Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/223

* MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 185 MUSICAL NOTATION. compass of the clarinet in C is from e to e'. It is possible to obtain notes below and above this range by building clarinets in dill'erent keys. Thus the clarinet in A produces the same series of tones a minor third lower, so that the lowest tone is cS and the highest a^ The clarinet in Eb produces the tones a minor third higher, so that its lowest tone is g and its highest eb". Hence the music for any transposing instrument nuist be written in a key above or beluio the key of the composition by the same interval as the key of the instrument is b(ioti> or above C. For instance, a piece is written in A|j major and the composer desires to employ the Eb clarinet. Since every tone sounds a minor third higlier than the written note, it is necessary to write this particular clarinet part in a key lying a minor third below Ab, i.e. in F. See Trans- posing Instruments. A. The Wood-aiiid. — The instruments belong- ing to this class are generally made of wood, but ivory is also used, and quite recently flutes have been made of silver. The .instruments of the wood-wind family are: (1) the Hute; (2) the piccolo (a small llute with very shrill tones) ; (3) the oboe; (4) the English horn; (5) the clarinet; (0) the bassoon; (7) the double or contra bassoon; (8) the flageolet. (See the separate articles.) This last instrument was extensively employed by GInck and Jlozart, but is now obsolete. Of the wood-wind instruments the English horn and the clarinet are trans- posing instruments, as was also the flageolet. All the wood-wind instruments have a rich, mel- low tone approaching that of the human voice more closely than any other instruments. B. The Brass. — The members of this class consist of ( 1 ) the horn ; ( 2 ) the cornet ; ( 3 ) the trumpet; (4) the trombone; (5) the tuba; ( fi ) the ophicleide ; ( 7 ) the serpent. ( See the separate articles.) The two last named are ob- solete. Yith the exception of the trombone, all these instruments are transposing instruments. The tones produced by brass instruments are distinguished as nahiral and harmonie tones. The former are produced upon the o])en tube by regulating the force of the air-current by means of the lips; the successive tones produced are the harmonics or overtones of the funda- mental. ( See Harmonics. ) All tones produced by the aid of the valves are called harmonie tones. In the case of the trombone the length of the vibrating air-column is not regulated by valves, but by a slide. Formerly the horns and trumpets had no valves, and these instruments are to-day called natural horns and trumpets. To produce a complete scale on them it was necessary to insert the left hand in the opening. They have now been entirely superseded by the valve-horns and trumpets. The trumpets must have undergone considerable change since the days of Bach and Handel, for in the works of these masters we find passages written for trumpets which no one can execute to-day. All the brass instruments are built in many keys. so that it is easily possilde to write four-part harmony for only one group of brass instruments. For instance, in the case of trombones there are four varieties: the alto, tenor, bass, and double-bass trombone. The latest additions to the family of brass instruments are the tubas, which Wagner had constructed especially for his liing der Nibeliingen. See Tuba. Instruments of Percussion. The instru- ments of percussion may be divided into two principal classes: (A) Those which have definite pitch; (B) those which have not. The former class comprises (I) the kettle-drums; (2) the glockenspiel; (3) the .xylophone. The latter class includes: (1) the bass drum; (2) the small drums; (3) the tambourine; (4) the tamtam; ( 5 ) the cymbals ; ( C ) the triangle ; ( 7 ) the castanets. {See the .separate articles.) The chief use of instruments of percussion is for marking the rhythm. Those instruments that are devoid of definite |)itcli are capable only of rhythmic figures; whereas the glockenspiel and xylophone can play melodic figures as well. Of all the instruments of percussion the kettle- drums are the most important and most generally used. For description of the keyed instruments {pianoforte and organ), the reader is referred to the extensive special articles. I'nder the above headings the instruments at present in use in the orchestra have been de- scribed in their general features and especially in their relation to other members of the same family. Besides the instruments mentioned. many others have been in use in former times. There are still others in actual use, but as they are not employed for music of a high cliaracter, they have not been discussed. Then there is still another class of instruments recently invented, which, however, have not yet come into general use, as the saxophone (q.v. ). The following is a list of instruments of these classes: alpenhorn, bagpipe, basset-horn, bugle, cembal d'amore, chimes, clavichord, concertina, crowd, dulcimer, fliigelhorn, glasschord. harpsichord, hurdy-gurdy, jews-harp, kazoo, krummhorn, lur, lute, lyre, ocarina, psaltery, sarrusophone, saxophone, .shawm, spinet, theorbo, viol, virginal. Instru- ments of the nations of antiquity and of Oriental nations are treated in the special articles on the music of those nations. Besides the instruments employed in musical performances, there are a few that are built solely for the purpose of acoustic experiments. These are (1) the monochord; (2) the siren; (3) the tuning-fork (qq.v. ). Among the most valuable works on the history of musical instruments may be mentioned: W,a- sielewski, Geschiclite der Jnstrunirnlahniisil^. im XVI. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1878) ; Comettant, //O musique, les musiciens et les instruments de musique ehez les diff (rents peuples du monde (Paris, 1869) ; Vidal, Lest instruments d archet (ib., 1878); Sehletterer, Die Ahnen moderner M usikinstrumente (Leipzig, 1882) ; Hofmann, Katechismus der Musikinstrumente (ib., 1890); .lohn Hawkins. General History of the Hcience and I'raetiee of Musie (originally published in five volumes in 177(3, reprinted in two volumes, London, 187.5). This latter work is particularly valuable for its many cuts of now obsolete instru- ments. MUSICAL NOTATION. The art of express- ing musical compn^itions in writing by means of certain conventional signs called notes. The oldest system of notation of which we have any knowledge is the aljihabetieal notation of the Greeks. The detailed descriptions of this system left to us enable us to decipher without much diiliculty the few remnants of Greek music re-