Performing Media: Instruments

Videos - Click on this link for more on the instruments of the orchestra

Percussion

• Idiophones are musical instruments that create sound primarily by the instrument as a whole vibrating—without the use of strings or membranes.

• Membranophones are musical instruments which produce sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane

String

• Chordophones are musical instruments that make sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points.

Wind

• Aerophones are musical instruments that produce sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound.

Narrated Video - Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

Instruments of the Orchestra

• Philharmonia (UK) Guide to the Instruments of the Orchestra with Video Demonstrations - https://www.philharmonia.co.uk/explore/instruments

  • Dallas Symphony Instruments of the Orchestra - https://www.mydso.com/dso-kids/learn-and-listen/instruments

  • Naxos Musical Instruments - https://www.naxos.com/education/music_instruments.asp

  • Khan Academy Instruments of the Orchestra - https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/music/music-instruments-orchestra

Glossary

Accordion - Instrument consisting of a bellows between two keyboards (pianolike keys played by the right hand, and buttons played by the left hand) whose sound is produced by air pressure which causes free steel reeds to vibrate.

Alto (contralto) - Female voice of low range.

Baritone - Male voice range lower than a tenor and higher than a bass. Similar in shape to the tuba, with a higher range, commonly used in bands.

Bass - (1) Male voice of low range.

Bass - (2) See double bass.

Bass clarinet - Member of the clarinet family, having a low range. Its shape is curved at the end before flaring into a bell.

Bass drum - Percussion instrument of indefinite pitch, the largest of the orchestral drums.

Bass fiddle - See double bass

Bassoon - Double-reed woodwind instrument, made of wood, having a low range.

Bow - Slightly curved stick strung tightly with horsehair, used to play string instruments.

Brass instrument - Instrument, made of brass or silver, whose sound is produced by the vibrations of the player's lips as he or she blows into a cup- or funnel-shaped mouthpiece. The vibrations are amplified and colored in a tube that is flared at the end.

Celesta - Percussion instrument of definite pitch, with metal bars that are struck by hammers controlled by a keyboard.

Cello - (violoncello) String instrument with a range lower than that of the viola and higher than that of the double bass.

Chimes - Percussion instrument of definite pitch, with suspended metal tubes that are struck with a hammer.

Clarinet - Single-reed woodwind instrument with a beak-shaped mouthpiece, cylindrical in shape with a slightly flared bell.

Computer - Tool used to synthesize music, to help composers write scores, to store samples of audio signals, and to control synthesizing mechanisms.

Computer music - Composition including sounds generated and manipulated by computer.

Contrabassoon - Double-reed woodwind instrument with a register one octave lower than that of the bassoon.

Contralto - See alto.

Cornet - Brass instrument similar in shape to the trumpet, with a mellower tone.

Cymbals - Percussion instrument of indefinite pitch, consisting of a pair of metal plates, played by striking the plates against each other.

Double bass - ("bass fiddle"; bass) Largest string instrument, having the lowest range of the string family.

Double-reed woodwinds - Instruments whose sound is produced by two narrow pieces of cane held between the player's lips; these pieces vibrate when the player blows between them.

Double stop - See stop.

Electronic instrument - Instrument whose sound is produced, modified, or amplified by electronic means.

English horn - Double-reed woodwind instrument, slightly larger than the oboe and with a lower range, straight in shape with an egg-shaped bell.

Euphonium - Brass instrument similar in shape to the tuba and the baritone horn, with a higher range than the tuba's, commonly used in bands.

French horn - Brass instrument of medium range, whose tube is coiled into a roughly circular shape and fitted with valves; commonly used in symphony orchestras and in bands. (Sometimes called simply a horn.)

Glockenspiel - Percussion instrument of definite pitch, made up of flat metal bars set in a frame and played by striking with small metal hammers.

Gong - (tam-tam) Percussion instrument of indefinite pitch, made up of a large flat metal plate that is suspended and struck with a mallet.

Guitar - Plucked string instrument with six strings stretched along a fretted fingerboard.

Harmonics - Very high-pitched whistle-like tones, produced in bowed string instruments by lightly touching the string at certain points while bowing.

Harp - Plucked string instrument, consisting of strings stretched within a triangular frame.

Harpsichord - Keyboard instrument, widely used from about 1500 to 1775, whose sound is produced by plectra which pluck its wire strings. The harpsichord has been revived during the twentieth century.

Horn - See French horn.

Kettledrums - See timpani.

Keyboard instrument - Instrument (such as the piano, organ, or harpsichord) played by pressing a series of keys with the fingers.

Mezzo-soprano - Female voice of fairly low range, though not so low as alto.

Mute - Device used to veil or muffle the tone of an instrument. For string instruments, the mute is a clamp which fits onto the bridge; for brass instruments, it is a funnel-shaped piece of wood, metal, or plastic which fits into the bell.

Oboe - Double-reed woodwind instrument with a relatively high range, conical in shape with a small flared bell.

Organ - (pipe organ) Keyboard instrument with many sets of pipes controlled from two or more keyboards, including a pedal keyboard played by the organist's feet. The keys control valves from which air is blown across or through openings in the pipes. (The electric organ is an electronic instrument that is sometimes designed to imitate the sound of a pipe organ.)

Percussion instrument - Instrument of definite or indefinite pitch whose sound is produced by striking by hand, or with a stick or hammer, or by shaking or rubbing.

Piano - Widely used keyboard instrument of great range and versatility, whose sound is produced by felt-covered hammers striking against steel strings.

Piccolo - Smallest woodwind instrument, having the highest range; a smaller version of the flute.

Pitch - Relative highness or lowness of a sound.

Pizzicato - Means of playing a string instrument by which the strings are plucked, usually with a finger of the right hand.

Plectrum - Small wedge of plastic, leather, or quill used to pluck the strings of certain instruments, such as the guitar, koto, and harpsichord. (Plural, plectra.)

Quadruple stop - See stop.

Recorder - Family of woodwind instruments whose sound is produced by blowing into a "whistle" mouthpiece, usually made of wood or plastic.

Reed - Very thin piece of cane, used in woodwind instruments to produce sound as it is set into vibration by a stream of air.

Register - Part of the total range of an instrument or voice. The tone color of the instrument or voice may vary with the register in which it is played or sung.

Saxophone - Family of single-reed woodwind instruments.

Side drum - See snare drum.

Single-reed woodwinds - Instruments whose sound is produced by a single piece of cane, or reed, fastened over a hole in the mouthpiece. The reed vibrates when the player blows into the mouthpiece.

Snare drum - (side drum) Percussion instrument of indefinite pitch, in the shape of a cylinder with a stretched skin at either end. A "snare" of gut or metal is stretched below the lower skin and produces a rattling sound when the drum is struck.

Soprano - Female voice of high range.

Stop - (double, triple, quadruple) Means of playing a string instrument by which the bow is drawn across two, three, or four strings at the same time or almost the same time.

String instrument - Instrument whose sound is produced by the vibration of strings.

Synthesizer - System of electronic components which can generate, modify, and control sound; used to compose music and to perform it.

Tambourine - Percussion instrument of indefinite pitch, consisting of a skin stretched across a shallow cylinder, with small circular plates set into the cylinder which jingle when the skin is struck or the cylinder is shaken.

Tam-tam - See gong.

Tape studio - Studio with tape recorders and other equipment used to create electronic music by modifying and combining recorded sounds.

Tenor - Male voice of high range.

Timpani - (kettledrums) Percussion instruments of definite pitch, shaped like large kettles with calfskin or plastic stretched across the tops, played with soft padded mallets.

Tremolo - Rapid repetition of a tone, produced in string instruments by quick up-and-down strokes of the bow.

Triangle - Percussion instrument of indefinite pitch, consisting of a triangular length of metal suspended from a hook or cord, played by striking with a metal rod.

Triple stop - See stop.

Trombone - Brass instrument of moderately low range, whose tube is an elongated loop with a movable slide, commonly used in symphony orchestras, bands, and jazz ensembles.

Trumpet - Brass instrument with the highest range, commonly used in symphony orchestras, bands, and jazz and rock groups.

Tuba - Largest brass instrument, with the lowest range, commonly used in symphony orchestras and bands.

Vibraphone - Percussion instrument of definite pitch with metal bars, similar to the marimba, with tubular metal resonators driven by electronic impulses.

Vibrato - Small fluctuations of pitch which make the tone warmer, produced in string instruments by rocking the left hand while it presses the string down.

Viola - String instrument with a lower range than the violin and a higher range than the cello.

Violin - String instrument with the highest range of the string family.

Violoncello - See cello.

Voice - categories of opera Voice ranges which include coloratura soprano, lyric soprano, dramatic soprano, lyric tenor, dramatic tenor, basso buffo, and basso profundo, among others.

Woodwind instrument - Instrument whose sound is produced by vibrations of air in a tube; holes along the length of tube are opened and closed by the fingers, or by pads, to control the pitch.

Musical Instruments of the Orchestra - San Francisco Symphony Kids