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May 16, 620
Bagpipes Son!
The bagpipe
The origins of the bagpipe can be traced back to the most ancient civilizations. The bagpipe probably originated as a rustic instrument in many cultures because a herdsman had the necessary materials at hand: a goat or sheep skin and a reed pipe. The instrument is mentioned in the Bible, and historians believe that it originated in Sumaria. Through Celtic migration it was introduced to Persia and India, and subsequently -
May 16, 740
Feel The Beat of My Harp Shawty.
The Harp
The harp is one of the most ancient types of stringed instruments. It was important in pre-Christian cultures and still survives today in many forms all over the world. Harps use open strings exclusively, thus the range of each is determined by the number of strings. In the Middle Ages strings were made from twisted animal gut (usually from sheep), although horse hair and even silk were used as well. -
May 16, 1300
Get On My Organetto!
The Organetto
The organetto was one of the most popular instruments of the thirteenth through sixteenth centuries. Relatively light in weight, the instrument, when equipped with a sling, could be carried about and played in religious processions. The player provides his own wind supply by pumping a bellows made of sheepskin and wood with his left hand while playing a button type keyboard of approximately two octaves with his right -
May 16, 1300
The Hurdy-Gurdy
The Hurdy-Gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy is the first stringed instrument to which the keyboard principle was applied. The French name, Viella a Roue (wheel fiddle), describes the method by which sound is produced. The bowing action of the fiddle is replaced by a wheel cranked by a handle. The outer rim of the wooden wheel is coated with resin. When the crank is spun, the wheel turns and the gut strings vibrate. Just as the bag of the bagpipe -
May 16, 1563
When You Hear My Pipe and Tabor You Best Be Runnin.
The Pipe and Tabpr The pipe is a simple instrument with a fipple like a willow whistle or recorder but usually having only three melody holes (index finger, middle finger, and thumb). The bore is narrow to facilitate overblowing. There is a ridge around the bottom of the instrument to aid in supporting the pipe. This allows the player to handle a the instrument with one hand, leaving the other hand free to strike the tabor. The drum is held with a strap or thong around the arm which fingers the pipe. Thus one perf -
She Love My D-ulcain! (The Dulcain)
The Dulcain
One of the most significant innovations in sixteenth century woodwind instrument building was the development of the double bore principle. Two parallel holes drilled in the same piece of wood and connected at one end by a U-curve allowed an instrument to sound twice as low for its apparentlength as one with a single bore. Little is known about where the earliest development took place, although some evidence points to -
I Like My Girls Like I Like My Lizards, Hi-Pitched
The Lizard
The tenor of the zink family (also known as lysard or lysarden) has the peculiar curved shape of a flattened letter s. Besides giving the instrument its name, this shape helps the player cover the finger holes on this longer zink. The holes for each hand happen to be in the portion of the curves which are closest to the player. The lizard's tone is pleasing, yet rather foggy. It blends well with voices and plays on one of -
My Salty Kortholt
The Kortholt
Deriving its name from kurz Holz (short wood), this instrument was the one where the reed-cap principle was applied to the cylindrical double bore to give a soft low buzzy sound. Praetorius admitted to being puzzled by the disparity in pitch between the kortholt he had seen and the equivalent size of another instrument. This was because the kortholt was a double-bore instrument. Because of this doubling back of the pi
