Here are some of the more common instruments found in an orchestra percussion section. Timpani are large kettledrums drums with a rounded bottom that can be tuned to play specific pitches. An orchestra or wind ensemble will usually have a few tympani of various sizes.
Other common drums do not have a particular pitch. They are usually cylindrical, sometimes with a drum head on each end of the cylinder. They include the small side drum , which often has a snare that can be engaged to give the drum an extra rattling sound, the medium-sized tenor drum , and the large bass drum. All orchestral drums including tympani are played using hard drum sticks or softer beaters. Drums that are played with the hands, like bongos, are rare in traditional orchestras and bands.
For smaller ensembles, various cymbals and drums may be grouped into a drum set so that one player can play all of them. Gongs are usually larger and thicker than cymbals and are usually hit with a soft beater.
There is only one group of common percussion instruments on which it is easy to play a melody. In these instruments, bars, blocks or tubes are arranged in two rows like the black and white keys of a piano keyboard. Orchestral xylophones and marimbas use wooden bars arranged over hollow tubes that help amplify their sound.
Common percussion extras that add special color and effects to the music include the tambourine, triangle, maracas and other shakers, castanets, claves and various wood blocks, and various bells and scrapers. Skip to main content. Musical Instrument Families. Search for:. Orchestral Instruments Introduction. You may be surprised that the saxophone is not here. This is the one instrument that is always found in bands and wind ensembles, but only very rarely plays in the orchestra. French horn.
A couple of times every week, enjoy one-minute videos created for you, by your Oregon Symphony musicians. Join the Oregon Symphony for a collective musical celebration of the people who are essential in our lives. Instrument Families When we talk about musical instruments, we often talk about them as being part of a family.
It is thought to have a more mellow sound than the oboe. Another wooden instrument, the clarinet , produces a fluid sound when air is blown between a single reed and the mouthpiece. As air passes through, the reed vibrates and creates sound. It has a large range of nearly four octaves so is a very versatile instrument. The tone quality can vary greatly depending on the musician, the instrument, the mouthpiece, and the reed.
The bass clarinet is a larger, lower relative of the clarinet. Most bass clarinets today are straight instruments like a clarinet but with a small upturned silver-colored metal bell and a curved metal neck. The bass clarinet has a usable range of over four octaves, quite close to the range of the bassoon, and many bass clarinetists perform works originally intended for bassoon or even cello.
The bassoon is a large double-reed instrument with a sound that is deeper than the other woodwind instruments. When the player blows air between the reeds, the vibrating column of air inside the instrument travels over nine feet to the bottom of the instrument, then up to the top where the sound comes out!
Luckily, the bassoon comes apart into pieces for easy transport. There is a complex key work system to allow this large instrument to utilize its three-octave range with considerable agility. The contrabassoon is twice as long as the standard bassoon, curves around on itself twice, and, due to its weight and shape, is supported by an end pin. It is a very deep-sounding woodwind instrument. The contrabassoon is mainly a supplementary rather than a core orchestral instrument and is most frequently found in larger symphonic works.
The saxophone , while made of brass, is actually a woodwind instrument! It uses a single-reed mouthpiece much like the clarinet. It is more powerful than most woodwinds, and more versatile than most brass instruments.
The saxophone is used extensively in jazz, as well as in military, marching, and concert bands. There is also chamber and symphonic music written for sax, though it is less common. Still, there are some wonderful orchestral works that use the sax, so you will probably find a sax in our midst at some point every season! Brass instruments are essentially very long pipes that widen at their ends into a bell-like shape. The pipes have been curved and twisted into different shapes to make them easier to hold and play.
Most brass instruments have valves attached to their long pipes. When the player presses down on the valves, they open and close different parts of the pipe, increasing or decreasing the length of the pipe when played and creating a lower sound. In addition to the valves, the player can select the pitch from a range of overtones or harmonics by changing his or her lip aperture and tension known as the embouchure.
The mouthpiece can also make a big difference in tone. Brass musicians can also insert mutes into the bell of their instrument to change the timbre of its sound. The trumpet has been around since about years BCE! Air travels through six and a half feet of tubing bent into an oblong shape.
The modern trumpet has three valves to change pitches, added in the early 19th century. The trombone has a more mellow sound than the trumpet. Instead of valves or keys, the trombone uses a slide with seven positions to change the length of its approximately nine feet of tubing in order to reach different pitches.
The longer the column of air, the lower the pitch. It also has a short tuning slide to adjust intonation. It has a clear, mellow sound, and is played with the bell pointing away from the audience, providing contrast to the other brass instruments. The player produces different notes on the horn by pressing valves with the left hand and by moving the right hand inside of the bell.
The bass trombone is identical in length to the tenor trombone but has a wider bore and a larger bell to create a fuller tone in the low register. It also has one or two valves which can lower the key of the instrument.
There is usually at least one bass trombone in a symphony orchestra. Made of about sixteen feet of tubing, the tuba is the lowest-sounding member of the brass family. It is one of the newest instruments in the orchestra, having first appeared in the midth century. The concert tuba generally has four or five valves and is held upright in the player? Strings The string section is the basis of the orchestra and the one consistent component of orchestras down the ages.
Violin Read more. Viola Read more. Cello Read more. Double bass Read more. Woodwind The wind section is traditionally known as the woodwind section even though not all the instruments are made of wood for example the saxophone is made of metal.
Flute Read more. Piccolo Read more. Oboe Read more. Cor Anglais Read more.
0コメント