Pingka Sirisujinte
Musique de la vie et de la terre
Heritage of Instruments
Instruments have developed from the past until today, as has music. Music changes for many reasons, such as popular taste, the rules or patterns of each era, and the demands of musicians, as well as the general public. This project will present about the development of instruments, specifically the piano and violin.
You will see a story of two instruments and how they developed into the instruments that we know today, also affecting the musical style, performance practice, and compositional patterns of each era. Let's see how the story unfolds in the heritage of instruments.
**Warning!!!! from...Namping**
Hey guys, I'm going to warn you a little before we start. You may find that it’s necessary to have a bit of background knowledge on music history as it relates to this topic. But don’t worry, you don’t need to know all of it, just only the part the related with this work. The project will summarize the specific content that you should know. Another thing I’ll say; all instruments have a prototype in the past. Some have completely changed over time, but some have not. Like I told you at the start, instruments also affect musical style. It has happened in every era. Compositions are affected by the capabilities of instruments.
You can watch my full recital program on the “Performance” page. On this page, we’ll focus on the instruments. We’ll start with the piano first. How did it come to be? Let’s find out.
And now you can watch the piano story here.
Here it's Violin
More instruments information
Harpsichord
Harpsichord was an instrument that was often used in the 17th century. We can consider this instrument as the grandfather of the piano; it is one of the few ancient instruments which have survived until today.
The harpsichord is able to make a sound that is loud and clear. Every sound is even, making it easy to play fast passages.
But the limitation of this instrument is that it's hard to control the sound. It just always plays loud; even though it has a device to make the sound softer, it’s not often used when playing.
The harpsichord action plucks strings, like a guitar. It is difficult to play softly and slowly but works well when playing fast and loud.
(Scroll down to see the action)
The role of the harpsichord in music of the past was always to be part of an accompaniment, called basso continuo. When you listen to baroque music and you hear plucked sounds, that’s probably the sound of the harpsichord. The harpsichord player functioned like a metronome because in that time it was not common to have a conductor, so the job went to the harpsichordist instead.
Some works for harpsichord include Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier and French Suite, and the English Suites of Bach and Handel.
Harpsichord Action
The harpsichord developed into "Clavicembalo col piano e forte" (meaning harpsichord that can play louder and softer), designed by Bartolomeo Cristofori. Today we call this the "piano."
The piano action involves a hammer that hits the string, rather than plucking it. The sound is brighter and the keyboard was easier to play than the harpsichord. In the Classical era we’ll see many styles of pianos; two very common types were the Viennese piano and English piano.
Viennese Piano
The Viennese piano had a simple action, quite different from the piano that we know today. The sound of this instrument was light, clean and not very loud. It was used to play pieces that were not too difficult and easy for listening.
Viennese Piano Action
English Piano
The English piano had a more complex action, with louder and deeper sound projection. The pedals were used with the foot, like the piano in the present day. This was a prototype of the modern piano and could be used in pieces featuring more chords, creating the effect of sounds that were more hard or loud.
english piano action
Piano
This is an instrument that enables one person to play a huge range of musical details. Players of this instrument can also fit into many roles, such as soloist, accompanist, and ensemble player.
This is why piano is one of the most popular instruments in the world. In the past, before there were music listening services such as Youtube, Joox, Spotify, or Apple music, people used the piano to play all sorts of music at home without having to go to a concert to hear music.
The pedal is a device on the piano that was created to give more dimensions to the sound. In general, there are three pedals on a piano, but the two most commonly used pedals are the Una corda (soft pedal) and Damper. Una corda makes the sound softer and deeper while the Damper will make the sound louder and with more echo, effective for legato passages.
modern piano action
The another instrument that we'll talk is Violin. The violin will completely different from the piano which model and also practicing. It's on String Family and how about their story? now let's see >>
Violin
The violin is the smallest instrument in the string family, with the highest register. Its sound is powerful and intense. Modern violin players often play the role of a leader in ensembles, also in the orchestra. You may have seen that the orchestra leader (Concertmaster) is always a violinist.
Violin (Baroque)
The violin in the Baroque era used string made from animal gut. The sound of gut strings is more natural, but easily goes out of tune and does not support some modern techniques.
The fingerboard of Baroque violins was quite short and the angle was lower; back then the pieces generally did not require players to go in high positions.
Music for violin in the Baroque era did not require as much strength as it did in later eras. Actually, in this time strings were often used for accompaniment, playing for operas or some sacred pieces in the church. It was composers like Vivaldi who started composing many works specially featuring the violin, pushing the technique of string instruments to a higher level.
Baroque Bow
- Straight, strong, divide the weight
- Suited to play fast music
- Makes a more natural sound
Violin
(Modern)
Modern violins use strings made from synthetic materials such as nylon or steel. These strings are easier to control and support new technique.
The fingerboard is longer and at a higher angle than the Baroque violin. This increased the violin's higher range and made it more practical to reach high notes.
Modern Bow
- Strong, flexible, more even distribution of the weight
- Suited to play long phrases or something intense
- Sound is equal and projects well
Instruments went through developments over time. We can observe this metamorphosis through the pieces of each era. Compositional style, performance practice, and instruments are all closely related.