Music #509 - Instruments - Keyboards

Keyboard instrument

Electronic dance pad/mat

 

 

Been a “butterfly” on your own electronic dance pad at home?

(web photo)

Standardized pitch

The letter-name “A” is given to the pitch of 440 cycles per cycle, which is produced by a key just to the right of the middle of the piano keyboard. This is a standard universal measure of pitch.

Upright piano 

(L) The Flight of the Bumblebee 

from The Tale of Tsar Saltan opera (by Rimsky-Korsakov)

- clip from 'Shine' 《鋼琴師》(1996 movie)

 

(R) Una Furtiva Lagrima 

from L'Elisir d'Amore opera (by Donizetti)

- clip from 'That Midnight Kiss' (1949 film) 

- pianist as accompanist 

(L) Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata - III

- excerpt from “Keys to the Heart” (2017 movie)

  

(R) The Marx Brothers' piano scene

in "The Big Store" (1941 movie)

(L) The Entertainer 

- a ragtime by Scott Joplin 

 

(R) resurrected in 'The Sting' (1973 film)

/《老千計狀元才》
starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford

Top 10 most difficult piano pieces

 

Grand piano

(including concert grand)

(L) Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No.1

Excerpt from “Keys to the Heart” (2017 movie) 

(R) Vivaldi - Four Seasons - Spring

Chopin - Nocturne No.20 

(L) Excerpt from "The Pianist" (2002 movie)

cf.

(L) Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata - I 

- excerpt from “Immortal Beloved” (1994 movie)

 

(R) Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No.2

The Cat Concerto

(L) Beethoven - Violin Sonata No.5 (“Spring”) - Mvt.1

- who accompanies whom? 

 
(R) Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.5  

(aka the "Emperor")

Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on Themes of Paganini 

(Caprice No.24)

- Variation No.18 (of 24) 

  

(R) Excerpt from the “ Somewhere in Time” (1980 movie)

 (L) Wilhelm Ganz - Qui Vive! Grand Galop 

 

(R) Chopin - Minute Waltz

Excerpts from “Secret” / 不能說的秘密 (2007 movie)

(L) Chopin - Etude Op.10 No.5

Chopin - Valse Op.64 No.2

J.R. Morton - The Crave

 

(R) "On shells rain" - four hands - score

30 most famous classical piano pieces

Early Keyboards

(L) Clavichord   

Mozart's B flat Sonata, K.570

 

(R) Harpsichord / 羽管鍵琴

Organ

J.S. Bach - Toccata and Fugue (BWV 565) 

 

(L) J.S. Bach - Air on the G String

 
(R) Grieg - Peer Gynt Suite No.1 - IV. In the Hall of the Mountain King

Davy Jones (a fictional character computer-animated) 

in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series

Accordion

(L) Vivaldi - Four Seasons - Winter

 

(L) Katyusha

 

(R) Katyusha (Soviet Multiple Rockets)

Bandoneón, Argentina's national instrument

 

  

Digital piano

(L) Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska - A Maiden’s Prayer

 

(R) Autumn Leaves

 

 

Keytar 

Toy piano

 

A piano made of popsicle sticks

Orchestrion

 

 

Music #508 - Instruments - Percussion (others)

(3) Tuned Percussion

Xylophone

 

 

Marimba

 

 

 

Vibraphone

 

Drawing Harry Porter

  Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre

 

  

Celesta / celeste / bell-piano

 

Tchaikovsky - Nutcraker ‐ Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

Glockenspiel 

Tubular bells

with a small mallet

 

Castanets

(L) Fandango dancing in [14:08]-[17:20]

 

(R) Excerpts from Verdi's La Traviata (1982 movie)

 - Entertainers perform for Fiona's party guests:

1) "We are gypsy girls who have come from afar"

2) "We are matadors from Madrid"

Others

 

 

 

 

(L) Albrechtsberger - Concerto for Jew's Harp & Mandora

 
(R) For a Few Dollars More (1965 movie)

Animation

 

Mashup

 

A comparison

Music #507 - Instruments - Percussion (drums)

Percussion Instrument

(1) membranophones (e.g. timpani, drums)

(2) idiophones (resonant material)

- tuned (e.g. xylophone, tubular bells)

- others (e.g. cymbals, triangkes)  

Percussion Section  (a 2-hour overview)
(1) timpanum 
(2) auxiliary percussion: 
- bass drum, snare drum
- tambourine, cymbals, gong (tam-tam), triangle, wood block,  castanets, maracas ..... 

(3) tuned percussion (producing melody and rhythm):
- vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells  
- handbells, tuned cowbells .....

(1) Timpani

(timpanist) 

The timpanist is traditionally regarded as the principal of the percussion section.

Carl Orff - Carmina Burana cantata

- I. & XXV. "O Fortuna" 

("O Fortuna" opens and closes the cantata)

 

Timpani can be tuned by altering the skin tension using turning screws or a  pedal.

Richard Strauss - “Also sprach Zarathustra 

(Thus Spoke Zarathustra)” tone poem

- Its first section, “Sunrise”, is the initial fanfare 

that became well known to the general public, 

due to its use in “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968 film).

 

 

  

Dvořák - New World Symphony - IV. Finale

(L) Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake

 

(R) Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.6 - III

(L) Bach - Toccata and Fugue (BWV 565)

 

(R) Mahler - Symphony No.3 - VI

(2) Auxiliary Percussion

Side/snare drum

The snare drum has a set of gut or metal springs stretched across its lower drum head which vibrate when the upper head is struck. 

* Maurice Ravel - Boléro 

 

 * Aram Khachaturian - "Gayane" ballet - Sabre Dance

 

* Drumline (2002) movie - final battle 

 

* Grenadier Guards - Corps of Drums

Bass drum

 

Verdi - Requiem - II. Dies irae (Day of Wrath /《震怒之日》/《末日经》)

 

Funerary procession for Margaret Thatcher

##

Note the two big drums (in the second row) 

that set the tempo of the march music 

and the slow march footwork.

## varied from the funeral marches by

(L) Mendelssohn (Songs Without Words for piano - Bk 5 No.3)

(R) Chopin (Piano Sonata No. 2 - III) 

 

Drum set

 

 

(R) Theme song for Rocky III (1982 film)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand bands

 

AC/DC Highway to Hell       AC/DC Thunderstruck

Some others:

(L) Cymbals, bass drum, timpanis, triangle, 

tambourines, snare drum

 

(R) Timbales, bongos (short), congas (tall)

 

1-2-3-4-

和太鼓 / Taiko / Japanese drums

 

 

Source: Wikipedia

Music #506 - Instruments - Brass

Bugle

 (L)  Taps - time for bed (or RIP)

 
(R)  The Last Post

 

* To the Color - a bugle call to render honors to the United States. It is used when no band is available to render honors, or in ceremonies requiring honors more than once. It commands all the same courtesies as the National Anthem.

* Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B 

- originally by the Andrews Sisters

Cornet

Saxhorn

Source: Wikipedia

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Early Brass

(L) keyed trumpet (late-18th-century)

 

(R) natural horn (18th-century)

(L) serpent (19th-century)

 

(R) cornett

＝  ＝  ＜＞  ＝  ＝

A Medley of Instruments

 

Mariachi Music (Mexican)

Music #505 - Instruments - Brass

Brass

= a length of metal tubing ending in a flared bell

The air column is set in motion by vibrating the lips against a cupped mouthpiece.

(French) Horn

(hornist)

- usually has 3 or 4 rotary valves, operated by the left hand

- the right hand is inserted into the bell to sharp the sound

(L) Mozart - Horn Concerto No. 1 

 

(R) Mozart - Serenade in D "Posthorn" - Mvt 4

 

Mambo in Havana

 

(L) Coach Horn          (R) Post Horn Fanfare

Trumpet

(trumpeter)

- 3 valves

- inserting various mutes into the bell alters the timbre produced

 

  

 

Trombone

(trombonist)

- has a telescoping slide (rather than valves)

- 7 slide positions are used, each changing the pitch by a semi-tone

- soprano, tenor, bass, contrabass trombones

Rossini - Cat Duet 

(L) trombone & trumpet with mutes

 
(R) tenor & soprano with a rose

Note the wah-wah mute on the trumpet, and 

the toilet plunger mute on the trombone ^_^

 

Tuba

(UK: tuba/bass player)

(US: tubaist, tubist)  

- provides the bass of the brass section

 

performance starts at [2:08]

Music #504 - Instruments - Woodwind

Oboe

(oboist)

When the word oboe is used alone, it is generally taken to mean the treble oboe rather than other instruments of the family, such as the bass oboe, the cor anglais (English horn), or oboe d'amore.

* conical bore strapped with a double reed

* treble oboe is often given prominent melodies

(L) Mozart - Oboe Concerto - Mvt. 3

 

 (R) Mozart - Oboe Quartet

* cor anglais (or English horn) is a type of oboe;

its tenor voice is popular as a solo instrument:

William Tell - Overture

* oboe d'amore is the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, 

between the oboe (soprano) and the cor anglais (alto):

(L) La Cumparsita (a little procession) 

- a tango music piece written in 1916 

- by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez (of Uruguayan) 

 

(R) Bonjour Paris

Bassoon

(bassoonist)

* conical bore strapped with a double reed

The range of the bassoon is just over 3 octaves, similar to that of the male voice:

* its lower notes correspond to the low notes of a bass singer;

* its top notes are somewhat higher than a tenor.

This range is similar to that of the cello and the trombone.

 

The large contrabassoon adds a deep bass  to the woodwind section.

 

Clarinet

(clarinetist)

* single reeds

The range of the clarinet, 3 and a half octaves, corresponds to the female voice:

* its lowest notes are in the alto region;

* its high notes, most powerful, are close to those of a high soprano.

The oboe, trumpet, and violin have similar ranges to the clarinet.

 

Mozart - Serenade No.10 for winds (aka 'Gran Partita' <大組曲>)
- Scored for 12 winds and 1 string bass

- Its name should have been spelled as 'Grand Partita'.

* Mvt.3 Adagio

  

Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622
- the one and only clarinet concerto by Mozart, who died 2 months later.

 

(L) alto clarinet           (R) bass clarinet

Saxophone

(saxophonist)

“... a family of woodwind instruments usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece.”

The saxophone appears occasionally in the orchestra, but is more common in wind and jazz bands.

Types of saxophone 

 

 

Aerophone / 電吹管

 

 

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Early Woodwind

(L) Shawm     (R) 18th-century recorder

 

(L) Crumhorn     (R) a 17-th century wind concert

 

＝  ＝  ＜＞  ＝  ＝

Alphorn / alpenhorn

Didgeridoo

 

Pan flute

Panpipes 

 

 

Bagpipes

(L) Highland Cathedral @Campushalle 

(later renamed Flens-Arena) of Flensburg, Germany 

 

(R) Highland Cathedral @Rotterdam

(L) Scotland the Brave! @Edinburgh Military Tattoo

 

(R) a Christmas truce during World War I

- excerpt from Joyeux Noel (2005 film)

(L) “Chou Chou Sheng” 

- by Corvus Corax (Latin for Common Raven), a German band playing Neo-Medieval music using authentic instruments, such as(Celtic) bagpipes

- they perform with bizarre look: half-naked, dressed in unusual clothes, wearing primitive tribal decorations, often tattooed

 

Harmonica

 

 

 

 

 

Spivakovsky - harmonica concerto

 

Source: Wikipedia