- A Positive Organ
- Action by Andreas and Nanette (Stein), Streicher Viennese escapement (1794)
1. Key. 2. Jack. 3. Jack-operating spring. 4. Cushion limiting rebound of jack. 5. Button and screw regulating escapement of hammer. 6. Hammer-butt and operating face. 7. Hammer-butt pivot. 8. Hammer-shank. 9. Hammer-head. 10. Check. 11. Damper-lifter. 12. Damper-head. 13. Action-rails. - Action of the Grand Piano
1. Indicates the felt, cloth or leather, upon which the various parts of the action rest, or fall noiselessly. 2. Key. 3. Bottom; sometimes called Key Rocker. 4. Extension; split at lower end to receive center pin in Bottom. 5. Wippen Support. 6. Jack. 7. Jack Spring. 8. Flange and Regulating Rail. 9. Regulating Screw, Button and Cushion. 10. Escapement Lever. 11. Regulating Screw in Hammer Flange, for Escapement Lever. 12. Check Wire, for Escapement Lever. 13. Screw to regulate fall of Escapement Lever. 14. Lever Flange, screwed to Flange Rail. 15. Hammer Shank. 16. Hammer. 17. Back Check. 18. Damper Lever, leaded. 19. Damper Wire, screwed into upright. 20. Damper Wire Guide, fastened to Sound-Board. 21. Damper Head and Felt. 0. Center Pins. Holes lined with Bushing Cloth. - Action of the Square Piano
A. Action Frame. B's Indicate the Cushions, or Bushing, of felt, cloth or leather. C. Balance Rail. D. Balance Pin. Round. E. Mortised Cap for Balance Pin. Bushed. F. Key. G. Lead. H. Back Check. I. Bottom or Key Rocker. J. Bottom Screws; used to regulate height of Jack. K. Jack. L. Jack Spring; concealed under Bottom. M. Center Pin to Jack. N. Hammer Rail. O. Regulating Screw. P. Regulating Button. Q. Flange Rail. R. Flange. Split. S. Flange Rail Screw. T. Flange Screw, to regulate jaws of flange. U. Hammer Butt. V. Center Pin. W. Hammer Stem or Shank. X. Hammer Head. Y. Hammer Felt. Treble hammers sometimes capped with buckskin in old instruments. - Anglo-saxon fiddle
An interesting drawing of an Anglo-saxon fiddle—or fithele, as it was called—is given in a manuscript of the eleventh century in the British museum (Cotton, Tiberius, c. 6). The instrument is of a pear shape, with four strings, and the bridge is not indicated. - Archlute
Archlute Wood, inlaid with ivory and tortoise-shell, engraved. Two sets of tuning pegs, the lower containing fourteen, and the higher, ten. On the middle of the neck is an ovl plate of mother-of-pearl, bering the German inscription, Gott der Herr ist Sonne und Schield ("God, the Lord, is sun and shield.") About 1700 - Arrangement of iron plate, braces and scale of parlor size grand pianoforte
- Ashanti Ivory Trumpet
Negro Trumpet. Ivory. From the regions of the White Nile The large ivory trumpet is used by the Niam-Niams, and other negro tribes, for transmitting signals in times of war. - Back view of upright pianoforte
Back view of upright pianoforte, Knabe patents, showing ribbing of sound-board and construction of back framing. - Barbiton
Barbiton , an ancient stringed instrument known to us from the Greek and Roman classics, but derived from Persia. Although in use in Asia Minor, Italy, Sicily, and Greece, it is evident that the barbiton never won for itself a place in the affections of the Greeks of Hellas; it was regarded as a barbarian instrument affected by those only whose tastes in matters of art were unorthodox. It had fallen into disuse in the days of Aristotle, but reappeared under the Romans. - Barrel Organ
Large stationary barrel-organ worked by hydraulic power, from Solomon de Caus, Les Raisons des forces mouvantes (Frankfort-on-Main, 1615). The origin of the barrel-organ is now clearly established, and many will doubtless be surprised to find that it must be sought in the Netherlands as early as the middle of the 15th century, and that accurate and detailed diagrams of every part of the mechanism for a large stationary barrel-organ worked by hydraulic power were published in 1615 - Basset Horn
Basset Horn: a wood-wind instrument, not a "horn," member of the clarinet family, of which it is the tenor. The basset horn consists of a nearly cylindrical tube of wood (generally cocus or box-wood), having a cylindrical bore and terminating in a metal bell wider than that of the clarinet. - Bassoon
Bassoon, a woodwind instrument with double reed mouthpiece, a member of the oboe (q.v.) family, of which it is the bass. The German and Italian names of the instrument were bestowed from a fancied resemblance to a bundle of sticks, the bassoon being the first instrument of the kind to be doubled back upon itself; its direct ancestor, the bass pommer, 6 ft. in length, was quite straight. The English and French names refer to the pitch of the instrument as the bass of the wood-wind. - Biva
Biva A kind of lute. The body is of wood, lacquered black, and ornamented with a band of Japanese design in gold lacquer. Four strings and two very small soundholes. - Burgmote Horns
Beautiful horns of hammered and embossed bronze belonging to the Corporations of Canterbury and Dover. The right-hand one is from Dover, where it was formerly used for the calling together of the Corporation at the order of the mayor. The minutes of the town proceedings were constantly headed "At a common Horn blowing" (comyne Horne Blowying). This practice continued until the year 1670, and is not yet entirely done away with, as it is still blown on the occasion of certain Municipal ceremonies. The motto on this horn is:— JOHANNES DE · ALLEMAINE · ME · FECIT · preceded by the talismanic letters A·G·L·A, which stand for the Hebrew אַתָּה גִּבּוֹר לְעוֹלָם אֲדֹנָי and mean, "Thou art mighty for ever, O Lord!" The horn, which is 31¾ inches long, with a circumference at the larger end of 15½ inches, is of brass, and is deeply chased with a spiral scrollwork of foliage chiefly on a hatched ground. The inscription is on a band that starts four inches from the mouth and continues spirally. The maker's name is now nearly effaced, but the inscription shows that he was a German, and the date is assigned to the thirteenth century. - Carillon, Netherlands
The idea of forming of a number of bells a musical instrument such as the carillon is said by some to have suggested itself first to the English and Dutch; but what we have seen in Asiatic countries sufficiently refutes this. Moreover, not only the Romans employed variously arranged and attuned bells, but also among the Etruscan antiquities an instrument has been discovered which is constructed of a number of bronze vessels placed in a row on a metal rod. Numerous bells, varying in size and tone, have also been found in Etruscan tombs. Among the later contrivances of this kind in European countries the sets of bells suspended in a wooden frame, which we find in mediæval illuminations, deserve notice. In the British museum is a manuscript of the fourteenth century in which king David is depicted holding in each hand a hammer with which he strikes upon bells of different dimensions, suspended on a wooden stand. - Cheng
Cheng Containing 17 pipes of small bamboo reeds, arranged in five sets, each having pipes of equal length. - Chitarrone
Chitarrone A therbo. Wood, inlaid with ebony, ivory, and coloured woods. Two sets of wooden tuning-pegs, the lower containing twelve, and the higher eight. The instrument had wire strings. - Cithara or Phorminx
Cithara or Phorminx, from a Greek vase vase in the British Museum. - Constituent parts of the bow
- Constituent parts of the violin - Exterior
The most important part is the upper table or belly (a). The other parts are the ribs or sides (b), the back (c), the neck (d), the head comprising the scroll and peg box (e), the pegs (f), the finger board (g), the bridge (h), the tailpiece (i), the button[3] (k), the nut (l), and the f or sound-holes (m). The interior of the violin contains the soundpost and the bass bar. - Constituent parts of the violin - Interior
- Cornemuse, Calabrian Bagpipe, Musette
The Calabrian Bagpipe or Zampogna is a rudely carved instrument of the eighteenth century. It has four drones attached to one stock, hanging downwards from the end of the bag: two of them are furnished with finger-holes. The reeds are double like those of the oboe and bassoon. The bag is large; it is inflated by the mouth and pressed by the left arm against the chest of the performer. The Zampogna is chiefly used as an accompaniment to a small reed melody pipe called by the same name, and played by another performer. The quality of the tone produced is not unpleasing. It has five holes only, and consequently the seventh of the scale is absent, but this can be easily got by octaving the open note of the pipe and covering part of the lower opening of the chanter with the little finger. The Musette, Zampogna, and Cornemuse here shown are from specimens belonging to Messrs. J. & R. Glen, Edinburgh. - Cristofori’s action in its final form
1. Key. 2. Jack. 3. Jack-operating spring. 4. Cushion limiting rebound of jack. 5. Under-hammer. 6. Hammer-butt. 7. Hinge of hammer-butt. 8. Hammer-shank. 9. Hammer head. 10. Check. 11. Damper-lifter. 12. Damper-head. 13. Action-beam. 14. Wrest-plank. 15. Tuning pins. 16. Bearing-bridge. 17. String. - Double repetition action of Sebastian Erard as used by S. & P. Erard, Paris
1. Key. 2. Wippen. 3. Jack. 4. Escapement lever. 5. Hammer-shank. 6. Roller. 7. Hammer-head. 8. Jack regulating button. 9. Regulating button to limit rise of escapement lever. 10. Hammer-butt. 11. Check. 12. Felt cushion to engage with check. 13. Sticker connecting key and wippen. 14. Action-rails. 15. Damper-head. 16. Damper operating device. 17. Device to limit travel of jack. 18. String. 19. Spring (v-shaped) for escapement lever and jack. - Early form of the regals
- Early Organ
- English direct lever grand action, developed by Broadwood from Backers (1884)
1. Key. 2. Jack. 3. Jack operating spring. 4. Rail and cushion limiting travel of jack. 5. Button and screw regulating escapement of hammer. 6. Hammer-butt with operating notch. 7. Hammer-butt flange. 8. Hammer-shank. 9. Hammer-head. 10. Check. 13. Action-rails. - Four-course Cittern
- German fiddle, ninth century
A German fiddle of the ninth century, called lyra, copied by Gerbert from the manuscript of St. Blasius, has only one string. - Grand pianoforte action with metallic action and damper frames
Grand pianoforte action with metallic action and damper frames, sostenuto pedal device and hammer swinging soft pedal attachment. 22. Sostenuto pedal-rod. 23. Attachment to damper-lever engaging with sostenuto pedal-rod. 24. Metallic action and damper-brackets. 25. Hammer swing-rail and cushion. 26. Hammer swing-rail rod. 27. Hammer swing-rail lifter. 28. Lifter-rod. 29. Lost motion compensating levers. 30. Lost motion compensating levers. - Guatemalan Marimba
Another form of Marimba is popular amongst the natives of Guatemala, in Central America. Its construction is much that of a rough table, the top being formed of twenty-eight wooden bars or keys, from each of which hangs a hollow piece of wood, varying in size; these take the place of the resonating shells of the Zulu Marimba. The instrument is usually about six and a half feet long, by two and a half wide, and the keys are struck by hammers topped with rubber. Three performers often play together with great skill. This form of Marimba is also met with amongst the natives of Costa Rica. - Handel's Harpsichord
Handel's Harpsichord. Case of deal, black japanned; with internal ornaments of flowers painted, and inscriptions in gold. Made by Andrea Ruckers, of Antwerp, 1651 - Harp
- Holding the bow
- How to hold the Cello
Most pupils are surprised I have no doubt, at the evident discrepancy seen in the plates usually published with 'cello schools, when compared with the manner in which our first class artists hold their instruments. - How to hold the Cello bow
The knuckles must not protrude in the least, the fingers also help by being allowed to bend easily at their middle joints, the upper phalanges having an almost horizontal position over the bow - Irish bagpipe, sixteenth century
The bagpipe is of high antiquity in Ireland, and is alluded to in Irish poetry and prose said to date from the tenth century. A pig gravely engaged in playing the bagpipe is represented in an illuminated Irish manuscript, of the year 1300: and we give a copy of a woodcut from “The Image of Ireland,” a book printed in London in 1581. - Iron plate for upright pianoforte fitted with Capo D’astro bar
- Iron plate for upright pianoforte with Agraffes (Mehlin patents)
- Italian Spinet
Ornamented with precious stones Made by Annibale Dei Rossi, of Milan in the year 1577 - Jewish Shophar
The Jewish Shophar, a simple ram's horn, a woodcut of which, drawn from an interesting example preserved at the great Synagogue, Aldgate, London, figures at the end of this Introduction, is the oldest wind instrument in present use in the world. It is first named in the Bible as sounding when the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, and there seems to be little doubt that it has been continuously used in the Mosaic Service from the time it was established until now. It is sounded in the synagogues at the New Year and on the Fast of the Day of Atonement. The Talmud gives ten reasons for sounding the Shophar at the New Year, which may be summed up as reminding those who hear it of the Creation, Penitence, and the Law, of the Prophets, who were as watchmen blowing trumpets, of the Temple and the Binding of Isaac, of Humility, the gathering together of Israel, the Resurrection, and the day of Judgment, when the trumpet shall sound for all. The embouchure of the Shophar is very difficult, and but three proper tones are usually obtained from it, although in some instances-xiii- higher notes can be got. The short rhythmic flourishes are common, with unimportant differences, to both the German and Portuguese Jews, and consequently date from before their separation. - Jonas Chickering’s full solid cast grand metal plate
- Kobsa
Kobsa A kind of Lute, Wood, painted. Ten strings, of which nine are ctgut, and one of silk covered with thin wire. A species of kobsa with eight strings is an old popular instrument of the Russians. - Lamont Harp
The extreme length of the Lamont Harp is 38 inches, and the extreme width 18½ inches. The sound chest, as with other ancient harps, is hollowed out of one piece of wood, but the back has been in this instrument renewed, although probably a long time ago. The sound chest is 30 inches long, 4 inches in breadth at the top, and 17 at the bottom. The comb projects 15½ inches. The broken parts of the bow are held together by iron clamps. - Lute, Elizabethan
Lute, Elizabethan The lute was made of various sizes according to the purpose for which it was intended in performance. The treble-lute was of the smallest dimensions, and the bass-lute of the largest. The theorbo, or double-necked lute which appears to have come into use during the sixteenth century, had in addition to the strings situated over the finger-board a number of others running at the left side of the finger-board which could not be shortened by the fingers, and which produced the bass tones. The largest kinds of theorbo were the archlute and the chitarrone. - Modern method og grand pianoforte case construction
A. Continuous bent rim. B. Wooden struts. C. Iron shoe holding struts and connecting with iron plate. D. Main beam. - Monochord
The monochord was mounted with a single string stretched over two bridges which were fixed on an oblong box. The string could be tightened or slackened by means of a turning screw inserted into one end of the box. The intervals of the scale were marked on the side, and were regulated by a sort of movable bridge placed beneath the string when required. As might be expected, the monochord was chiefly used by theorists; for any musical performance it was but little suitable. About a thousand years ago when this monochord was in use the musical scale was diatonic, with the exception of the interval of the seventh, which was chromatic inasmuch as both b-flat and b-natural formed part of the scale. The notation on the preceding page exhibits the compass as well as the order of intervals adhered to about the tenth century. - Nanja
Nanja Negro harp of the NiamNiams a tribe in the vicinity of the Bahr-el-Abiad. The body is of hollowed wood covered with skin, and the wooden neck terminates in a carved head with two horns. - Nubian Kissar
Nubian Kissar Kissar Round body of wood and skin, Five strings Length 1 foot 9 1/2 inches. - Old English double curtail
The next step in the evolution produced the double curtail, a converted bass pommer an octave below the single curtail and therefore identical in pitch as in construction with the early fagotto in C. The instrument is shown the figure, the reproduction of a drawing in the MS. of The Academy of Armoury by Randle Holme,[16] written some time before 1688. - Oliphant
Olifant, or Hunting-horn, in Ivory (Fourteenth Century).--From an Original existing in England. - Organ
Organ - Organ
- Organistrum
The construction of the organistrum requires but little explanation. A glance at the finger-board reveals at once that the different tones were obtained by raising the keys placed on the neck under the strings, and that the keys were raised by means of the handles at the side of the neck. Of the two bridges shown on the body, the one situated nearest the middle was formed by a wheel in the inside, which projected through the sound-board. The wheel which slightly touched the strings vibrated them by friction when turned by the handle at the end. The order of intervals was c, d, e, f, g, a, b-flat, b-natural, c, and were obtainable on the highest string. There is reason to suppose that the other two strings were generally tuned a fifth and an octave below the highest. The organistrum may be regarded as the predecessor of the hurdy-gurdy, and was a rather cumbrous contrivance. Two persons seem to have been required to sound it, one to turn the handle and the other to manage the keys. Thus it is generally represented in mediæval concerts. - Peruvian Pan Pipes
- Piano
- Pneumatic organ, fourth century
The pneumatic organ is sculptured on an obelisk which was erected in Constantinople under Theodosius the great, towards the end of the fourth century. The bellows were pressed by men standing on them: see page 103. This interesting monument also exhibits performers on the double flute. The hydraulic organ, which is recorded to have been already known about two hundred years before the Christian era, was according to some statements occasionally employed in churches during the earlier centuries of the middle ages. Probably it was more frequently heard in secular entertainments for which it was more suitable; and at the beginning of the fourteenth century appears to have been entirely supplanted by the pneumatic organ. The earliest organs had only about a dozen pipes.