the actions of a computer/synthesizer are called controllers. These include guitar controllers, drum machines, keyboard controllers, wind controllers, and keyboard mallet controllers. Computers are also able to reproduce natural sounds through a process called sampling. A sampler is a device that takes successive digital snapshots of a natural sound over time. The digital information can then be used to recreate the sound synthetically. In another process called sequencing, the digital data that is necessary to play back MIDI [Musical Instrument Digital Interface] sequences and files is stored in a computer” (Crossroads in Music, p. 57).

Ensembles

"Instruments and/or voices that perform together are called ensembles. Such groupings provide for greater diversity in volume, pitch, and timbre than a solo voice or instrument can create" (Crossroads in Music, p. 57).

Since the 20th century, orchestras (big ensembles) used an orchestra seating plan to arrange the different instruments.

Please familiarize yourself with the basic instruments and their sounds/timbres. This will help you to more effectively discuss a song and its orchestration.