1.4. Instruments and Tracks¶
1.4.1. Instruments¶
Definition
A music instrument is an object composed of a combination of one or more resonant systems and means for their vibration, constructed for the purpose of producing sound in one or more tones that can be combined by a performer to produce music.
Instruments are classified into families that group the instruments that have a similar timbre (because they’re made with same materials, etc)
Some common instrument families are: strings, percussion, woodwind or brass Fig. 1.3.
Fig. 1.3 Classical instrument families¶
These families can also be divided in subfamilies. For example, the strings familie can be divided into bowed strings or plucked strings depending on the way the strings are played to produce the sound.
There are more instrument families if we taken into account all the music genres or styles that exist such as the electronic music, pop, etc, that use other instruments like the synths, electric guitars, etc.
Here are some examples of how these families sound:
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1.4.2. Ensemble¶
Definition
An Ensemble is a group of musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music.
An ensemble can be a jazz quartet, a classical music trios or quartets or it can also be referred as an instrument familie such as string ensemble or wind ensemble.
1.4.3. Orchestra¶
Definition
An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
A full-size Western orchestra may sometimes be called a symphony orchestra or philharmonic orchestra. The instruments that form the orchestra may vary depending on the music period, style or composer.
The standard orchestra is shown in Figure Fig. 1.4.
Fig. 1.4 Classical symphonic orchestra¶
1.4.4. Instrumentation and Orchestration¶
Instrumentation and Orchestration are music techniques that take into account the number of instruments or tracks in a music piece [].
Instrumentation
Definition
Instrumentation is the technique that combines musical instruments which compose a music piece…
Orchestration
Definition
Is the assignment of melodies and accompaniment to the different instruments that compose a determined music piece.
1.4.5. Further examples¶
This are explanatory videos made by the Philarmonia Orchestra
Bowed string instruments
Woodwind instruments
Brass instruments
Percussion instruments