Musical Instruments Home: Musical Instrument Facts

Musical Instrument Facts

Here are some facts about musical instruments you might be interested in!

Akai Professional has been around since 1984.
Linear sequencing is when the entire track is made up of one long sequence, which can be continuously recorded or edited, by cutting and pasting bars.
Pattern-based sequencing is when a track consists of several short sequences that can be re-arranged and edited easily and quickly.
Sounds (WAV files) can be loaded onto your sequencer, via USB ports in the PC or from a CD.
Samples from a sequencer are in standard WAV format and therefore can be edited using software such as the Audacity freeware for Windows.
The “Chopshop” function on the Akai MPC2500 allows you to measure the amplitude of a drum beat and chop the rhythm section up into its component parts – so you can build your own drum kit from one sample.
The “Patched Phrase” function on the AKAI MPC2500 allows you to split a sample up into its separate components which gives you sequence data in order to play these components. This means you can move the components together giving you a time stretching effect.
The Akai EWI4000 actually allows you to emulate breath noise!
LFO stands for low frequency oscillator.
The Linn Drum was a classic beatbox which made up the heavy beats of many hits from the 80s.
The CR78 was the world’s first ever programmable drum machine – all sounds were analogue!
Peter Gabriel used the Akai TR808 on his classic hit “Games without Frontier”.
Listen out for the sound of the Akai TR808 in John Foxx’s hits!
The Akai TR727 features the first Latin American percussive sounds such as bongos and cabasa. It was released in the mid 1980s.
The Simmons drum synthesiser was a drum machine that was played with pads and all analogue circuitry.
In the songs from the “new romantic” era in particular from Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran, listen out for the unmistakeable sound of the Simmons drum synthesiser!
The classic Akai XR10 was used for many of Peter Gabriel’s and Robert Palmer’s hits from the 80s.
Did you know that drum machines have been around since the 1950s where they were used as backing rhythms for club singers?
A synthesiser is an electronic musical instrument that produces electronically generated sound.
Phase distortion is often used by Casio on its range of synthesisers – this is when a sine wave is bent out of shape.
Some synthesisers use FM which stands for Frequency Modulation Synthesis – this is when the timbre of a wave is changed via modulation, resulting in a more complex sound.
Physical Modelling synthesis is when the sound is generated according to the physics of the instrument.
Analogue Synthesisers create sounds by manipulating electrical voltages.
Software Synthesisers use mathematical calculations to manipulate sound.
When you hear sound – it is vibrations through the diaphragms of a speaker.
Tonal instruments create amplitude peaks at the harmonic frequencies range.
Percussive sounds lack harmonics and consist mainly of noise shaped by the resonant frequencies of the instrument.
The more oscillators used in synthesis – the more realistic the sound.
There are usually 3 stages to sound – the attack is the run up of the sound level, decay is the run down after the attack, and sustain is the volume when the note is held.
Subtractive synthesis uses a single signal generator followed by a filter. Most classic synthesisers are subtractive.
There are 2 major types of synthesis: analogue and digital.
The first synthesiser was built in 1958 – it was massive and could only produce music after it was completely manually programmed.
In the 1960s, synthesisers were created which could be played in real time but they were still massive in size!
The first song to feature a synthesiser is in the album “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.” This album reached Number 1 in the record charts.
The first playable synthesiser was called the Moog synthesiser as it was invented by Robert Moog in the 1960s – it became a huge sensation!
The first no. 1 top selling record to feature a synthesiser was “Son of my Father” by Chicory Tip in the 1970s.
You can build your own synthesiser – there are hobby kits available.
Organs use Fourier Synthesis, which is where several tones are mixed to form a waveform.
In the 1970s the first synthesiser to offer polyphony became available.
Polyphony means multiple tones simultaneously and it allows the formation of chords.
A sampler starts with a binary digital recording of a sound and then replays it at a range of different pitches.
Among the first bands to use a sampler in their songs were Jean-Michel Jarre, The Art of Noise, Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel.
In 1984, a man called Raymond Kurzweil, under instruction from Stevie Wonder, created the first synthesiser that could duplicate the sounds of musical instruments.
Digital synthesisers use digital signal processing techniques – mostly via software.
The technical classification of a drum is a membranophone.
Drums consist of at least one membrane, which is pulled taut over a shell.
Drums are one of the world’s oldest and most prevalent instruments.
Timbales are Indian drums that are open at one end.
In the past, drum sound was used to communicate.
A surdo is a big drum that is used ubiquitously in Brazilian music – they vary in size from 16 inches to 29 inches in diameter. They are bass drums that make up the heart of the Latin Samba sound.
A traditional Rio samba bateria contains a large, deep sounding surdo drum called a primeiro, a smaller and higher pitched surdo called segundo and a rhythmic, smaller drum called a terceiro.
Steelpans originate from Trinidad in the West Indies. They were invented fairly recently in the 1940s.
In 1951, steel pan music was brought over to England to form part of the annual Notting Hill Carnival.
A tan tan is a hand drum that originates from Brazil and is used in the samba of carnivals.
In bongo drums – the larger one is called hembra (Spanish for female) and the smaller one called macho (male).
It is unknown where bongo drumming developed – Cuba, Africa or the Middle East?
A tabor drum is a portable snare drum used in the military to accompany marching and is often played with the fife or other flutes.
A dholak is an Indian hand drum. It is often heard in Indian films.
Octoban drums are clustered together in sets of 4 or 8. They were invented in Japan and have a distinctive sound.
A timpani is the official name for a kettle drum. These are typically made of copper and formed part of the classical orchestral sound of the 17th century for example in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
A tom-tom drum is a standard part of a drum kit and was developed in Native America.
A khol is a terracotta drum used in worship in North India. It is traditionally covered in animal hide.
A bougarabou is a set of 3 – 4 African drums. It is usually played by a soloist who wears metal bracelets that add to the sound.
In Africa, talking drums and message drums can mimic the tonal sounds of speech and therefore the sound is used for communication up to five miles away.
The oldest drums were made from hollowed logs.
The white notes on a keyboard represent the C major scale: C, D, E, F, G, A. They are repeated at each octave.
Before the 15th century, the colours of the notes we see today on a keyboard were reversed so that the black ones represented the C major scale.
Piano keyboards tend to have about 88 keys and Organs have about 61.
The harpsichord generates sound by plucking strings. It was developed in the Middle Ages.
Tori Amos used the harpsichord and piano on many of her songs from the 1990s.
The clavichord is a very quiet sounding instrument, which originates from 14th century Europe.
The xylophone is a percussive instrument developed in Indonesia – it is made up of wooden bars which, when sounded, create different notes on a scale.
You can hear the sounds of a xylophone in Gustav Mahler’s symphony No. 6.
A DJ needs at least the following equipment – sound recordings e.g. records, 2 devices for playback to create continuous playback and a sound system for amplifying sounds.
One DJ technique is called audio mixing when two songs are mixed together to give the effect of continuous play.
A technique used by DJs is beat juggling, which is when single beats or vocal phrases are manipulated to form a complete sound.
DJs tend to use a scratching technique, which is when a record is moved back and forth across the turntable using the DJ’s hands.
In the 1950s, DJs and radio stations were arguing about payola. This is the practice of record companies paying radios to play their songs.
The first UK DJ was Christopher Stone in 1927.
David Mancuso is a famous DJ who founded New York’s first underground night club, The Loft.
An MC is Master of Ceremonies and is the host of an event. It is synonymous with rapping.
Reginald Fessenden was the first ever DJ when he played Christmas Music over the radio in Massachusetts in 1906.
The first MP3 player was released in 1998.
Someone who repairs guitars is called a luthier.
Guitar instruments have been in existence for 5,000 years and are derived from instruments invented in Iran.
The electric guitar was invented in the 1930s by Adolf Rickenbacker.
Danelectro was the first company to produce electric guitars for the public.
Guitar fret boards are commonly made of rosewood, ebony or maple.
The vihuela is a Spanish guitar with 6 double strings made of a man’s gut.
7-string guitars were designed in the 1990s and have a much darker sound.
Bands such as Korn and Steve Vai use an 8-string guitar with two extra low strings.
Acoustic bass guitars have strings made of steel.
A capo is a piece of equipment which is used to change a key when guitar playing without the need to change fingering. It is sometimes called a cheater!
A slide is a piece of guitar equipment made of glass or metal that creates a gliss or Hawaiian effect.
Steve Vai has designed a set of special guitars called the Ibanez JEM series. They have a hand grip cut into the top part of the guitar body, a double locking Floyd Rose licensed tremolo system and a pretty Vine of Life inlay down the neck.
Many say Jimi Hendrix was the best electric guitarist in history. He was self-taught.
The Gibson Les Paul guitar was developed in the 1950s and is one of the most classical of the electric guitars.
Eric Clapton used a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar in many of his songs.
Fender was the company to offer the first solid body Spanish style electric guitar for the public to buy.
A Fender Stratocaster is one of the most popular and most versatile of electric guitars available. It has been used by Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.