The Flute

Wooden Flute

I have the answer! You can breathe easy now! I have the answer to the question that has eaten away at you all your life: Why do they call a flute a woodwind if they’re not made out of wood and they don’t use reeds!? Are you ready? Ready? OK, so the reason they consider flutes as woodwinds is because back in the Middle Ages and Renaissance era, flutes were made out of wood! In fact, since each flute was handmade, each one was different, meaning that no two flutes had the same set of fingerings. So it would really suck if your flute broke because essentially when you got a new one you’d have to learn how to play the notes all over again! Don’t be fooled though, these aren’t the oldest flutes we have knowledge of. So far they’ve found flutes in Germany made from animal bones that date back from 35 000 – 43 000 years ago. Now, the history of the flute is a long one, so let’s see if I can put it briefly for you.

Modern Flute

So as I mentioned before, we heard the six tone-holed wooden flute during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, but in the beginning of the 17^th century, the flute sort of fell off the grid as more expressive instruments, like the violin, gained popularity. This prompted many changes to be done to help it hold up next to the violin. Woodwind makers experimented for years, changing the diameter of the cylinder in different places, separating it into three pieces as opposed to just one, adding keys one at a time to expand its range of notes, adding a piece of cork inside for tuning and starting to use metal instead of wood. It wouldn’t be until the beginning of the 19^th century, however, that Theobald Boehm would spend roughly 33 years perfecting the instrument, adjusting the space between keys, adding a crutch for the player’s thumb to allow for better movement of the fingers, and adding holes on the top of certain keys to allow for a clearer tone. When he was finished, it was widely accepted around the world and the Boehm flute became and remained the standard modern flute.

Now, for those of you who still think flutes are boring and "vanilla", watch this video. Yes, this is an actual technique. 

Sources:

http://www.mostlywind.co.uk/flutetym.html

http://www.gemeinhardt.com/connect/gemeinhardt-education/flute-history.html

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

The Trumpet

Trumpets found in King Tut's tomb.

    Did you know that there’s evidence that trumpets have been around since at least 1500BC? In fact, there were several trumpets found in the tomb of King Tut. However, these trumpets, as you can see from the picture, don’t look anything like the ones we know of today. Some might even argue that they’re not trumpets, but merely an ancestor of the trumpet. I would be one of those people. The modern trumpet that we recognize today was created by the evolution of its ancestors. Some say that it’s for that reason that all of its ancestors, even the conch shell, can all be considered early trumpets, but I chose to stray from this belief. I can accept them as ancestors, but I don’t think that anything tribe people picked up and blew into can really be considered an “early trumpet”; however, that is where it all began, and I will not dispute that. In early civilizations they blew into conch shells and animal horns to produce sounds. It was used mainly for communication over long distances. Years later, the natural materials evolved into metal and the bugle was born (otherwise known as the “natural trumpet”). It came in many different shapes and lengths. Its intended use was not yet for music, but mostly for military and hunting calls as well as religious or royal ceremonial introductions. Unlike the modern trumpet, the bugle still had no valves and the mouthpiece was built-in as opposed to being a separate piece like it is nowadays. For these reasons the bugle could only play a few notes, so when the time came to introduce it to the world of music and bands it became obvious that the instrument still needed to evolve some more. In 1828, the inventor Jean-Hilaire Asté experimented by adding valves to a bugle horn and discovered that with the addition of the valves it could now play every note. This not only led to the modern trumpet, but with the adjustment of tubing and size, it also led to the creation of other brasswind instruments such as the tuba, the cornet, the piccolo trumpet, the euphonium, etc…

Modern Trumpert

    Now, after the valves were implemented, we took it from there. Revolutionary artists like Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gilespie came around and rocked the roof with their mad trumpet skills, thus gaining it the respect I have for it today.

Fun Fact: The sound of trumpets (and many other brasswind instruments) can be altered by mutes. One of my favourites is a toilet plunger. I kid you not. It’s for real! In this clip, the man on the right is using a harmon mute and the man on the left is using what seems to be a pixie mute in addition to a plunger mute.

Sources:

http://www.wwbw.com/A-Brief-History-of-the-Trumpet-g26396t0.wwbw

http://www.the-solo-trumpet.com/trumpet-history.html

The Sexy Sax

It’s chic, it’s cool, it’s jazzy; it’s the sexy sax. Don’t get me wrong, I have a deep appreciation of all instruments and I’m not going to lie and say that the trombone isn’t a kick-ass instrument or that the clarinet isn’t amazingly fun, but being the first instrument that I learned, the saxophone has a special place in my heart.

Flautist and clarinettist Adolph Sax (hence the saxophone) developed the first saxophone in 1841 with the goal of creating the ultimate band ensemble instrument by together bringing the projection of a brasswind (like a trumpet) with the precision of a woodwind (like a flute). As a result, the saxophone’s body is made of brass, has keys in the same set-up as a woodwind (extremely similar to the flute) and it has a single reed mouthpiece very much like the clarinet.

After Sax’s patent on the saxophone expired in 1866 others were free to create their own imitations. This is how the instrument became perfected. First came the extension of the bell as well as an extra key that changed the instruments lowest note from a B to a B♭. Another big change to the key layout was the addition of alternate fingerings. For example, extra keys were added to facilitate playing notes such as C, F# and B♭ in fast runs. I’d say that the most significant change made was to the octave keys. Originally the player controlled two octave keys with his/her left thumb, however with experimentation and some adjustments, one octave key was able to do the job of both. The tone of the instrument was also greatly improved and went from being just mellow to smooth and powerful, which is what makes it not only a great band instrument, but an excellent jazz instrument as well.

Sax’s original saxophone family included 14 different types of saxophones all ranging in pitch, size and key (such as saxophones in the keys of F, C, B♭, and E♭). Out of the original family five saxophones remain popular to date all in the keys of B♭ and E♭. Listed from highest range to lowest range: Soprano in B♭; alto in E♭; tenor in B♭; baritone in E♭, and bass in B♭. However, some manufacturers are currently trying to bring back the C soprano saxophone.

My favourite to play has always been the alto, but I do like getting my fix on tenor and bari (baritone). Sometimes you just crave those low ranges. So there you have it! A look into the history and evolution of the saxophone!

Sources:

http://www.angelfire.com/ga/sax99/history.html

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

http://www.the-saxophone.com/history-of-the-saxophone.html