MEDIUM OF MUSIC:THE INSTRUMENTAL MEDIUMby P. A. EncinaUniversity of the East, ManilaZHU 111 – NCP 1

WHAT IS AN “INSTRUMENTAL”?

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or vocals. With origins in tribal music, instrumental music is now associated with recorded music.*

Also known as ‘minus one,’ ‘hybrids,’ and ‘score.’

Instrumental medium pertains to the different instruments played by musicians.**

MINUS ONE’S, HYBRIDS, AND SCORES

Minus one’s are musical compositions that were originally recorded with vocals but later had the vocals removed to become an instrumental work.

Hybrids are musical works that are all instrumental works with brief vocals. (The Hustle, Tequila)

Scores, with the film score and sheet music as its kind, are musical pieces that serves as accompaniment; say, sheet music is used in operas and live theatrical shows.

THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

String – have strings which are either plucked or bowed.

Wind – require wind to produce sound, with brass and woodwind as its types.

Percussion – are instruments beaten or struck.

Keyboard – have keys which are pressed to produce desired sounds.

THE STRING INSTRUMENTS

String instruments are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification, they are called chordophones.

Two classifications are bowed and plucked. Bowing – method used in some string instruments,

including the violin, viola, cello, and the double bass. The bow consists of a stick with many hairs stretched between its ends and causes a stick-slip phenomenon that makes the string vibrate.

Plucking – method used in playing string instruments, such as the banjo, ukulele, guitar, harp, lute, using a finger or a plastic plectrum (pl. plectra) to pluck the strings.

PLUCKED STRINGS

Guitar

Banjo

Lute

BOWED STRINGS

THE WIND INSTRUMENTS

Wind instruments are musical instruments that contain a resonator (usually tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece.

Two classifications are brass and woodwind. Woodwind instruments change their pitch by

changing where the air escapes. They use a wooden reed to form the mouthpiece.

Brass instruments change their pitch by changing the length of the tubing which the air passes through. They do not having any moving parts that vibrate to produce the sound, and they are also called labrosones, meaning “lip-vibrated instruments.”

WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS

Flute

Oboe

Clarinet

BRASS INSTRUMENTS

Piccolo Trumpet

Serpent

Trumpet

THE PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS

Percussion instruments are musical instruments sounded by being struck or beaten.

Two classifications are pitched percussion and unpitched percussion.

Pitched percussion have definite pitch, such as xylophones and glockenspiels, while unpitched percussion have indeterminate pitch and maintained rhythm, such as cymbals and maracas. Most drums, or membranophones belong under the pitched category.

PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS

Pitched Unpitched

Glockenspiel

Xylophones

Cymbals

Maracas

THE KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS

Keyboard instruments are musical instruments played using a keyboard.

Keyboard instruments have categories that fall under with the Hornbostel-Sachs classification: Chordophones, Aerophones, Idiophones, and Electrophones.

KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS

Accordion

Piano

SynthesizerCelesta

THE ENSEMBLE MEDIUMEnsemble medium is produced when two or more performers equally sing or play a piece of music.

ENSEMBLE MEDIA

Orchestra – any group of instrumentalists Symphony Orchestra – large ensemble where

all types of principal instruments are involved.

Concerto – one sole instrument is dominant Band – uses wind and percussion instruments Rondalla – ensemble of stringed instruments Chamber Orchestra – consists of small

instrument ensembles