CHAPTER 9
The Brasses
• The brasses have been regularly used in many countries. They consist
of the trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba. They are indispensable
for their ability to play very loudly, for melody, for sustaining harmony,
for rhythmic accent, and for the flamelike sonority they contribute to
the climaxes. These intsruments have cup-shaped mouth pieces.
Trumpet
• a brass musical instrument with a flared bell and a bright, penetrating
tone. The modern instrument has the tubing looped to form a
straight-sided coil, with three valves.
• The trumpet possesses a firm and brilliant timbre that lends radiance
to the orchestral mass. Because of its military history, it is often
associated with martial pomp and vigor or battle calls.
TRUMPET
French Horn
• a brass instrument with a coiled tube, valves, and a wide bell,
developed from the simple hunting horn in the 17th century. It is
played with the right hand in the bell to soften the tone and increase
the range of available harmonics.
• The horn, generally called the French horn, normally has a smooth,
mellow tone but can be made to sound very brassy.
FRENCH HORN
Trombone
• a large brass wind instrument with straight tubing in three sections,
ending in a bell over the player's left shoulder, different fundamental
notes being made using a forward-pointing extendable slide.
• The trombone, which in Italian means “large instrument”, are of two
kinds: tenor and brass.
TROMBONE
Tuba
• a large brass wind instrument of bass pitch, with three to six valves
and a broad bell typically facing upward.
• The tuba is the bass of the brass choir.
TUBA
Cornet
• a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but shorter and wider,
played chiefly in bands.
• The cornet is a brass-wind musical instrument of the trumpet family,
consisting of a long looped tube, 9 feet long. It is used in orchestras,
band, and brass bands.
CORNET
The Percussion Instruments
• The percussion section comprises a variety of instruments that are
made to sound by hitting them with special sticks, or by striking or
shaking their part together.
Kettledrum
• a large drum shaped like a bowl, with a membrane adjustable for
tension (and so pitch) stretched across.
• Kettle drum or timpani are used in sets of two or three. The
kettledrum is a hemisphere copper shell, across which is a stretch
“head” of calfskin held in place by a metal ring.
KETTLEDRUM
Glockenspiel
• The Glockenspiel consists of a series of horizontal tuned plate of
various sizes, made of steel. The player strike these with mallets,
producing bright metallic sounds.
GLOCKENSPIEL
Xylophone
• The xylophone consists of tuned blocks of wood which produce a dry,
crisp timbre when struck. Expert xylophone players attain dazzling
speed and accuracy.
Marimba
• The marimba, a xylophone of African and South American origin, is
associated with dance music. It is simply a xylophone with a
resonator.
MARIMBA
Brass Cymbals
• a concave metal plate (as of brass or bronze) that produces a brilliant
clashing tone and that is struck with a drumstick or is used in pairs
struck glancingly together.
BRASS CYMBALS
Chimes
• a bell or a metal bar or tube, typically one of a set tuned to produce a
melodious series of ringing sounds when struck.
CHIMES
Harp
• a musical instrument, roughly triangular in shape, consisting of a
frame supporting a graduated series of parallel strings, played by
plucking with the fingers. The modern orchestral harp has an upright
frame, with pedals that enable the strings to be retuned to different
keys.
HARP
Keyboard Instruments
• A keyboard instrument is a musical instruments played using
a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The
most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic
keyboards, including synthesizers and digital pianos.
Piano
• a large keyboard musical instrument with a wooden case enclosing a
soundboard and metal strings, which are struck by hammers when
the keys are depressed. The strings' vibration is stopped by dampers
when the keys are released, and it can be regulated for length and
volume by two or three pedals.
PIANO