Organology
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Organology
Organology (from Ancient Greek () 'instrument' and (), 'the study of') is the science of musical instruments and their classifications. It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how instruments produce sound, and musical instrument classification. There is a degree of overlap between organology, ethnomusicology (being subsets of musicology) and the branch of the science of acoustics devoted to musical instruments. History A number of ancient cultures left documents detailing the musical instruments used and their role in society; these documents sometimes included a classification system. The first major documents on the subjects from the west, however, date from the 16th century, with works such as Sebastian Virdung's ''Musica getuscht und ausgezogen'' (1511), and Martin Agricola's ''Musica instrumentalis deudsch'' (1529). One of the most important organologists of the 17th century is Michael Praetorius. His ''Synta ...
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Musical Instrument Classification
In organology, the study of musical instruments, many methods of classifying instruments exist. Most methods are specific to a particular cultural group and were developed to serve that culture's musical needs. Culture-based classification methods sometimes break down when applied outside that culture. For example, a classification based on instrument use may fail when applied to another culture that uses the same instrument differently. In the study of Western music, the most common classification method divides instruments into the following groups: * String instruments (often subdivided between plucked and bowed instruments); * Wind instruments (often subdivided between woodwinds and brass); * Percussion instruments; and * Electronic instruments Classification criteria The criteria for classifying musical instruments vary depending on the point of view, time, and place. The many various approaches examine aspects such as the physical properties of the instrument (shape, co ...
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Andre Schaeffner
In organology, the study of musical instruments, many methods of classifying instruments exist. Most methods are specific to a particular cultural group and were developed to serve that culture's musical needs. Culture-based classification methods sometimes break down when applied outside that culture. For example, a classification based on instrument use may fail when applied to another culture that uses the same instrument differently. In the study of Western music, the most common classification method divides instruments into the following groups: * String instruments (often subdivided between plucked and bowed instruments); * Wind instruments (often subdivided between woodwinds and brass); * Percussion instruments; and * Electronic instruments Classification criteria The criteria for classifying musical instruments vary depending on the point of view, time, and place. The many various approaches examine aspects such as the physical properties of the instrument (shape, co ...
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Galpin Society
The Galpin Society was formed in October 1946 to further research into the branch of musicology known as organology, i.e. the history, construction, development and use of musical instruments. Based in the United Kingdom, it is named after the eminent British organologist and musical instrument collector, Canon Francis William Galpin (1858–1945), who had a lifelong interest in studying, collecting, playing, making and writing about musical instruments. The society's founder members, from the generation who followed in the footsteps of Canon Galpin, were keen to form a society to promote the historical study of all kinds of musical instruments. They included Anthony Baines, Robert Donington, Hugh Gough, Eric Halfpenny, Edgar Hunt, Eric Marshall Johnson, Lyndesay Langwill, Reginald Morley-Pegge, Geoffrey Rendall and Maurice Vincent. Philip Bate was the inaugural chairman of the society and Professor Jack Westrup, Heather Professor of Music at the University of Oxford , m ...
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Curt Sachs
Curt Sachs (; 29 June 1881 – 5 February 1959) was a German musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology (the study of musical instruments). Among his contributions was the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which he created with Erich von Hornbostel. Biography Born in Berlin, Sachs studied piano, music theory and composition as a youth in that city. However, his doctorate from Berlin University (where he was later professor of musicology) in 1904 was on the history of art, with his thesis on the sculpture of Verrocchio. He began a career as an art historian, but promptly became more devoted to music, eventually being appointed director of the Staatliche Instrumentensammlung, a large collection of musical instruments. He reorganised and restored much of the collection, and his career as an organologist began. In 1913, Sachs saw the publication of his book ''Real-Lexicon der Musikinstrumente'', probably the most comprehensive survey of musical instruments in 200 years ...
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American Musical Instrument Society
The American Musical Instrument Society (AMIS) was formed in 1971 "to promote study of the history, design, and use of musical instruments in all cultures and from all periods" (the branch of musicology known as organology). Based in the United States, it publishes a journal and a newsletter, holds annual conferences (occasionally in conjunction with the Galpin Society), maintains an active website and e-mail forum, and presents five awards. The society's international membership includes collectors, curators, historians, performers, instrument makers, conservators, restorers, dealers, teachers, and students. The ''Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, ''(ISSN 0362-3300) published annually, contains three to six articles, generously illustrated, on a wide range of subjects; book reviews; a list of recent publications about musical instruments; and notices and advertisements. Articles published have been reviewed by expert members of the journal's editorial board. Copies ...
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Musical Instruments
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who plays a musical instrument is known as an instrumentalist. The history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have been used for rituals, such as a horn to signal success on the hunt, or a drum in a religious ceremony. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment. Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications and technologies. The date and origin of the first device considered a musical instrument is disputed. The oldest object that some scholars refer to as a musical instrument, a simple flute, dates back as far as 50,000 - 60,000 years. Some consensus dates early flutes to about 40,000 years ago. However, most historians be ...
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Hydraulophone
A hydraulophone is a tonal acoustic musical instrument played by direct physical contact with water (sometimes other fluids) where sound is generated or affected hydraulically."Fluid Melodies: The hydraulophones of Professor Steve Mann" In WaterShapes, Volume 10, Number 2, Pp 36–44, New York, NY, USA. Volume 10, No 2, 2008 February Oct 27, 2006 The hydraulophone was described and named by Steve Mann in 2005, and patented in 2011. Typically, sound is produced by the same hydraulic fluid in contact with the player's fingers. It has been used as a sensory exploration device for low-vision individuals. Types and basic operation The term may be applied based on the interface used to play the instrument, in which a player blocks the flow of water through a particular hole in order to sound a particular note, or based on a hydraulic sound production mechanism. Hydraulophones use water-flow sound-producing mechanisms. They have a user interface, which is blocking water jets to ...
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Martin Agricola
Martin Agricola (6 January 1486 – 10 June 1556) was a German composer of Renaissance music and a music theorist. Biography Agricola was born in Świebodzin, a town in Western Poland, and took the name Agricola later in life, a common practice among Lutherans often meant to emphasize humble, peasant origins. From 1524 until his death, he lived in the German city of Magdeburg, where he was a teacher or cantor in the Protestant school. Georg Rhau, a publisher and senator in Wittenberg, was Agricola's close friend and publisher. Agricola's theoretical writing was valuable in expounding the change from the old to the new system of musical notation. His ''Musica instrumentalis deudsch'' (English: ''German Instrumental Music''), published in 1528, 1530, 1532 and 1542, and then heavily revised in 1545, was one of the most important early works in organology and on the elements of music. Agricola was the first to harmonize in four parts Martin Luther's famous chorale, "Ein feste Bu ...
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Michael Praetorius
Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns. Life Praetorius was born Michael Schultze, the youngest son of a Lutheran pastor, in Creuzburg, in present-day Thuringia. After attending school in Torgau and Zerbst, he studied divinity and philosophy at the University of Frankfurt (Oder). He was fluent in a number of languages. After receiving his musical education, from 1587 he served as organist at the Marienkirche in Frankfurt. From 1592/3 he served at the court in Wolfenbüttel, under the employ of Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He served in the duke's State Orchestra, first as organist and later (from 1604) as ''Kapellmeister'' (court music director).
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Hornbostel–Sachs
Hornbostel–Sachs or Sachs–Hornbostel is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the in 1914. An English translation was published in the '' Galpin Society Journal'' in 1961. It is the most widely used system for classifying musical instruments by ethnomusicologists and organologists (people who study musical instruments). The system was updated in 2011 as part of the work of the Musical Instrument Museums Online (MIMO) Project. Hornbostel and Sachs based their ideas on a system devised in the late 19th century by Victor-Charles Mahillon, the curator of musical instruments at Brussels Conservatory. Mahillon divided instruments into four broad categories according to the nature of the sound-producing material: an air column; string; membrane; and body of the instrument. From this basis, Hornbostel and Sachs expanded Mahillon's system to make it possible to classify any instrument from any cult ...
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Bart Hopkin
Bart Hopkin is a builder of experimental musical instruments and a writer and publisher on the subject. Hopkin runs the website windworld.com, which provides resources regarding unusual instruments. Hopkin published the magazine ''Experimental Musical Instruments'' for 15 years and published several books and CDs specialized in a specialisation of certain types of instruments, such as wind chimes, plosive aerophones and marimbas. For these publications, Hopkin regularly asks experts on the subject to co-write the books, such as Carl Dean for the book about how to build and tune marimbas. ''Getting a Bigger Sound'' is a book Bart Hopkin wrote with Robert Cain and Jason Lollar about amplification of sound sources with several types of pickups ranging from piezo disc pickups to common pickups often used in electric guitars. Jason Lollar is a known builder of hand-wound electro-magnetic pickups. Besides writing, he has also built several experimental musical instruments such as wood ...
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Victor-Charles Mahillon
Victor-Charles Mahillon (March 10, 1841 in Brussels – June 17, 1924 in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was a Belgian musician, instrument builder and writer on musical topics. He was the founder and first curator of the Musée instrumental du Conservatoire Royal de Musique, known today as the Musical Instrument Museum. He built, collected, and described more than 1500 musical instruments. Biography Early life and family Born in a family of instrument makers and music publishers, son of Charles Mahillon (1813-1887), and brother of Joseph-Jean Mahillon (1848-1923, Adolphe Désiré Mahillon (1851-1906) and Ferdinand-Charles-Eugène Mahillon (1855-1948). His uncle Barthelemi and his son Fernand-Charles-Henri had the same profession. Partly self-taught, Mahillon studied Musical Acoustics and Organology and started working at his father's factory of musical instruments in 1865. In 1869, he started the musical journal ''L'Echo musical'', which ran until 1886. Brussels Royal ...
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