Music Makers

People of all ages continue to be captivated by sound and music makers which can be fabricated, altered, decorated, held and played. Attitudes such as inquisitiveness, perseverance, resourcefulness and critical thinking assist in generating delight and accomplishment.

 Looking back and thinking about my ensemble of instruments which I have gathered together in these weeks, I realise that the most important factor for me for each instrument was the quality of sound.  Making an instrument look attractive will not guarantee an appropriate musical quality will be forthcoming. So often we witness this when we hear a talented musician performing with a much-loved but battered and, perhaps, dented, instrument: the musician is happy with the quality of sound produced from the instrument.

Also, another factor which has been relevant to my instrument-making learning experience is that the performer must learn how to acquire the best possible outcome from the instrument. If one purchases a brand new and shiny instrument, there is pleasure gained from the “look” and “feel” of the freshness and brightness about the item. However, most instruments need to be “set up” , preferably by a professional, in order for the player to be able to achieve success in playing and to bring out the best that the instrument has to offer.

Music plays a significant part in our lives and, because of this, instruments are fondly created and ornamented. I thoroughly enjoyed assembling my little orchestra and feel inspired to pursue the project further in the future, when time permits. Here is my ensemble:

Artists have depicted musical instruments in ways that show how much mankind values music, such as Zoffany’s painting (from circa 1779-1781), seen below, entitled The Sharp Family on the Thames.

Kendall reminds us, in Musical Instruments (page  117, 1985, London, Hamlyn), that “the future of musical instruments seems to offer a variety of possibilities” and that “the traditional instruments of the symphony orchestra as it has evolved to the present time will doubtless continue in use, with progressive improvement in the technique of both players and makers”.

          Meanwhile, electronic instruments continue to allow production and modification of sounds. The ability to be able to assemble a large number of sounds on individual tracks and then blend them to produce an ostinato or repeated element delivers extra possibilities for compositions and performance situations. One benefit of advancements in technology is the capacity for a performer to utilise live electronic techniques combined with conventional and electronic instruments. Improved computer equipment has considerably advanced sound synthesis and the process of composition.

          Musician, Steve Lawson explains how to use a loop: “The basic idea is this – a looper is an effect that allows the musician to record what they are playing and then loop it while they play over the top. Almost all looping devices allow you to do multiple layers on that loop, and some of them allow you to do fun things to the loop once it is recorded – reverse it, slow it down, speed it up, stop it, restart it, remove some or all of the layers.” 

I am going to conclude my blog session with a remarkable example of looping by the extremely gifted performer, Imogen Heap. (The video is presented on Steve Lawson’s website listed at the end of the blog.) Take delight in Imogen’s performance in which she “uses an Electrix Repeater, which means that she can have a visual click track to keep those loops in time with each other, but nothing here is pre-recorded. Genius!” :

(From  http://www.stevelawson.net/2010/10/musicians-who-use-looping-a-beginners-guide/)

Music and memories define aspects of our lives. Remember, as the painter Paul Klee declared, “adapt yourself according to the contents of the paintbox”.

Pine Cone Bells Shaker

A Bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Usually the form of the bell is that of an open-ended hollow drum which has a striking implement, known as a “clapper”, suspended within the bell: this may be shaped as a sphere or as a mallet. Bells are made in many different sizes and can be formed from cast metal, ceramic or glass.                                                   

A Glass Bell

Small Metals Bells

Large Church Bells

Wade-Matthews affirms, in The World Encyclopaedia of Musical Instruments (page 212, 2002, London, Anness Publishing), that, in 1880, an enthusiastic Tchaikovsky requested that “all the church bells of Moscow” would be rung, pealing out in the grande finale of his 1812 Overture which was to be performed in a concert in the Uspensky Cathedral. Tchaikovsky’s request was denied because “the city fathers deemed the idea impractical”. However, Tchaikovsky was permitted to have the bells of the Uspensky Cathedral ring out and it must have been an outstanding concert.

Rimsky- Korsakov, in the nineteenth-century, used different instruments in imitation of the sound of bells. His Russian Easter Festival overture (1888) combined the triangle, gong, and cymbal, along with pizzicato and sustained chords from the strings and wind instruments. Modern orchestras utilise tubular bells. Since the 1970’s electronic instruments, such as synthesizers, have been employed to imitate the sounds of bells.

Burns states, in Instruments (page 30, 2009, Canning Vale, IJAM Music), that the brothers, Robert and William Cor, in Wiltshire, England, developed the first tuned handbells between 1696 and 1724. Tuned sets of six or twelve handbells were played by change ringers for rehearsing outside bell towers. The bells were tuned to a diatonic scale. The Cor brothers worked to tune the bells more finely in order to give them a more accurate fundamental tone. They also attached hinged clappers which would only move in one plane. In 1902 hand bells were brought to the United States of America.

Here is a group of high school students performing Eye of the Tiger (Such performances look quite spectacular, especially when the performers wear similar clothing and gloves.) :

Taking the pine cone which I found on my exploratory walk in Week 1, I painted the cone and set it aside to dry, as seen below.

Next I threaded beads with small bells and wound them onto the cone to make a Pine Cone Bells Shaker, as seen below.

The Pine Cone Bells Shaker is simple but effective. It is very easy to play!

Kendall describes a “rather rare instrument which incorporates bells” in Musical Instruments (page 78, 1985, London, Hamlyn) – the Turkish Crescent or “Jingling Johnny”, seen below. Introduced into Europe from Turkey, it was “an extremely decorative addition to the military band”.

The Triangle is another instrument which delightfully embellishes orchestration. It is most effective in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Although probably having the least mass of any orchestral instrument, the triangle possesses a pervading sound, as can be heard in the following video wherein Christopher Deane shows the correct way to play the triangle: 

The Triangle

Drums

Pitched and unpitched drums have evolved around the world, sending signals, ensuring a rhythmic foundation for music and dance, and even stirring emotions in preparation for combat. The Chambers Dictionary of Music (page 181, 2005, London, Chambers Harrap) states that a drum is categorised by being from “a class of percussion instruments consisting of a frame or hollow vessel of wood, metal or earthenware with a membrane of hide or plastic stretched across one or both ends”.

An African Drum

A North American Indian Drum    

Drums are usually played by the striking of the membrane with a hand or hands, a stick or a pair of sticks. Shapes and sizes vary. The sound also varies depending on the structure of the drum, such as steel, wood or skin. Most drums have an indeterminate low or high pitch and are utilised as rhythm instruments. Exceptions include steel drums, orchestral timpani and Indian tabla which are tuned to specific, precise pitches.

          The players of the double-ended, African kalungu, or “talking drum”, seen below, can vary the pitch by squeezing on the tension cords, with higher tension of the cords creating a higher pitch.

Frame drums, such as the Irish Bohdran and the Basque tambour are smaller and lighter in tone and may also have rattles or jingles.

An Irish Bohdran

A Basque Tambour

Tom-toms are unsnared small drums with wooden shells and double heads. Smaller tom-toms are clamped together in pairs. The drums may be supported with legs or connected to the bass drum of a drum kit, having been added to the drum kit in the early part of the twentieth century. Tom-toms are usually of indefinite pitch but can be tuned approximately within the range of E to B flat. Sets of chromatic tom-toms are now available.

           This week I made a set of drums from empty cans, giving each of the three a different sound:  one was encased in a fur-like material, one covered in contact and the other left uncovered but painted. Using mallets, which I made using wood, the drums can be played using hard or soft heads, depending on the musical circumstance. Here is my drum kit:

Drummers often sit with a kit which includes a variety of percussion items, including a bass drum of about 60 cm which has a foot pedal. Other parts of the drum kit, such as the snare drum, hi-hats and blocks, are played with sticks or brushes. There may be a cow bell, gong, triangle and/or chimes. Here is an amusing video featuring Rowan Atkinson in a demonstration of remarkable timing in a skit which exemplifies how a drum kit can provide huge enjoyment: