Instrument

“ Why do not all the extended cords of a musical instrument, such as a piano, violin, violoncello or guitar, repeat together the tone or cry of the voice which utters sounds above them? Why, of all the cords of the same instrument, do those only which are in unison with this voice produce sound? ”

“ When one sees a brass instrument that looks like a trident approaching one's body, and feels long crackling sparks shoot out of its prongs against one's body, it naturally makes a very strong impression upon one's mind. ”

“ Their vast strength and breath of sound, their rich instruments, with every instrument made the most of, their exquisite taste, volume, clearness, distinctness, and mastery of the most difficult passages, makes their performance almost entrancing. ”

“ From every musical instrument we may produce either a fine tone or a detestable one, according as we handle it. The same excellent violin which, in the hands of a clever player, sounds so delightfully, will, when handled by a clumsy person, yield as disagreeable sounds as if a number of kittens were squalling. It is the same with the pianoforte. If it is not properly handled by the player, or if we merely thump and bang the keys, the best instrument will sound hard and unpleasant. ”

“ Many of you possess a violin or a piano, or some musical instrument; but there is only one musical instrument which everyone possesses and has always possessed—the voice. Such a gift was not given without the intention that we should all use it, and use it, as the inferior manufactured instruments are used, for music. ”

“ In a word you yourself become on the spot an interpreter of music, put something of yourself into what you play. The instrument instead of being merely a machine that grinds out music is a machine only in so far as it takes the place of technique, of finger facility. The expression, the real interpretation, that which gives one the fascination of playing, is your own. ”

“ His instrument is always ready to express a tender and painful sentiment; in the high keys it has a metallic timbre between a bell and glass, but with much more sweetness and less shrillness; one could not imagine anything more delicious, more flexible, more penetrating, more incisive! ”

“ Gentlemen, my instrument is large, longer than broad, and stands on four legs, like a table. At one end is a crooked handle, by turning which round, either fast or slow, I do assure you we make most excellent music. ”

“ The touch and action of the instrument are faultless; the firmness, the lightness, and the elasticity of the touch have won the praise of every pianist who has used it. A marked feature in the instrument to which we are alluding is its durability of tone, a result which, as we have already shown, is due to its careful and methodical construction. In every respect, it embodies within itself the conditions of the finest and most reliable of instruments. ”

“ There is the same kind of communication between the man and the instrument, whereby the stricken chords respond to the lightest touch of the master, who guides as with a silken thread the keys that set the trembling strings in motion. ”

“ In the disintegration of water the instrument is set on thirds, sixths, and ninths, to get the best effects. [202] These triple conditions are focalized on the neutral centre of said instrument so as to induce perfect harmony or concordance to the chord-note of the mass-chord of the instrument’s full combination; after which the diatonic and the enharmonic scale located at the top of the instrument, or ring, is thoroughly harmonized with the scale of ninths which is placed at the base of the vibratory transmitter with the telephone head. ”

“ This instrument was an arrangement of strings on a box. Here we have the principle of the sounding-board,—a thing of vital moment to the piano, and one upon which the utmost care is bestowed by all the great makers. Whoever first thought of stretching strings on a box may also be said to have half invented the guitar and the violin. ”

“ It is a very well-known experiment in music, that when one stringed instrument is struck, and another, in tune with it, is held in the hand, it will be felt to tremble in all its solid parts, and one instrument being sounded, another will respond the same note, if in tune with it ; thus doth the frame of man feel and answer to instruments of music, as one instrument answers to another. ”

“ Ranged on carved slabs, at intermediate distances, was placed almost every instrument that may claim a votary. Of viols, from the violin to the double bass,--of instruments of brass, from trombones and bass kettledrums even unto trumpet and cymbal,--of instruments of wood, from winding serpents to octave flute,--and of fiddles of parchment, from the grosse caisse to the tambourine. ”

“ Then for the first time the world possessed an easy and convenient instrument which could be mastered in a couple of years and did not need the eternal tuning of harps and fiddles and was much pleasanter to the ears than the mediæval tubas, clarinets, trombones and oboes. ”

“ I by no Means intend to debase that noble and solemn Instrument the Organ, nor the Wonders that are done upon it, nor the great Merit of the Performers who execute them, by what has been here said; only to discuss a little upon the Perfections and Imperfections of different Instruments, as the more the Imperfections of an Instrument are looked into, the more likely is the Ingenuity of Mechanics one Day or other to rectify them.
X.
That every different Key in Music ought to have a different Effect or Sound. ”

“ I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument. ”

“ Outside the strings the instruments are treated by composers as solo instruments, a single flute, oboe, clarinet, or other wind instrument sometimes doing the same work in the development of the composition as the entire body of first violins. ”

“ These cords, properly adjusted as to size and tension, were made to give the tones of a regular stringed instrument. Such was, in short, the origin of our first musical instruments, the kin and the ché, which were both invented by the same person and at the same time, and both give the peculiar sound of silk. [4]
The construction of the instrument kin affords matter for an interesting study. It is made of toung-wood. The upper part is rounded, to represent the sky; the lower part is flat, and represents the earth. ”

“ Much use was also made of a certain musical instrument, unknown till that time, and which, in such cases, has often been found very powerful. The effect of these artifices was so much beyond my expectation that the enthusiasm to which on this occasion I was obliged to force myself was infinitely heightened by that of my audience. ”

“ The human vocal instrument has the three elements common to all musical instruments,—a motor, a vibrator, and a resonator; to which is added—what all other instruments lack—an articulator.
1. The respiratory muscles and lungs for a motor.
2. The vocal cords for a vibrator.
3. The throat, mouth, and the nasal and head cavities for a resonator.
4. The tongue, lips, teeth, and palate for an articulator. ”

“ It has been said, and with some justice, that the organ of voice is of the nature of a reed instrument. A reed instrument, as most persons know, is one in which musical sounds are produced by the action of a vibrating reed in breaking up a current of air into a series of short puffs. ”

“ Where Stringed Instruments Came From We have seen the stringed instrument developed from the bow when primitive man winged his arrow in the hunt, and heard its twang. Later desiring fuller tone, the sounding board grew, when early peoples sank bow-like instruments and reeds into a gourd which increased and reflected the sound as the metal reflector behind a light intensifies it.
308Strings to produce sound, must be rubbed, like the bow drawn across violin strings, plucked as the mandolin or the harp is plucked, or struck with a hammer as was the dulcimer. ”

“ Are there stringed instruments with sympathetic strings (i.e., strings placed under those strings which are played upon. The sympathetic strings merely serve to increase the sonorousness) ?
"40. What are the musical intervals in which the stringed instruments are tuned?
"41. Do the people possess any musical instrument of a very peculiar construction? ”

“ Should it interest the musician to restore to its original condition some dilapidated lute or cithern which he may happen to pick up, and to learn to play upon it according to the old method taught in some old book, he will become acquainted with niceties in the construction of the instrument, such as the peculiar arrangement of its pegs, frets, bridge, pins, and other contrivances, which are not to be learnt from books. ”

“ But when we endeavour to elucidate in detail the causes of the peculiar character of tone of the violin family, the great range and variety in that character obtained in different instruments, the extent to which those qualities can be controlled by the bow of the player, and the mode in which they are influenced by minute variations in almost every component part of the instrument, we find ourselves faced by a series of problems which have so far defied any but very partial solution. ”

“ In the case of the violin or piano the instrument is perfect from the outset, and the student has only to learn to play it; the singer, on the other hand, has to develop in some cases almost to create his instrument, and then to master the technique of it. ”

“ We may, in the next place, with advantage briefly examine the principles of construction of one musical instrument, and allude to some recent improvements. One of the most interesting of all the musical appliances devised by human ingenuity is the violin, comprising as it does in its construction an art, a science, and a tradition. ”

“ Indeed, every nation’s musical effusions exhibit a character peculiarly their own, with which the musician would find it advantageous to familiarize himself. 5
Now, it will easily be understood that an acquaintance with the musical instruments of a nation conveys a more correct idea than could otherwise be obtained of the characteristic features of the nation’s musical compositions. Furthermore, in many instances the construction of the instruments reveals to us the nature of the musical intervals, scales, modulations, and suchlike noteworthy facts. ”

“ Eveiy new Instrument introduced into the Orchestra influences, more or less, every one of its companions. Every improvement in the form, compass, quality of tone, or executive powers of the Instruments already in use, suggests new ideas to the Composer, and results in an endless variety of new combinations. To the number of such improvements there is no limit. Stringed Instruments, it is true, change but little, except in the manner of their handling. The Violin of to-day is the Violin of two centuries ago. Not so the Wind Instruments. ”

“ There are three instruments; an excellent transit instrument of six and a half inches' aperture, resting on its y's of solid granite. The corrections of the errors of the instrument by means of little screws are given up, and the errors which are known to exist are corrected in the computations. ”

“ "Since I am coming to that holy room,
Where, with Thy Choir of Saints, for evermore
I shall be made Thy music, as I come
I tune my instrument here at the door,
And, what I must do then, think here before. ”

“ Modern skill has not added one new means, but has simply improved the contrivances by which musical sound is produced. We can, however, trace the evolution and growth of the various instruments with considerable accuracy, and to this end it is of the utmost importance to have a clear understanding of the principles upon which musical instruments are constructed, in order to avoid bewilderment among the endless variety that have been and are yet made. All instruments may be divided into three general classes: Percussion Instruments, Wind Instruments, Stringed Instruments. ”

“ The structure of the instruments defines the possibilities of the music, and my belief is that a true idea of the character of ancient musical display can only be arrived at through a practical knowledge of such structure, its capabilities, its limitations, and the scope of its technique, since the qualities of tone that are at the command of the player are always determined by the means of excitation of the sounds, and by the shape and interior forms of the instruments. ”

“ A guitar having straight lines, giving it an old-fashioned appearance, can be made by the home mechanic, and if care is taken in selecting the material, and having it thoroughly seasoned, the finished instrument will have a fine tone. ”

“ This term is used to express the manner in which the keys of the pianoforte or organ are struck or pressed by the fingers. It is a subject of the greatest importance, since it is only by means of a good touch that a satisfactory musical effect can be produced. Touch on a keyed instrument is therefore analogous to a good production of the voice on the part of a singer, or to good bowing on that of a violinist. ”

“ If a sounding board is placed so as to resound to all instruments of the orchestra, and connected by a metallic rod of considerable length with the sounding board of a harp or piano, the instrument will accurately repeat the notes transmitted. ”

“ To conclude all, and to show you what a man of might he is, he has an instrument made of tin, which he puts between his lips and teeth; this instrument has three several pipes, out of which, his arms a-kimbo, a putting forth himself, he will throw forth water from him in three pipes, the distance of four or five yards. ”