Farewell

I'm afraid this is the last of my posts. I've enjoyed sharing with you all the evolution of selected instruments and I've especially enjoyed learning so much about it myself. As I’m sure you’ve all guessed, music has a very special place in my heart, and I hope to always be able to share a song or some knowledge on the subject, which is why I hope to be a music teacher. In an effort to pursue this dream I’ve had to make some tough decisions and face some hard truths these past few months. I’ve learned a lot though, and I thought I might share some of it with all of you. First, let me give a bit more of an explanation.

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe,
wings to the mind, flight to the imagination,
and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.
-Plato

The topic of my blog was inspired by my love of music and to be honest, I figured I might as well choose a topic that would benefit me in my chosen field of study. See, I had a plan. Study music at Windsor so that I wouldn’t accumulate much debt with residence fees, and then get my teaching degree and pray that my speaking French would help get me a job. However, as we all know, plans don’t always go so smoothly. As it turns out, as much as I don’t want to leave home, and as much as I’m afraid to join the big leagues in a bigger program elsewhere. Bigger program means bigger talent and more criticism. This brings me to the first two thing I’ve learned.

Firstly, it’s hard to accept criticism, especially when you’ve already worked so hard at something, like the way you play an instrument, and it’s even harder the criticism is handed out harshly, but in the real world this is most often the case. Everyone hopes to be given constructive criticism, but in reality we have to be ready to accept the harshest kind, especially when pursuing the arts. Nevertheless, one thing I’ve learned is that even though it’s harsh doesn’t mean it’s false.

Secondly, I’ve learned something quite funny. As it turns out, real estate agents have got it completely wrong. They’re always rambling “location, location, location”, but what really matters is “education, education, education”. I was (and still am) extremely leery to leave home, but when it comes down to it, if I’m paying for any education, I’m going to pay for the best education in my reach. In my case, after a lot of research and thinking, I’ve realized that no matter the cost and no matter what my family prefers, in order to get the best education I’ve had to accept that Windsor might not be such a wise choice.

This leads me to my third and last lesson. I’ve learned that support will not always be found where you might think it should be, like with your parents, for example. Sometimes people need to sort out their own feelings before they can consider yours. For this reason, I find it helpful to not expect support from people, even from family, but instead to ask for it from others who are able to give it. I find that this avoids disappointment.

I hope I haven’t bored you all too much with my stories, and I hope you’ve all been able to take some enjoyment and knowledge from my blog. I’ve so enjoyed reading all of yours.

Farewell!

The Clarinet

Chalumeau

A few weeks ago I watched a crazy performance on Jazz at Lincoln Centre’s Livestream featuring the Anat Cohen Quartet (JALC Livestreams totally awesome shows by the way, if you have any interest in jazz definitely go follow them!). For those of you who don’t know, Anat Cohen is, in my opinion, one of the most skilled clarinet players in the world. Sometimes clarinets can sound a bit scream-ish in the upper register, but her control makes for an extremely smooth sound on every note. I was completely blown away. So long story short that was my inspiration for this blog.

The clarinet evolved from an old instrument called the chalumeau. It looked much like a recorder and sounded like a clarinet playing in the low range. The chalumeau was the first single-reed instrument (meaning it was played with one reed as opposed to a double reed like the oboe or the bassoon). The chalumeau was commonly played in the baroque and classical eras, however due to its small range and fickle tuning, it was never given much attention by anyone other than shepherds and the odd peasant. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have laid a hand on the instrument either. All its limitations make it sound rather boring to play. 

Clarinet

On that count, I think a German man named C. H. Denner was in the same boat as me. Denner and his son Jacob spent much time experimenting with the chalumeau and making improvements. In the end, they successfully increased its range by over two octaves and altered the bell and mouthpiece to improve the intonation (tuning). From this, the clarinet was born and the composers finally had something to be excited about; a single reed instrument with a range both super low and very high. It doesn’t get much more versatile than that. I mean, something had to tide them over until these instrument makers got their crap together and figured out the saxophone!

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarinet#History

http://www.the-clarinets.net/english/clarinet-history.html

http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Clarinet.htm

The Mandolin

Mandolin

I absolutely love the mandolin. Its beauty is incomparable and its sound is so unique. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a liv performance with a mandolin but I’d sure like too. One of the things that intrigues me about the fretted acoustic instrument is that it has eight strings. I played guitar for two years when I was younger and I could barely move my fingers around six strings. So, given my admiration yet lack of familiarity with the mandolin, I figured doing a blog post on it would give me a chance to learn more about it.

As you may have been able to guess, the mandolin’s roots date way back. Based on cave paintings made between 15000 BC and 8500 BC, the earliest string instrument, which had one string instrument and was played with a bow. The next known chordophone (instrument whose sound derives from the vibration of strings) appeared in 2000 BC. This chordophone would begin the evolution of the lute, which would in turn begin the evolution of the mandolin.

Oud

The first instrument to really get the ball rolling was called the oud. Created in 711 AD it was very popular in Spain and Arabic countries and is still much in use today in eastern parts of the world. The actual European lute appeared in the thirteenth century. At this time, the lute was mainly different from the oud due to its fretted neck. (Today they both have 12 strings and although the lute is less common, the lute can also be unfretted. The major difference lies in their sounds.)

Lute

During the fourteenth century a small lute called the mandore appeared in Western Europe. In Italy, the mandore was tinkered with by several instrument makers and was eventually redesigned and called a mandolino. Interestingly and disgustingly, it was on this instrument that the Italians used catgut strings, which were strings made from the fibres found in the intestines of animals (mostly sheep and goats). It was during the eighteenth century in Naples, the mandolin became known as the mandolin. And that is how the beautiful mandolin came to be. I hope you learned as much as I did!

Sources: 

http://www.mandolincafe.com/archives/briefhistory.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandolin#History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catgut

The Accordion

The accordion holds a special place in my heart. My grandfather started playing accordion in his late teens, just before he fled from Germany at the peak of the WWII. To this day, he always tells me that the only reason he regrets leaving is because he had to leave behind the best accordion teacher he ever had. When he came to Canada, my grandfather was lucky enough to get his hands on another accordion. Being the talented man that he is, he self-taught and played by ear so much that he became quite proficient. He even made pocket money by playing gigs. I used to love hearing him play and hum a tune. Unfortunately, over time he started to play less, and now he feels as if he shouldn’t play because he doesn’t think he can do the instrument justice. I’ve fooled around with it a bit myself. Although it is a gorgeous instrument, I’ve hardly felt so incompetent in my life. It’s quite an intimidating instrument.

The first resemblance of an accordion originated in 1822 in Berlin, when Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann invented its basic shape. In 1829, Cyrillus Damian patented the first accordion in Vienna. The accordion used free reeds (reeds that are not fastened to a mouthpiece, they’re usually metal) and a bellows (a bag of air, if you will) to produce sound with the left hand operating the button board, which controlled they key. The piano accordion, which featured a keyboard on the right side and no button board, appeared a short while after. In 1844 Charles Wheatstone took both elements of the button board in the left hand, and the keyboard in the right and put them on one instrument, which he called the concertina. Since then, the concertina evolved slowly but surely into what we know today as the modern accordion. Now, Don’t be fooled by how simple this evolution may have sounded. The accordion is an extremely complex instrument. As if playing piano isn’t hard enough, the accordionist must also keep rhythm with the bellows and control the key with the button board. That’s a lot to think of at once! Not to mention that that’s a whole lot of buttons to keep track of! See what I mean? That’s intimidating! Like I said, my grandfather is a very smart man.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accordion#History

http://accordions.com/index/his/his_acc_his.shtml

The Mellow Marimba

Yesterday I went to an audition workshop at the U of W for the music program. Naturally, it was a long day and there was lots of waiting around. To keep us entertained, the organizers kept showing different videos of performances. One that really hit me was a recording of a student’s recital where he played a marimba. (A recital is when music students prepare solo material to perform for an audience, usually 45 minutes worth, as part of their program requirements.) That really got me thinking. What a unique instrument. We don’t see it very often in North America. It’s not really one that many people would be like “Hey, I wanna take marimba lessons!” Which is unfortunate, because it’s a gorgeous instrument. So this week, I’m dedicating my post to the marimba.

A Guatamalan marimba made with
dried, hollowed gourds.

            A marimba is a mallet percussion instrument. It’s a lot like the xylophone in the sense that they’re both made of wood and they both have resonators (cylindrical pipes like an organ), however on the marimba the resonators are exposed and not hidden in a box. Also, the marimba is only played with very soft mallets and there are usually two held in each hand, unlike the xylophone, and its range of notes is much deeper. Many people, myself included, describe its sound as “rolled” and “mellow”. This might be hard to picture, but it’s got the same edge as the sound of metal drums, just with a wooden feel. If that doesn’t make sense now, it will once you listen to a marimba. Which you should do. Right now. On YouTube. Except not right now, wait until you’re done reading my post.

            Although the date is unknown, the marimba roots back to South Africa when small multi-sized wooden planks were laid over a hole in the dirt and hit with sticks. Later, dried, hollowed gourds were hung from the planks and used as resonators. In the early 1500s, when the Africans were taken as slaves to South America, the marimba followed. It was closer to the 17^th century when a man named Sebastian Hurtado, from Guatemala, replaced the gourd resonators with wood pipes. He also expanded the marimba’s range by adding more wooden keys. In 1910, the marimba became more prominent in the U.S. and the final touches were made, most notably the layout of the keys to resemble those of the piano. They even started manufacturing marimbas with metal resonators. I only wish the marimba’s beauty was more common in Canada.

Now incase you're not convinced of the marimba's beauty and don't plan on looking it up on YouTube like I said you should... I'll make it easier for you. Check this out. The marimba even makes The Legend of Zelda theme sound cool!

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimba#History

http://percussioneducationonline.com/2008/05/what-is-the-difference-between-a-marimba-and-a-xylophone/

http://www.musicalfurnishings.com/html/marimba.html