Questions tagged [instruments]
For questions about generalities about instruments or groups of instruments.
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Frederick the Great - Left handed Flautist
Just reading about Frederick the Great, who was supposedly a quite good flautist, but left-handed — I have a picture showing this.*
Would that have been a problem, as all the flautists I know of play ...
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Should I use wax or polish cleaners on a high-gloss white piano to protect its finish?
Does a polished white piano need regular maintenance (such as those wax or polish cleaning products that exist in the market) to keep its wood and color in good condition? I've heard that waxing can ...
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Difference between Renaissance and Baroque Lutes in Relation to BWV 999
Bach's "Little Prelude" in C Minor, BWV 999, frequently played on keyboard, was originally written for lute. I asked a lutenist to play the piece, and he said he couldn't, because he played ...
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Is it possible/recommended to paint the side of piano's keys?
I see that many pianos' keys are kept unpainted. Is there a reason for that? Can it cause any issues to paint the side of piano's keys? (the natural wood that can be seen on the attached picture)
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Is the right instrument classification for the voice “multitimbral monophonic”?
I was looking up the word for an instrument that can only produce one timbre and the word I found was monotimbral. Wikipedia also had a slightly strange answer for both mono and multi. It says ...
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The clumsiest instrument in a symphonic orchestra
Is it possible to say which one of the musical instruments listed below is the most 'clumsy' or is it too subjective a question?
By 'clumsy,' I mean at least the following two characteristics: 1) the ...
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An instrument that sounds like flute but a bit lower
My music editor shows me that flute can't go so low (red color means this note is impossible on the flute):
I wonder which instrument I should use in this case to approximate the flute timbre as much ...
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What instrument can we hear during these 3 seconds? [closed]
Here is a song by Johnny Flynn. Could you help me to identify the instrument used from 1'28 to 1'31?
Thanks
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What is the name of this synth guitar?
Can anyone tell me what the name is of the guitar in this video?
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How were the hole positions determined on a recorder, and how were the fingerings invented?
I recently obtained an inexpensive plastic recorder and am amazed that it’s possible to play a chromatic scale on it across two octaves. Many of the fingerings seem magical to me - as in, how did ...
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What should I look for in the written estimate provided by the technician for musical instrument servicing?
If the technician for musical instrument servicing provides with an estimate or explanation of the work that will be done, a written estimate will help understand what work is being done and how much ...
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Is there a name to categorize instruments according to wether they can produce an infinity of F0 or not? [duplicate]
I'd like to know if there is a word, in English or any other language, that describe the category gathering the instruments able to play every frequency (tone, quarter tone, any arbitrary subdivision ...
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What is this funky "window cleaning" sound referred to as? [closed]
Example of it in the opening of Persona 4 Dancing All Night's Opening
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ddXM6HX1PgU?start=30&end=45 (from 0:30 to 0:45)
Another somewhat example might be the Goron City ...
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What is the word for the feeling when the piano key catches at the bottom of a press. The word for when the jack slips
I apologize I’m not a musician, I’m writing poetry and I heard someone talk about that click a little over 3/4s of the way down a piano key, when the jack catches and the hammer is launched. It ...
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Black and white keyboard keys
I've often wondered why there needs to be a different colour in the keys on pianos, organs and keyboards. After all, their location and shape differentiates them regardless. I can understand the need ...
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Are there any conventions or usual patterns on how brass is commonly used in classical music, precisely, in a symphonic orchestra?
I hear many people tell me that each brass instrument has its own unique timbre and one cannot be confused with another. However, I often see them used together and they seem to blend together ...
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An instrument I don’t recognize (photo included) [closed]
I’m not sure if this is a proper question to ask here so sorry in advance.
The other day I was in Barcelona and saw a guy playing a plucked string instrument that had the size of a viola.
Its body ...
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How hard is composing a song like ancient Greek music today?
And by this question I mean a song that sounds like an actual ancient Greek song, with ancient Greek instruments (lyre, kithara, salpinx, etc.) being used.
anon
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Why can I not tune up newly bought classical guitar to proper pitches?
I bought classical guitar yesterday online, and it is impossible to tune the 1st string to E.
I can only tune up to Eb, and if I apply more tension to the string, it looks like it's about to snap.
Is ...
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Are percussion instruments the only instrument type capable of making an unpitched (indefinite) sound? [Electronic instruments excluded]
I just want to confirm,
wind instruments and stringed instruments are completely incapable of creating an unpitched sound correct?
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Can anyone identify the instrument that James Morrison is playing in this picture?
From the bell flare it looks like it might be some sort of flugel horn. Can anyone say for definite what it is?
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Is it possible to "add" a rotary fifth valve to a 4-valved tuba?
I am currently playing Wessex TB 692 Grand, which is 4-valved BBb tuba.
I have always cherished a 5-valved BBb, so I wonder if it is possible to add a rotary 5th valve to my Wessex horn..
Is this ...
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What is the name of this instrument that sounds like a pedal steel guitar? [closed]
What is the name of this instrument?
Here video I'm thinking that the sounds produced by that instrument are similar to the sounds of a pedal steel guitar, because when I see the newer versions of the ...
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What acoustic instruments are great for Droning? [closed]
I want a drone, using only acoustic instruments, with as little effort as possible, to accompany singing.
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What is heard when a tuning fork is struck?
When a tuning fork is struck I hear two tones. From a distance I can hear a high octave frequency of the pitch of the tuning fork. Though, if I listen to it closely (closer to my ears), I also hear a ...
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Do chords sound good only on specific instruments?
Whenever I search on the internet for chords, google spits out things such as "guitar chords" or "best chords for piano".
But isn't it that such chords would be good for any ...
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What is the earliest we know wire-strung instruments to have existed?
What is the earliest we know wire-strung instruments to have existed? I was reading about gut strings, nylon strings, wire strings used on guitar, and wanted to know, but couldn't find the answer ...
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Alto Sax producing octave notes without using key, won't play lower notes without tilting down
I bought my daughter a new saxophone last year, and she barely used it- ended up with a school loaner because she says it's "defective". The horn plays fine, but for lower notes it will ...
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Easiest brass instrument to transpose with?
my real goal is to pick a brass instrument to pick up, but I don't know the right words to research what I want.
I have a strong ear, so certain instruments are easier than others for me.
So one ...
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What "things" can you notice on the piano that you can't on the harpsichord, after playing the same piece on both?
Referring to Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C minor BWV 847, Masato Suzuki remarked at 1:37, as translated from Japanese to English
I also like to play it on the piano. When playing it on the piano I ...
user92372
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Which instrument is the easiest to produce the shortest and yet loud note? [closed]
It strikes me that it is not so easy to produce very short notes - like thirty seconds and sixty fourths - on the wood winds (it is merely my guess, I don't know for sure). Perhaps, it has to do with ...
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Help me find this "new" musical instrument, maybe invented in the 70s [closed]
The question was closed by an admin. I didn't find precisely what I was looking for, but I found this really cool instrument called Exquis which allows for what I'm talking about, to make scales ...
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What instrument is used in the background? [closed]
What instrument is being used to create the soft "pulsating" background noise in this video. It almost sounds like some sort of strings but I am not sure.
For example, between timestamp 37s ...
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Magic Bells in The Firebird
Is a campanelli the same instruments as a glockenspiel?
Although a literal translation of campanelli (It.) is something like "little bells", I thought that campanelli in an instrumentaion ...
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Why don't all transposing instruments have transposing clefs?
Is there a reason for which some transposing instruments (say, horns in F, bass clarinets etc.) don't have transposing clefs? For some instruments it's not odd to have them, e.g. tenor voice always ...
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12 string guitar stringing
Most commonly, 12 string guitars have their bottom four pairs arranged so that when strumming down, the octave strings sound before the original E A D and G. Is there any particular reason for this? ...
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Can anyone explain these unexpected overtones on my NUX electric piano?
I recently purchased a NUX NPK-10 electric piano, as a step up from a Yamaha keyboard. I love the instrument, and I'm enjoying playing it. However I have noticed a bizarre effect that I cannot explain....
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Are there advanced high-quality violins like Strads with 4 fine tuners? Does any concerto virtuoso use 4 fine tuners? [duplicate]
Are there advanced high-quality violins with 4 fine tuners? (like Stradivarius.)
Are there advanced violin concerto virtuosos players using violins with 4 fine tuners?
Below are some related ...
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Possible list of motivations for playing an instrument (by hand) [closed]
Given that nowadays people can compose and play via a mobile phone or computer, what could or would some possible reasons for wanting to be able to play an instrument by hand be?
Can't you just try ...
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Diatonic harmonica: How to play the draw bend with the three semitones down (effectively)?
For the diatonic harmonica, in the 3rd draw position B, how to play the draw bend with the three semitones down (marked in blue rectangle) B, Bb, A?
I could play a semitones down, most easily in the ...
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What is a "bass xylophone"?
In the instrumentation of the opera Turandot there is something called bass xylophone, but I couldn't find many things about it. What is it? And, since it doesn't seem to be a common instrument, how ...
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Blondie's Heart of Glass shimmering cascade effect [closed]
There's a ethereal shimmering cascading effect in the background of Blondie's song "Heart of Glass" at around 0:35 minutes in
(in E major) and also moments ...
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Learning cello fingerings without owning one
Okay this is going to be a weird question but bear with me, I promise I'm not crazy.
Let's say I really wanted to learn cello. Now due to the fact I am not currently able to rent/buy a cello, this ...
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What is the name of this brass (most likely) instrument? [closed]
I'm not sure if this is considered an appropriate post, I hope it is but if not, my apologies. I've heard this distinct instrument a couple times. I'm not sure what it is but am really fond of it, and ...
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What's the earliest known example of music written for an electronic instrument?
The other day I stumbled upon Joseph Schillinger's First Airphonic Suite, a 1929 orchestral suite that includes a part for theremin. Since this was written 10 years after the invention of the theremin,...
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Can mayonnaise actually be a good instrument? [closed]
Everyone knows what one iconic scene from SpongeBob, where Patrick asks Squidward a question:
Is mayonnaise an instrument?
To which he responds:
No, Patrick, mayonnaise is not an instrument.
I've ...
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Did percussion instruments communicate spoken words in click languages?
There are a number of click languages in Africa where 'clicks' function as part of their language. It seems like it would be possible to communicate some words with percussion instruments (maybe a ...
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Can I start playing on this clarinet?
Me: no money at all and no experience with wind instruments.
Goal: learn how to play clarinet and to read music.
Found this "French-styled clarinet from URSS" for 40 dollars.
Is it ...
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Keyboard where each key has pitch bend? [closed]
Are there any keyboards where each key has touch sensitivity allowing for microtones and pitch bend with the fingers on individual keys? I think that would be a pretty cool instrument, but I only ...
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