Origins and Development of Musical Instruments

280 Pages·2007·12.14 MB·English

by  Jeremy Montagu

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Origins and Development of Musical Instruments
Jeremy Montagu
THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Lanham, Maryland (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
2007
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SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2007 by Jeremy Montagu
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Montagu, Jeremy.
Origins and development of musical instruments / Jeremy Montagu.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5657-8 (hardback : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8108-5657-3 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Musical instruments—History. I. Title.
ML460.M76 2007
784.1909—dc22
2007016987
(cid:2)™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
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In memoriam
Gwen
26.4.1923–12.1.2003
Proverbs 31:10–31
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(cid:2)
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments xi
Explanations and Definitions xiii
Abbreviations xvii
Maps xix
1 Origins 1
Musical Sound 2
Voices 3
Lithophones 6
Percussion Bars 9
Bells and Gongs 14
Rattles 18
Interlude A: Instruments of Protection 24
2 Drums 27
Trouble with Tension 27
Drums 28
Tubular Drums 29
Interlude B: Musicians 41
3 Flutes and Recorders 44
Monotone 44
Whistling in the Wind 45
Vessel Flutes 50
Penny Whistles and Recorders 52
Transverse Flutes 59
Harmonic Flutes 65
Interlude C: The Medieval Renaissance and the First Industrial Revolution 70
4 Reeds 73
Straws in the Wind 73
Oboes and Bassoons 80
Clarinets and Other Single Reeds 85
Free Reeds 94
Interlude D: The Ideal Accompaniment 100
v
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vi (cid:2) Contents
5 “Brass” Instruments: Trumpets and Horns 103
Interlude E: The Second Industrial Revolution 116
6 String Instruments 125
From Bows to Lyres, Harps, and Lutes 125
Lyres 128
Harps 132
Zithers 140
Stringed Keyboards 145
Plucked Lutes 152
Bowed Lutes aka Fiddles 161
Interlude F: Messengers 180
7 Pipe Organs 188
Interlude G: Symbiosis 194
8 Electrophones 202
Interlude H: Newly Created, Recognized, or Discovered Instruments 205
Afterword: Archaeology and Other -ologies 209
Classification of Instruments 210
Scales and Music 214
The Sounds of Science 217
Bibliography 225
Index of Instruments and Accessories 235
Index of Places and Peoples 245
General Index 249
About the Author 257
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Illustrations
Figure 0.1 The harmonic series xiv
Figure 1.1 Bull-roarers and buzzers 4
Figure 1.2 Friction drums 5
Figure 1.3 Kazoos 7
Figure 1.4 Rock gong 8
Figure 1.5 Chinese stone chimes 9
Figure 1.6 Percussion bars 10
Figure 1.7 Timbila 11
Figure 1.8 Balo, Ghana 12
Figure 1.9 Renaissance xylophone 12
Figure 1.10 Sansas, mbiras, and kalimbas 13
Figure 1.11 Iron cattle bells 15
Figure 1.12 Resting bells 17
Figure 1.13 Roman cymbal player 17
Figure 1.14 Jingles and sistra 19
Figure 1.15 Vessel rattles 20
Figure 1.16 Leg rattles 21
Figure A.1 Cog rattles or ratchets 25
Figure A.2 Clappers, etc. 26
Figure 2.1 Frame drums 29
Figure 2.2 Goblet and hourglass drums 30
Figure 2.3 Esedrums 31
Figure 2.4 New Guinea drums 32
vii
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viii (cid:2) Illustrations
Figure 2.5 Pair of tabla¯with accessories 33
Figure 2.6 Nagga¯ra, paired kettledrums 34
Figure 2.7 Medieval nakers, c. 1330 35
Figure 2.8 Machine timpani 36
Figure 2.9 Renaissance timpani and side drums 37
Figure 2.10 Bronze drum 39
Figure 3.1 Panpipes 46
Figure 3.2 End- and notch-blown flutes 47
Figure 3.3 Whistles, some with one or two fingerholes 49
Figure 3.4 Vessel flutes 51
Figure 3.5 Ocarinas 52
Figure 3.6 External- and tongue-duct flutes 53
Figure 3.7 Early Renaissance recorders 55
Figure 3.8 Later Renaissance recorders 55
Figure 3.9 Flageolets 57
Figure 3.10 Flutes with constricted foot, each with a second to show the foot 58
Figure 3.11 Asian transverse flutes 60
Figure 3.12 Renaissance transverse flutes 61
Figure 3.13 Transverse flutes 63
Figure 3.14 Scale for harmonic flute 65
Figure 3.15 Harmonic flutes 66
Figure C.1 Early medieval instruments 71
Figure 4.1 Some reeds for woodwinds 74
Figure 4.2 Cylindrical shawms or Silk Road auloi 76
Figure 4.3 Exotic shawms 77
Figure 4.4 Ghaitafork 78
Figure 4.5 European shawms 79
Figure 4.6 English two-key oboes, c. 1800 81
Figure 4.7 Keyed oboes 82
Figure 4.8 English horns 83
Figure 4.9 Bassoons 84
Figure 4.10 Reed squawkers 86
Figure 4.11 Single-reed pipes 87
Figure 4.12 Geminate pipes 88
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Illustrations (cid:2) ix
Figure 4.13 Hornpipes 89
Figure 4.14 Side-blown reed pipes 89
Figure 4.15 Modern chalumeaux 91
Figure 4.16 Boxwood clarinets 92
Figure 4.17 German-system clarinets, from Müller to Oehler 93
Figure 4.18 Belgian- and French-system clarinets, from Albert to Boehm 94
Figure 4.19 Mouth organs and free-reed horns 95
Figure 4.20 Accordions etc. and harmonicas 97
Figure 5.1 Horns and conchs 104
Figure 5.2 Moroccan nafir 107
Figure 5.3 Renaissance brass instruments 108
Figure 5.4 Slide and natural trumpets 110
Figure 5.5 Fingerhole horns 111
Figure 5.6 Tibetan and neighboring trumpets 113
Figure 5.7 Oceanic and other trumpets 114
Figure E.1 Keyed flutes 118
Figure E.2 Valves for brass instruments 120
Figure 6.1 Harps and pluriarc 126
Figure 6.2 Greek lyres 129
Figure 6.3 Lyres 130
Figure 6.4 Bowed lyres 132
Figure 6.5 Arched harp 132
Figure 6.6 African bow harps 133
Figure 6.7 Neolithic harper 134
Figure 6.8 King David harper, c. 1270 135
Figure 6.9 Nadermann single-action harp 137
Figure 6.10 Erard double-action harp 138
Figure 6.11 Stick, bar, raft, and tube zithers 140
Figure 6.12 Tube, box, and trough zithers 142
Figure 6.13 Box zithers 143
Figure 6.14 Clavichord 145
Figure 6.15 Harpsichord 147
Figure 6.16 Virginals, muselaar, and spinet 147
Figure 6.17 Square piano 150