Some Particular instruments
Let’s see some remarkable instruments following the given classification. We’ll see how instruments of all families are represented either in western music as in other musical cultures or in the traditional Cantabrian music.
1. String instruments
1.1 Plucked string instruments:
- In western music
Guitars are one of the most popular instruments today. Playing chords rhythmically is easier with the guitar than with other instruments. Guitars are used almost in every style of modern music.
There are three kinds of guitars:
· Spanish guitar: They are the origin of all the rest. Guitars are related with an older Spanish instrument called vihuela. Originally strings were made of gut but today they are made of nylon.
It is used in classical music, in traditional Spanish music from the south of the country, in flamenco music an in Latino American traditional music where is usually called guitarracriolla.
· Acoustic guitar: It’s a modification of the Spanish one that took place in the south of the USA. There Hispanic and Anglo-American tradition met together. In this guitar the sound board is bigger and his construction is stronger. But the most important difference between them is in the material of the strings. In the case of acoustic guitar they are made of metal instead of gut or nylon.
This guitar is used in blue-grass, blues, rock, pop and folk music.
· Electric guitar: it has basically the same features than the acoustic one but instead of sound board it has electric amplification. This instrument was invented in the first half of the 20th century and is very used in blues, rock and pop music.
The lute was the most popular instrument of this kind in Europe before guitars got popular.
Harps: They are one of the best known ancient instruments. We can found them in ancient Egypt and Sumerian depictures. The current kind of triangular harp used today in classical music derives from an ancient Irish model. It was widely spread all over Europe in the middle Ages and the Renaissance, but was wiped away by Keyboard instruments. Today is very popular in traditional Hispano-American music (where the Spaniards carried the instrument) and is also used in Irish folk music.
Lyres: Lyres were the string instruments more used in the antiquity. They were used in Ancient Roman and Greek music. In the middle ages their popularity dropped maybe because of its association with pagan goods. Nevertheless they survived in Nordic European cultures.
- In other cultures
There is a huge diversity of this type of instruments all around the world. Many of them are used in Asian cultures. The Iranian tar or the Indian sitars are good examples. In The Far East we can found the Pipa in china and the koto in Japan.
- In Cantabria
In Cantabrian traditional music this instruments are not used.
1.2 Bowed string instruments
- In western music
The violin: It’s the most remarkable instrument in classical music and one of the most frequent in European and American traditional music, where it is usually called fiddle. Violin is so popular because it has huge melodic possibilities.
In classical music violin looks for a clean and pure sound. It is the instrument of choice for melodic developments. In the classical orchestra there are other important instruments similar to the violin. These are the instruments of the violin family.Every one of them have the same general shape and the same kind of construction but they have different sizes and therefor different tessituras. From higher to lower pitches these instruments are: Violin, viola, violoncello and counter bass.
In traditional music, fiddles look for harsher and more energetic sounds. In fact the violin was developed as an instrument for popular dance before being adopted by classical music. In this kind of music the fiddle behaves as a rhythmic instrument as much as a melodic one. The best known traditional fiddle styles are that from Ireland, Scotland, Eastern Europe and North America.
- In other cultures:
This kind of instruments is used in music that mainly relays on melody as a way of expression. We can find many instruments of this kind in music from Asia the Middle East, as the Arabic rebec or the Mongolian Khuur.
- In Cantabria
The rabel is one of the most typical traditional instruments in Cantabria. The rabel has a dense sonority based on the use of double strings. One of the strings takes the melody and the other one is used as a drone. There are two different kinds of rabels. They have different sizes and different ways of playing.
The rabel of Polaciones: It is also called bandurria. It’s usually bigger and its sound is dipper. It is held on the legs for playing.
The rabel of Campoo: it is usually smaller and is held on the shoulder in the violin fashion.
Different kinds of rabels were spread by all Europe till the invention of the violin in the 16th century. They have survived in remote and mountainous areas as The Balkans or the Cantabrian mountains.
1.3. Stroked string instruments:
- In western music
The piano: it is the only instrument of this family that is used currently in western music. It has a very complex mechanism.
It was invented in Italy in the XVIIIth century, and because of its expressivity it has become one of the most important instruments in classical music.
Piano fits perfectly in rhythmic styles of music as jazz, blues or rock and roll, because of its percussive sound.
- In other cultures
The hammer dulcimer: In the Middle Ages it was widely spread by Europe and Asia. Today it is only generally played in Middle East music tradition. The santur is an instrument of this kind played in Iranian music and Arabic music.
2. Wind
2.1 Wood winds
a) With reeds
- In western music
The oboe: it is the main instrument of his kind in classical music. The English horn and the bassoon are instruments of the same kind but with lower pitch sounds.
The clarinet: It is the main single reed instrument.
Bagpipes: they are a group of instruments either with single or double reeds that have a set of tubes attached to a bag. The bag works as an air reservoir for being sent to the different sound tubes of the instrument. It allows a nonstop source of air for the tubes. The melody is played on a tube called chanter. Usually there are other tubes that play a single note working as a backup for the melody. These tubes are called drones. There are many different kinds of bagpipes all along Europe.
Popular oboes and clarinets: they are instruments that work as their classical varieties but with a simpler construction. These instruments usually have a very loud sound. They are very used in popular music because their sound is perfect for traditional dancing. The most remarkable instruments of this kind in Spain are albogues, dulzainas and tarotas.
- In other cultures
There are a lot of instruments of this kind along the world. They are used in melodic musical cultures. In Arabic an Indian music are very used.
- In Cantabria
In our community there are many instruments of this kind. Usually they are usually played backed up with a percussion instrument for dancing music.
Gaita: Is the kind of bagpipes played in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. We can found it traditionally in the western areas of Cantabria.
Pito or requinto: It’s a shorter kind of clarinet in Eb that is also used in classical music. It is used all along the country. Its use was first introduced in the 20th Century by council band musicians.They were looking for earning extra money playing in parties called romerías. Because of that, there are not pitos traditionally built and musicians use the classical Eb clarinet. The Cantabrian shepherds used to build another kind of popular clarinet called chifla.
Dulzaina: it’s an instrument very similar to the requinto in its external appearance although it works whit a double reed. It is traditionally used in the east and south of Cantabria.
b) Flutes (Woodwind without reeds)
Every woodwind instruments without reed is called flute. All of them they have a very similar sound. We can consider two kinds.
· Transverse flutes: They sound by sending air to a simple hole with a special position of the lips.
· Recorders and whistles: In these instruments the air is canalize into a device called mouthpiece where the sound is produced.
- In western music
The most typical flutes in this kind of music are concerto flutes, made of metal and with a very complex key system developed at the end of the 19th century.
Recorders were very popular in the past but they are reduced to the school ambit now.
- In other cultures
Flutes are very used in Asian music from India to Japan.
They are the most popular Amerindian instruments as well. The best known are the Pan flutes form the Andes.
2.2 Brass wind instruments
- In western music
Trumpets, horns, trombones and tubas are the most used instruments of this kind in classical music. They are strongly associated with military music therefor they are used whenever a composer wants to give a martial character to his music.
Trumpets and trombones have a very bright sound that fits perfectly to jazz music.
Horn on the other side has a deeper and softer sound because of its shape. Its sound is more similar to that of the woodwinds.
- In other cultures
These kinds of instruments in their most simple versions are not very proper for playing complex melodies. They are very used as bird claims and hunting calls. They are used for rhythmical proposes in Africa and in religious rituals in Tibet.
4. Electronic instruments
In this category there are two kinds of instruments,samplers and synthesisers. They are mainly used in popular modern music.
Theremin is the oldest instrument of this kind:
Synthesiser:
Possibilities of Sampling:
5. Percussion instruments
- In western music
These instruments always play a secondary roll. They have been very used in dance music because of their rhythmic character.
Drums and timpani along with brass wind instruments are the base of military music. Till 19th century military formations used to keep the step helped by the rhythm of their music.
Another very poplar percussion instrument in Europe is the tambourine.
Drums: Is a set of percussion instruments joined in a way that can be played by a single musician. It was developed by jazz musicians and quickly introduced in blues and rock & roll music. Currently is one of the most distinctive instruments in popular modern music.
- In other cultures
These instruments are important in music styles with an important rhythmic dimension. We are going to find many of them in the sub-Saharan Africa, where even melodies are usually done with these short of instruments. Marimbas and balaphones are used for this purpose in African music.
In Indonesia are very popular, bell metallophone orchestras called gamelan.
- In Cantabria
The percussion instruments are used for dancing. The most popular are:
Catañuelas: They are used in dances such as the Picayos.
Drum: The most popular drum in Cantabria is the snare drum. This instrument was originated in classical wind band music. In the past the Napoleonic military drum that is used today in Asturias was used in Cantabria as well. It is used for backing up a melodic instrument in dances.
Tambourine: is a little drum with small metal jingles attached. It is used along with the voice in dance music.
