Module 2- Musical Instruments

What are instruments?

Musical instruments are any sound producing medium used in the creation
of music. This includes the human body (voice) and all electronic and chance
production of musical sounds.

Musical instruments are amongst the earliest evidence of humans creating

art. The oldest extant instruments are flutes found in Hohle Fels cave in Southwest
Germany. These flutes are made out of the leg bone of a swan and wooly mammoth
ivory. These flutes reveal musical activity at the end of the “stone” age. Visual
representations of musical instruments can be found in most of the World’s ancient
cultures (Egyptian sistrum, Persian ney, Chinese xun, Greek “Pan” flutes, aboriginal
Australian bullroarer, log drums of the Aztecs, and so on). We also learn about
instruments from myths, legends, and in art. Although there is much evidence left of
musical instruments there is little information left on how they were played.
Because of this ethnomusicologists must make many deductions and assumptions
about how music sounded.
Perhaps the first musical instruments were used for communication.
Signaling instruments are common even today. Trumpets and drums have a long
tradition of signaling in military units both on and off of the battlefield. Shofars and
Kudu horns uphold this same tradition in various older cultures. Gongs and
church bells have long signaled many events. In Tibetan Buddhism monks blow into
conch shells to signal times and call people to prayer. The drum beat of a Turkish
Janissary band was used to strike fear into Christian crusaders. Electronic musical
tones now signal the arrival of text messages, phone calls, the completion of a
download, and any number of achievements on video games. Determining the use
of an instrument helps to give insight into the meaning of it to the people who use it.
When looking into the instruments of any culture it is helpful to use a
classification system. The most common used classification system for musical
instruments (used in Western academia) is called the Hornbostel-Sachs instrument
classification system (published in 1914). This system is based off of a Hindu
system used by Belgian curator Victor Mahillion in the late 1800s. There are five
categories of instruments in the Hornbostel-Sachs classification:
• Idiophones- instrument in which primary sound producing medium is the
vibrating body of the instrument itself.
• Membranophones- instrument in which the primary sound producing
medium is a vibrating stretched membrane (skin)
• Chordophones- instrument in which the primary sound producing medium is
a vibrating chord (string)
• Aerophones- instrument in which the primary sound producing medium is a
vibrating column of air
• Electrophones- instrument where the sound is differentiated electronically
Some notable examples from each category that can be used for your project:
Idiophones: cymbal, triangle, zils, slit drums, wood blocks, chimes, bells,
glockenspiel, marimba, balaphone, xylophone, mbira, gongs, (Gamelan has: kenong,
ageng, kempul, kempli, gansa, ugal, jublag, panyacah, jegogan), steel drums, jaw
harp, shakers, rattles, guiro, bones, castanets, udu, Hang drum

Membranophones: drums of all kinds= djembe, ashiko, talking-drums, tar, tabla,

mrdangam, taiko, powwow drum, bass drum, snare drum, timpani, surdo, repinique,
cuica, conga, bongo, frame drums, tambourine, rik, kanjir, bodran

Aerophones: flutes (dizi, western, piccolo, shakuhachi, Native American, ocarina,

recorder), trumpets and horns (French horn, bugle, shofar, kudu, trombone,
trumpet, baritone, bugle, conch), pan pipes, didgeridoo, reed instruments (oboe,
bassoon, clarinet, saxophone, harmonica, bagpipes, accordion, concertina),
bullroarer, sirens, organ

Chordophones: zithers (autoharp, qanun, uhadi, berimbau, dulcimer), harps, kora,

lutes (guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, violin, viola, ‘cello, double bass, bouzouki,
sitar, oud, charango, guqin, koto, balalaika, ngoni, molo), piano, harpsichord

Electrophones: telharmonium, theremin, ondes Martenot, synthesizer, computer,

midi-instruments, electric aerophones/ chordophones/ membranophones/
idiophones, turntables, magnetic tape, sequencers, samplers

Extra-Musical Associations:
Many instruments have extra-musical associations. These are ideas that
people have about the instruments that are supplemental to musical notes produced
by the instrument. Many of these associations highlight what these instruments
mean to the people who listen to them.
Associations of location and culture are found with instruments. The
didgeridoo is typically associated with Australia. More particular knowledge of the
instrument evokes thoughts of the aboriginal Australians who created and perform
on it. The Brazilian berimbau is a chordophone associated with slaves who used
the instrument to accompany capoeira. Capoeira is a martial art that is disguised as
dance. Because of this the berimbau is associated with rebellion and resistance.
Steel pans/drums are the national symbol of Trinidad and Tobago. They are 55-
gallon oil “drums” that have musical notes hammered into one end. They are
idiophones. Across the globe many people associate the sounds of the steelpan with
idyllic island settings.
Gender Associations can be made about instruments when the instruments
are designated to be played by either males or females. In many traditional African
cultures many instruments are to be played only by males. The mbira is a plucked
idiophone from the Shona people of the Zambezi valley in southern Africa. It is
commonly associated with the country of Zimbabwe but has become a popular
instrument across the continent and into the diaspora. In many cultural traditions
this instrument is only to be performed by males. In ancient Egyptian society this
gender bias was not generally the case. The sistrum was an instrument only to be
played by females. In American society traditional associations with regards to
gender preference for instrumental performance exist, but are fading. The tradition
used to have smaller instruments like the flute and clarinet being assigned to girls
while larger instruments like the tuba and double bass were played by boys. The
second way that instruments can take on gender associations is if the instrument
itself is considered to be male or female. The Afro-Cuban bongos are a set of two
drums where the larger drum is female (hembra) and the smaller drum is male
(macho). This can be seen in American society with harps that are considered to be
female.
Many instruments evoke spiritual associations. This can mean that the
instrument is associated with prayer and worship. Examples of this include the
organ (associated with traditional Christian worship), the Shakuhachi flute
(associated with Zen Buddhist meditation), kangling and conch shell (Tibetan
Buddhism=voice of Buddha), and the mrdangam drum (South Indian/Carnatic=
association with Hindu deity Ganesh). Sometimes instruments help communication
between the spirit world and the physical world. The Australian didgeridoo
facilitates passage to “Dream Time” in Aboriginal practice. The Bata drums help to
call down Orishas in Cuban Santeria. This is a religious practice of Afro-Cubans that
combines African and European religious traditions. The powwow drum helps to
cleanse/refresh the spirit of Native American males who play it while singing.
Spiritual associations can also be generic associations of instruments with good or
evil. This can be seen in American culture with the Harp association with Angels
and the violin and guitar association with the devil.
When musical instruments have aesthetic associations they are often used as
visual works of art. When instruments carry strong visual aesthetic value people
often obtain them not to play music but instead to enjoy their look. Many
instruments are carved or decorated in ways that make them valuable. The Tibetan
conch shell is traditionally carved and encrusted with jewels. Gamelan instruments
are ornately carved and become visual showpieces in temples where they are
performed. Instruments can often be found on display in museums. Instruments
valued for differing aesthetics can be found mounted on the walls of restaurants in
the USA. Aesthetic value does not always mean “fine-art”.
Cultural status can sometimes be indicated by the music that one listens to
or the instrument that one chooses to play. In pre-television America a favorite
pastime was music making. In hollers and farmhouses of less affluent people
instruments like the guitar, banjo, and harmonica were common because of their
cost and availability. People who owned more complex and expensive instruments
could show their cultural status by playing the genres associated with these
instruments. To this day many Americans have pianos in homes where no one
performs on them. The Korean komungo is a plucked zither that has fretted and
non-fretted silk strings. It is traditionally associated with aristocratic courts and
high-class status.
Often instruments are thought of primarily as products to sell for profit. If
the instruments are manufactured poorly or not up to the standards needed to make
music then they have an extra-musical association of being substandard or cheap.
When large department retailers sell musical instruments like guitars, drums, and
keyboards they tend to have this association. In America inadequate versions of
West-African djembe drums are commonly sold in import stores as “African”
themed decorations. To the seller these are a marketable product. To the buyer
these are generally an aesthetic visual accent.
Sometimes instruments retain (or increase) in value as time passes. If this is
the case than the instruments can be thought of as investments. The European
violin family of instruments became standardized in design and construction during
the Baroque style period (1600-1750). The luthiers (violin builders) of that time
(Amati, Guarneri, Stradivari) built instruments that remain renowned and sought
after. These instruments have been valued for so long that often the historical
associations add much to the value. These instruments now sell for millions of
dollars at auction.

Ensemble basics/ranges:

When two instruments perform together it is generally referred to as a duet

or solo (instrument) with accompaniment. It is a common practice to accompany a
melody on another instrument. In American Pop music there are many examples of
artists accompanying their own singing by playing harmony and rhythm on guitar
or piano. For this to be a duet there have to be two musicians.
When more than two instruments perform together the group is called an
ensemble. Two musicians make a duet, three make a trio, four make a quartet, and
so on. Instruments in an ensemble generally differ in register or in timbre.
Register and range refer to the “height” of a note or the height of an
instrument’s range of notes. Range is the distance from the lowest to the highest
notes that an instrument can play. In Western musical practice ensembles
generally contain instruments that can cover the notes in four standard ranges:
soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. These registers are associated with basic registers of
the human voice. The basic vocal registers are:

Soprano: the high-female vocal range

Alto: the low-female vocal range
Tenor: the high-male vocal range
Bass: the low-male vocal range

Western vocal music is traditionally composed in a way that limits singers to their
natural range. For western aesthetics each range is roughly two octaves. Choral
music is commonly composed with four musical lines: sopranos, altos, tenors, and
basses. Singers sing the line that fits their vocal range.
Instruments are also given these designations based on the ranges that they
play. Some use the actual terminology of the vocal ranges to show the differing
registers. An example of this is the saxophone (sax) family of instruments.
Saxophones are single reed instruments of the woodwind family that are usually
made of brass. The common high-pitched saxophone is called a soprano. The alto
saxophone has the same timbre as a soprano sax but it plays a lower pitch range.
The tenor saxophone plays lower notes than the alto sax with the baritone playing
even lower. Baritone indicates a pitch range in-between tenor and bass. There are
several in-between and extended ranges. A common saxophone quartet includes a
soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax and baritone sax. These instruments all have similar
timbre but they differ in range. Western bowed-lutes are also differentiated by the
register of each instrument. The high-pitch instrument is called a violin. A viola is
slightly larger and has a lower range. The violoncello (‘cello) is lower still with the
double-basses playing the lowest range of notes. A common string quartet consists
of two violins, a viola, and a violoncello.
Because the aforementioned ensembles were all made of the same
instruments they all had similar timbres. Ensembles in which all of the instruments
have similar timbers are referred to as homogeneous ensembles. While this is
certainly an apt description for ensembles of instruments that differ only in register
(like choirs, saxophone quartets, and string quartets) it can also be true of
ensembles that contain different instruments. Usually these different instruments
are from the same family (but not always). Examples of this include woodwind
ensembles (oboe, flute, French horn, bassoon, clarinet) and brass ensembles
(trumpet, trombone, baritone, French horn, tuba).
Ensembles in which instrumental timbres vary are called heterogeneous.
There are many genres of contemporary popular music that exemplify this concept.
The basic band used in much instrumental pop contains a rhythm section (drum-
set/kit, bass guitar, guitar, keyboard. In itself a rhythm section is a heterogeneous
ensemble. The timbre of the drums is not meant to blend with the timbre of the
guitar or piano. The drum kit itself is a heterogeneous instrument. The standard
components of a drum set are:

• High-hat= two cymbals played together with foot pedal or a stick

• Ride cymbal= large cymbal that is meant for consistent patterns instead of
accenting important moments
• Crash cymbal= smaller cymbal that is used to accent important moments
• Snare Drum= drum that has wires (snares) stretched across the bottom head
• Tom Toms- drums of various sizes
• Bass Drum- Lowest pitched drum

The cymbals have a different timbre than the drums. The high-hat has a different
timbre than the cymbals. A snare drum has a different timbre than the other drums.
Add to the rhythm section a lead instrument playing a melody and the timbres vary
even more. This instrument is often the human voice but it can be a melodic
instrument like trumpet, saxophone, or flute as well.
Often an ensemble has aspects that are both heterogeneous and
homogeneous. Symphony orchestras are the large ensembles that play many
popular genres of Western Art Music (symphony, concerto, opera, soundtracks for
films/games, ballet). Orchestras are made up of four sections of instruments
grouped by timbre (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion). The art of
orchestration refers to how a composer (or orchestrator) creatively uses the
varying timbres. Sometimes the composer will write for only one section, creating a
homogeneous ideal. This can be contrasted with sections where the entire
orchestra is playing, creating a heterogeneous ideal. Orchestration can also be
heard in marching bands, wind ensembles, Chinese orchestras, Brazilian samba
groups, Japanese gagaku, and in Indonesian gamelan orchestras.
Musicians in ensembles practice individually and then come together to
rehearse. These rehearsals require coordinated efforts by the musicians to achieve
a common goal. Often this necessitates a leader. In many large ensemble genres the
leader is someone who organizes activities, conceptualizes musical goals, rehearses
the group, and performs with the ensemble. Many drumming groups from around
the globe are led by a master drummer who preforms cues and signals that guide
the ensemble and dancers through the music. Jazz bands are usually led by a
prominent band member who rehearses the group, and counts off (starts) tunes.
The musical leadership role of symphony orchestras has evolved from a violinist
who led the group while playing (much like a jazz band director). As the music
became more demanding there was a greater need for the leader to lead without
performing on an instrument. The result is a conductor who rehearses the group,
starts and stops the ensemble, guides them through tempo changes, and inspires the
best efforts of the musicians (and the audience).

Digital music:

Perhaps the most important development in the history of musical

instruments was the invention of digital audio production (computers). The
computer has put the sounds of all acoustic instruments in the hands of the music
producer. The computer allows producers the ability to create new timbres and
instruments that are not limited by physical ability to perform. As with most
musical innovations of the past we currently hear these innovations in dance music
and in experimental genres. There is no end to the sonic possibilities of this
relatively new instrument.

Reference List:

Bakan, Michael B. 2012. World Music: Traditions and Transformations. 2nd ed.
New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kilroe-Smith, Catherine. 2013. Musical Journeys. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.

Wade, Bonnie C. 2013. Thinking Musically: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture.

3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.