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Timbre
The quality of an instrument's sound that distinguishes it from others
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Instrumentation
The choice of instruments that play a certain piece
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Orchestration
The art of combining the instruments in different ways for musical effect
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Heterogeneous
All different instrumentation
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Homogeneous
All similar instrumentation
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Resonance
The way sound waves are filtered and amplified
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Resonators
Hollow chambers or solid pieces that affect an instrument's tone quality and loudness
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Sympathetic vibration
Vibration of one string causes another string tuned identically to vibrate without being plucked
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Resonant frequency
The frequency of a string's vibration, based on its length and tension
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Chordophones
- String instruments - a vibrating string (plucked, bowed, or struck) makes the sound. Varieties include:
- Zithers
- Lutes
- Lyres
- Harps
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Bridge
A construction on a stringed instrument that lifts the string over the body of the instrument so that it can vibrate freely
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Fret
An intermediate bridge that shortens the vibrating length of a string when the string is pressed down
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Glissando
Sliding pitch effect
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Vibrato
A continuous wavering in pitch
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Whammy bar
A modern innovation on electric guitars used to slide the pitch up and down by varying string tension
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Course
A collection of strings associated with a particular pitch, often used for extra volume
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Zither
- Chordophones in which the strings are parallel to a resonator that extends the entire length. They include the following varieties
- Stick
- Tube and curved
- Raft
- Flat box
- Trough
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Stick zither
The sounding board is narrow and round, like a stick. The similar bar zither has a string attached to a curved stick.
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Tube zither
Strings attached around the outside of a tube that serves as a resonator.
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Curved-board zither
Strings attached to the outside of a tube, which is cut away to form a surface for the instrument
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Raft zither
Have a flat sounding board parallel to the strings
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Flat box zither
Have a hollow box resonator
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Trough zither
Have a trough carved in their sounding boards for resonance
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Lute
- Chordophones in which the strings are parallel to the body that holds them with a resonator at one end. Varieties include:
- Spike lute
- Fingerboard lute
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Spike lute
Mostly bowed and known as a "spike fiddle." Has a round stick for a neck that extends through the resonator to form a spike
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Fingerboard lute
The neck is a flat surface that the fingers press the strings down to - can have frets or no frets
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Lyre
Chordophones with strings attached to a crossbar held up by two posts with a resonator at the bottom
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Harp
- Chordophones in which the strings are roughly perpendicular to the resonator. Varieties include:
- Angle harps
- Bow harps
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Angle harp
Strings are stretched between two pieces of wood joined at an angle
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Bow harp
The strings are stretched between the sides of a single piece of wood shaped like a curved bow
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Aerophones
- Wind instruments - a column of air within the instrument makes the sound. Varieties include:
- Flutes
- Double reeds
- Single reeds
- Buzzed lip instruments
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Air column
The air inside an aerophone. Only vibrates at certain frequencies
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Harmonic series
Frequencies that an air column can vibrate at
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Overblowing
Making an aerophone instrument vibrate in different frequencies by increasing air pressure
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Valves
Change length of tubing
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Slides
Change length of tubing
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Reed
Piece(s) of wood, plant, or plastic used to get an air column to vibrate
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Bore
The shape of the tubing of an aerophone
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Cylindrical bore
The tubing is roughly the same diameter over the length of the instrument
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Conical bore
The tubing gets gradually larger over the length of the instrument
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Flute
- Aerophones in which the stream of air is focused on a sharp edge. Varieties include:
- End-blown notch flute
- Transferse or side-blown flute
- Duct flute
- Globular flute
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End-blown notch flute
The player holds the tube straight away from the mouth but blows over the rim of the hole of the tube
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Transverse flute
The player holds the tube perpendicular to his head and blows over an open hole
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Duct flute
The player blows directly into a hole (the duct) that directs the air stream into another hole with a sharp ramp (called a fipple)
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Fipple
Sharp ramp in a duct flute that air is directed over
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Globular flute
The sound body is a roughly spherical chamber rather than a tube
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Double reeds
Aerophones with two pieces of reed tied together at the end of a tube. When under enough air pressure, the reeds vibrate against one another. The tube may have a cylindrical or conical bore.
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Single reeds
A flat piece of wood is tied to the mouthpiece of a tube and blown over, causing it to vibrate. The tube may have cylindrical or conical bore.
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Buzzed-lip instruments
Aerophones, also known as brass, in which the player buzzes his lips at the end of a tube. The tube may have cylindrical or conical bore.
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Brass
Buzzed-lip instrument made of brass.
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Membranophones
- Drums - a membrane (skin) stretched over a resonator or frame makes the sound. Classifications include:
- Bowl
- Cylindrical
- Barrel or waisted
- Hourglass
- Conical
- Goblet
- Frame drum
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Head
Side of the frame or resonator on a membranophone that has the skin stretched over it
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Bowl
Resonator shaped like a bowl
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Cylindrical
Resonator shaped like a cylinder
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Barrel or waisted
Resonator that bulges outward in the middle
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Hourglass
Resonator shaped like an hourglass
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Conical
Resonator shaped like a cone
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Goblet
Resonator shaped like a goblet
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Frame drum
Skins stretched over hoops or frames - there is effectively no resonator
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Idiophones
- The entire instrument vibrates to make the sound. Varieties include
- Instruments of definite pitch
- Instruments of semi-definite pitch
- Instruments of no definite pitch
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Electrophones
The instrument makes sound through a loudspeaker
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Musical style
The complex and fluid combinations of all the elements of music including pitch and melody, rhythm and loudness, texture, timbre, and musical instruments
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