DOCSLIB.ORG

The World Family of Stringed Instruments by Tom Vennum

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The World Family of Stringed Instruments by Tom Vennum The World Family of Stringed Instruments by Tom Vennum Students of music as well as Festival visitors have the opportunity to hear a Chordophones whose strings are number of the world's musical instru­ perpendicular to the soundboard are ments performed here, many of which classified as Harps. The Mexican arpa, will be new to them. Of particular in­ as featured in the jarocho ensemble terest is the wide variety of stringed from Vera Cruz, is the Festival's only instruments. As a group they are called representative from the harp family. chordophones (from the Greek words Because strings may be made to for string and sound) to distinguish sound in one of three principal ways, them from other principal divisions of the manner in which they are set into musical instruments: membranophones vibration is yet another means of deter­ (drums with skin heads), idiophones mining a chordophone's classification. (most other percussion), aerophones The strings may be bowed (the Huichol (winds and reeds), and electrophones fiddle, the Lebanese rebab), hammered (electronic instruments). (the German Hackbrett and the piano), By definition, a chordophone has at or plucked. (Strings can be plucked least one and usually several strings individually or strummed as a group, stretched parallel to each other between using either the fingers, as with harps, two points on the body of the instrument. or some sort of pick. The Japanese Often, one or two bridges are used to samisen player uses a large triangular raise the strings from the instrument, pick, the German Zither and Japanese allowing them to vibrate freely. These koto players wear picks formed into bridges may be fixed near the ends of rings on one hand, etc.) Thus among the strings, as on the guitar, or are occa­ the Board Zithers one distinguishes sionally moveable for tuning purposes, between those which are plucked, as on the Japanese koto. called psalteries (the Lebanese qanun, The tonal range of a chordophone, the German Zither) and those which are how high or low it can play, depends hammered, called Dulcimers (the Ger­ on the number of strings and their Lebanese instrument-maker plucks an When the strings stretch fully across man Hackbrett). Interestingly enough, various lengths, thicknesses, and de­ 'ud in a workshop filled with stringed a surface, called a soundboard, the popular names for string instruments grees of tension. So that each string instruments: 'ud (lute family), guitar, chordophone belongs to the family of sometimes ignore such distinctions in may be adjusted to the proper tension, ganun (zither family), kemange (violin zithers. If the soundboard surface is manner of performance. Because the it is attached to some sort of tuning peg, family). For listing of instruments found flat, such as on the German Zither and American Appalachian "dulcimer" is or pin, which is turned until the string in Old Ways area see page 44. Hackbrett, the instrument is a Board usually plucked, not hammered, it is sounds the correct pitch. Performers of Photo courtesy National Geographic Society. Zither; if long and slightly curved, not really a dulcimer, but rather a chordophones may be seen adjusting tension may require a metal key, like a such as on the Japanese koto, the psaltery, just as an English horn is these pegs and testing the strings' clock or rollerskate key, to turn the chordophone is a Long Zither. not really a horn but a double-reed pitches before playing. If the instrument tuning pins, or even a special wrench Stringed instruments with necks instrument belonging to the oboe has only a few strings, as does a violin in the case of the piano. projecting from their bodies belong to family. or guitar, the tuning pegs are usually The body of a chordophone serves to the Lute family. Among the lutes in this The world family of chordophones, of wood and can be turned easily by amplify the sound of the strings when year's Festival are the Panamanian unified by a common means of sound hand, but instruments which have a they are made to vibrate. T~e shape of mejorana, the Japanese samisen, the production -the vibrating string- is large number of strings under greater this resonating body, which is often Lebanese rebab and 'ud, the large num­ nevertheless capable of many different Mr. Vennum is an ethnomusicologist who determined by the number and length ber of guitar types performed by the sounds, from the robust strumming of wrote his dissertation on American Indian of the strings, further decides the clas­ Mexican mariachi band, and violins the rhythm guitars in the Mexican music at Harvard University. He is a con­ sification of a chordophone, as does and fiddles of several sizes, including mariachi sound to the quieter sounds sultant on musical presentations in the Old the location of the strings in relation the double bass of the German bands, of the plucked zither. The Festival is Ways in the New World area of the Festival. to the instrument. and the Huichol Indian fiddle. a good time to compare these. 48 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Science of String Instruments
    The Science of String Instruments Thomas D. Rossing Editor The Science of String Instruments Editor Thomas D. Rossing Stanford University Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) Stanford, CA 94302-8180, USA [email protected] ISBN 978-1-4419-7109-8 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-7110-4 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-7110-4 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer ScienceþBusiness Media (www.springer.com) Contents 1 Introduction............................................................... 1 Thomas D. Rossing 2 Plucked Strings ........................................................... 11 Thomas D. Rossing 3 Guitars and Lutes ........................................................ 19 Thomas D. Rossing and Graham Caldersmith 4 Portuguese Guitar ........................................................ 47 Octavio Inacio 5 Banjo ...................................................................... 59 James Rae 6 Mandolin Family Instruments........................................... 77 David J. Cohen and Thomas D. Rossing 7 Psalteries and Zithers .................................................... 99 Andres Peekna and Thomas D.
    [Show full text]
  • Solo and Ensemble Concert Mae Zenke Orvis Auditorium July 17, 1967 8:00 P.M
    SOLO AND ENSEMBLE CONCERT MAE ZENKE ORVIS AUDITORIUM JULY 17, 1967 8:00 P.M. SOLO AND ENSEMBLE CONCERT Monday, July 17 Mae Zenke Orvis Auditorium 8:00 P.M. Program Ernst Krenek Piano Sonata No.3 (1943) Peter Coraggio, piano Allegretto piacevole Theme, Canons and Variations: Andantino Scherzo: Vivace rna non troppo Adagio First Performance in Hawaii Neil McKay Sonata for French Horn and Willard Culley, French horn Piano (1962) Marion McKay, piano Fanfare: Allegro Andante Allegro First Performance in Hawaii Chou Wen-chung Yu Ko (1965) Chou Wen-chung, conductor First Performance in Hawaii John Merrill, violin Jean Harling, alto flute James Ostryniec, English horn Henry Miyamura, bass clarinet Roy Miyahira, trombone Samuel Aranio, bass trombone Zoe Merrill, piano Lois Russell, percussion Edward Asmus, percussion INTERMISSION JOSe Maceda Kubing (1966) Jose Maceda, conductor Music for Bamboo Percussion and Men's Voices First Performance in Hawaii Jose Maceda Kubing (1966) Jose Maceda, conductor Music for Bamboo Percussion Charles Higgins and Men's Voices William Feltz First Performance in Hawaii Brian Roberts voices San Do Alfredo lagaso John Van der Slice l Takefusa Sasamori tubes Bach Mai Huong Ta buzzers ~ Ruth Pfeiffer jaw's harps Earlene Tom Thi Hanh le William Steinohrt Marcia Chang zithers Michael Houser } Auguste Broadmeyer Nancy Waller scrapers Hailuen } Program Notes The Piano Sonata NO.3 was written in 1943. The first movement is patterned after the classical model: expo­ sition (with first, second, and concluding themes), development, recapitulation, and coda. However, in each of these sections the thematic material is represented in musical configurations derived from one of the four basic forms of the twelve-tone row: original, inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion.
    [Show full text]
  • Mary Gottschalk Cultures of the Middle East 220 Professor Abdelrahim Salih Final Paper Music in the Middle East
    Gottschalk 1 Mary Gottschalk Cultures of the Middle East 220 Professor Abdelrahim Salih Final Paper Music in the Middle East The “Middle East” is a term to describe the areas of North Africa and East Asia, where there is a deep cultural history and diverse people, commonly grouped in this term for their cultural similarities. As with trade, information, and innovation, music and the arts moved and assimilated throughout the area. Music pervades the culture in aspects of religion, tradition, and entertainment, and differs according to various conceptions of music based within those religious and cultural ideals. This paper will discuss some of the similarities and differences in middle eastern music: in the instruments as they relate to location, conceptions as they are formed by Muslim doctrine, and traditions based in their respective time periods. Instruments / Place Musical instruments in the middle east range in the complexity, skill needed to play, and type. Broad classifications consist of percussion, bowed, plucked, and wind instruments (Touma 1996 109). A predominant stringed instrument is known as the ‟ud, which literally means “wood”, but it has many names and variations throughout the world (Miller and Shahriari 2006 204). The ‟ud, or al‟ud “…is a fretless, plucked short-necked lute with a body shaped like half a pear” (Touma 1996 109). Its history traces back to the eighth century BCE with changes in size and number of strings, and today is commonly seen with “…five „courses‟ of strings, a course being a pair tuned in unison” (Miller and Shahriari 2006 204). The lack of frets allows the musician to articulate fine gradations of tone, strumming with either a plectrum or fingernails over the middle of the „ud‟s body (Miller and Shahriari 2006 205).
    [Show full text]
  • Song, State, Sawa Music and Political Radio Between the US and Syria
    Song, State, Sawa Music and Political Radio between the US and Syria Beau Bothwell Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Beau Bothwell All rights reserved ABSTRACT Song, State, Sawa: Music and Political Radio between the US and Syria Beau Bothwell This dissertation is a study of popular music and state-controlled radio broadcasting in the Arabic-speaking world, focusing on Syria and the Syrian radioscape, and a set of American stations named Radio Sawa. I examine American and Syrian politically directed broadcasts as multi-faceted objects around which broadcasters and listeners often differ not only in goals, operating assumptions, and political beliefs, but also in how they fundamentally conceptualize the practice of listening to the radio. Beginning with the history of international broadcasting in the Middle East, I analyze the institutional theories under which music is employed as a tool of American and Syrian policy, the imagined youths to whom the musical messages are addressed, and the actual sonic content tasked with political persuasion. At the reception side of the broadcaster-listener interaction, this dissertation addresses the auditory practices, histories of radio, and theories of music through which listeners in the sonic environment of Damascus, Syria create locally relevant meaning out of music and radio. Drawing on theories of listening and communication developed in historical musicology and ethnomusicology, science and technology studies, and recent transnational ethnographic and media studies, as well as on theories of listening developed in the Arabic public discourse about popular music, my dissertation outlines the intersection of the hypothetical listeners defined by the US and Syrian governments in their efforts to use music for political ends, and the actual people who turn on the radio to hear the music.
    [Show full text]
  • Piano Manufacturing an Art and a Craft
    Nikolaus W. Schimmel Piano Manufacturing An Art and a Craft Gesa Lücker (Concert pianist and professor of piano, University for Music and Drama, Hannover) Nikolaus W. Schimmel Piano Manufacturing An Art and a Craft Since time immemorial, music has accompanied mankind. The earliest instrumentological finds date back 50,000 years. The first known musical instrument with fibers under ten sion serving as strings and a resonator is the stick zither. From this small beginning, a vast array of plucked and struck stringed instruments evolved, eventually resulting in the first stringed keyboard instruments. With the invention of the hammer harpsichord (gravi cembalo col piano e forte, “harpsichord with piano and forte”, i.e. with the capability of dynamic modulation) in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori toward the beginning of the eighteenth century, the pianoforte was born, which over the following centuries evolved into the most versitile and widely disseminated musical instrument of all time. This was possible only in the context of the high level of devel- opment of artistry and craftsmanship worldwide, particu- larly in the German-speaking part of Europe. Since 1885, the Schimmel family has belonged to a circle of German manufacturers preserving the traditional art and craft of piano building, advancing it to ever greater perfection. Today Schimmel ranks first among the resident German piano manufacturers still owned and operated by Contents the original founding family, now in its fourth generation. Schimmel pianos enjoy an excellent reputation worldwide. 09 The Fascination of the Piano This booklet, now in its completely revised and 15 The Evolution of the Piano up dated eighth edition, was first published in 1985 on The Origin of Music and Stringed Instruments the occa sion of the centennial of Wilhelm Schimmel, 18 Early Stringed Instruments – Plucked Wood Pianofortefa brik GmbH.
    [Show full text]
  • University of California Santa Cruz the Vietnamese Đàn
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ THE VIETNAMESE ĐÀN BẦU: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF AN INSTRUMENT IN DIASPORA A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in MUSIC by LISA BEEBE June 2017 The dissertation of Lisa Beebe is approved: _________________________________________________ Professor Tanya Merchant, Chair _________________________________________________ Professor Dard Neuman _________________________________________________ Jason Gibbs, PhD _____________________________________________________ Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Table of Contents List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................. v Chapter One. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Geography: Vietnam ............................................................................................................................. 6 Historical and Political Context .................................................................................................... 10 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 17 Vietnamese Scholarship .............................................................................................................. 17 English Language Literature on Vietnamese Music
    [Show full text]
  • Diwan-Flyer-2015 For-Web.Pdf
    photography: Shmulik Balmas www.facebook.com/diwansazmusic www.twitter.com/diwansaz www.instagram.com/diwansaz Multi-Cultural Middle Eastern World Music Ensemble [email protected] +972-525-999-161 www.diwansaz.com Diwan Saz is a multicultural Jewish ,Christian & Muslim group of musicians who perform ancient music from Central Asia, Turkey, Persia, and the Holy Land - promoting peace and understanding through music. Diwan Saz marries together two great traditions that coexist in the Holy Land - Hebrew and Arab music, The songs are sung together by Rabbi David Menachem , Hamudi Gadir, Tzipora El Rei, lubna sallame & Amir shahsar whose powerful voices, rising at times above the instruments, demands almost undivided attention. Music of peace: The Daly Lama was once asked how to end the conflict between nations and people. He answered, “Through music - playing, learning, and teaching together”. The Diwan Saz Interfaith Ensemble embodies this philosophy photography: Andy Alpern through its repertoire of authentic folk and classical music of the Middle East performed by some of the most respected musicians in the region. The ensemble, led by Musical Director and Baglama musician Yohai Barak, has performed in festivals and venues ”But the most inspiring and quite symbolic performance throughout Europe, Israel , India and several prestigious of the night, was given by the Diwan Saz. A group which festivals in the United States and Canada including The South embodies the ideals of the Festival - diversity and mutual By Southwest Music Festival - Austin Texas. As musicians, respect. Diwan Saz marries together two great traditions artists and teachers Diwansaz combine their many years that coexist in the Holy Land - that of Jewish and Muslim of commitment to their art and their communities to bring a music …A true music of peace and harmony.
    [Show full text]
  • Restoration of C. 1925-1930 Carl Fischer Concert Zither
    Restoration of C. 1925-1930 Carl Fischer Concert Zither Completed by Ron Cook April 2018 For David Spirk Background Tens of thousands of concert zithers were manufactured in both Europe and the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There were many shapes and styles, with the number of strings often ranging from 31 to 46. Most concert zithers were basic “entry level” instruments with little or no decoration and a laminated front (usually black walnut) and sides with a back painted black. Some, like the gorgeous zither in this repair log, were highly ornate and decorated with marquetry, mother of pearl and abalone inlays and laminated walnut or rosewood on the front, sides and back. The label inside this beautiful concert zither is very faded from moisture, but the name Carl Fischer is visible as is the street name, Cooper Square. Carl Fischer Music was founded in 1872 when he opened his musical instrument repair shop in an East Village neighborhood of New York City. He supplied musicians with sheet music, including zither music, and instruments from Europe, while supplementing his income with professional engagements as a violinist in several orchestras and bands throughout the city. As his company grew too large for the original store, his family, in 1924, shortly after Carl passed away, constructed a new 12-story building on Cooper Square, in Manhattan, where they stayed until the fourth-generation heirs sold the building in 1999. The company, now 146 years old, is currently based on Long Island. Carl Fischer was not an instrument manufacturer, but a reseller.
    [Show full text]
  • Japan Digest
    National Clearinghouse for United States-Japan Studies JAPAN Indiana University Memorial West #211 Bloomington, IN 47405-7005 DIGEST (800) 441-3272 (812) 855-3765 http://www.indiana.edu/~japan/Digests/koto.html Koto Music June 2004 Anne Prescott The koto is one of the most popular traditional instruments in Koto strings are strung very tightly, and when the bridges are Japan and one of the best known outside of that country. Although removed to store or transport the koto, the strings lay flat along the many people think of it as an ancient instrument whose music has surface of the instrument. Strings most often break near the playing not changed for generations, in fact it is a vibrant, living tradition. end, so the extra length of string, which is coiled at the opposite The koto repertoire has a wealth of compositions from 17th-century end, is pulled down and the string is retied. Although advanced classics to innovative contemporary works. This Digest introduces koto players can do this, they prefer to leave it to a professional the instrument, its history and music. koto shop technician, who routinely changes and tightens koto strings and is used to stretching them to the right tension quickly Physical description of the koto and easily. The standard koto is a zither (an instrument with strings Koto strings are plucked with plectra (picks) on the thumb and stretched the length of the sound box) with 13 strings. It is about 6 first two fingers of the right hand. The plectra are made of ivory or feet long, 10 plastic and are attached to the fingers with leather or paper bands.
    [Show full text]
  • How Does Access to This Work Benefit You?
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works School of Arts & Sciences Theses Hunter College Spring 5-5-2018 THE SYNCRETIC ART AND HISTORY OF VIETNAMESE VỌNG CỔ MUSIC Clair Hoang Khuong Nguyen CUNY Hunter College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/321 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] THE SYNCRETIC ART AND HISTORY OF VIETNAMESE VỌNG CỔ MUSIC by Clair Hoang Khuong Nguyen Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Music Theory, Hunter College The City University of New York 2018 Thesis Sponsor: May 5, 2018 Poundie Burstein Date Signature May 5, 2018 Ya-Hui Cheng Date Signature of Second Reader ii Abstract The syncretic Vietnamese vọng cổ music has much potential as an area of academic and theoretical research. Roughly translated to “longing for the old traditions,” vọng cổ is a modern 20th-century genre that combines traditional Eastern instrumentation and modal practices with Westernized concepts of cadence, meter, intervals, and form. It is all at once a composition, singing melody, instrumental improvisatory practice, and patterned cyclic structure. Vọng cổ is orally transmitted and leaves much to be documented and analyzed in terms of its modal scale system and musical practices. The increasing lack of instrumental performers and teachers, compounded by the rapidly Westernizing and modernizing youth of both Vietnam and the post- Vietnam War diaspora, contributes to the fading preservation of vọng cổ music.
    [Show full text]
  • SOUNDSCAPES: the Arab World Vocabulary
    SOUNDSCAPES: The Arab World Vocabulary ADHAN The Islamic call to prayer. MAFRAJ A window‐lined room at the AL‐ANDALUS Around 1000 CE, the area now top of a house. called Spain and part of North MAGHREB The North African dessert. Africa. MAQAM Scales and notes that define AL‐QAHIRAH The Arabic name for Cairo, Arabic music tonality. Egypt. MINARET Part of a MOSQUE, a tower ARDHA A traditional Arabic dance, used for communication. common in Saudi Arabia. MIZHWIZ A double‐pipe double‐reed AS‐SANTOOR A multi‐stringed instrument wind instrument. played with wooden sticks. MIZMAR A single‐pipe double‐reed wind BEDOUIN Nomadic people of the Arabian instrument. and North African desert. MOSQUE An Islamic place of worship. BENDIR A round, flat, wooden‐framed NAY An end‐blown wind instrument. drum. OSTINATO Italian musical term for a BERBER Indigenous people of the North repeating pattern. African desert OUD/AL‐‘UD A pear‐shaped string CHA’ABI/SHA’ABI A style of dance and music instrument, similar to a lute. popular in some poorer Arab QANUN A large, flat multi‐stringed communities. instrument. DABKE A traditional line dance, RABABEH A single‐stringed bowed fiddle. popular in Lebanon. REBEC The European version of the DALOONAH Improvised music often used REBABEH, precursor to the with DABKE. violin. DERVISH Devout SUFI Muslims, similar to RIQ/TAR A round, flat, wooden‐framed Christian monks. drum with jingling plates DJELLABA A tunic, often worn by BERBER around the rim, similar to a men. tambourine. DJEMBE A West African drum, similar to SAWT A bluesy style of Arabic music, a DUMBEK.
    [Show full text]
  • Traditional Play of Hammered Dulcimer a Self-Study Book Traditional Play of Hammered Dulcimer
    AUŠRINE GARSONAITE TRADITIONAL PLAY OF HAMMERED DULCIMER A SELF-STUDY BOOK TRADITIONAL PLAY OF HAMMERED DULCIMER Turinys About the book ................................................................................................................................................................ 2 A Brief Overview of the History of Traditional Music: What Has Changed Over Time? .................................................................................................................... 3 The Dulcimer: Then and Now .................................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter One: General Knowledge and Striking Strings in a Row 1.1. Correctly Positioning the Dulcimer and Holding the Hammers; First Sounds ....................................... 10 1.2. Playing on the Left Side of the Treble Bridge 1.2.1. First Compositions in A Major ................................................................................................................. 15 1.2.2. Playing Polka in D ........................................................................................................................................ 17 1.3. Playing on the Right Side of the Treble Bridge 1.3.1. Performing Compositions You Already Know in D Major ............................................................. 20 1.3.2. Performing a Composition You Already Know in G Major ............................................................ 22 1.4. Playing on the Left Side of the Bass Bridge
    [Show full text]