· Harp
· Hurdy Gurdy and Organistrum
· Lute
· Bagpipe
· Psaltery
· Positive Organ
· Fiddle
· Frame Drum

The Harp

Harps are amongst the oldest of musical instruments. The oldest records show harps being played as long ago as 3000 B.C. in Mesopotamia and in Egypt. Harps have been popular in all cultures at one time or other.

In the western experience there have been two major trends in the styles of harp which influence the harps that are in use today. The small harp, common to England and Medieval Europe, was lightly constructed and used gut strings which were plucked by the flesh of the finger tips thus producing a tone that died away quickly. Nylon strung folk harps, modern Irish harps and concert harps stem from this tradition.

On the other hand, there was the "Clairseach" of the Gaels that was a sturdily built, metal-strung harp played with fingernails. It had a bell-like sound with a long sustain. This was the harp of ancient Ireland and Scotland.

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Hurdy Gurdy and Organistrum

The hurdy gurdy, known in France as the vielle a roue or vielle for short, is an ancient instrument which is undergoing a modern renaissance in Europe and America. First, to dispel a popular misconception: the hurdy gurdy was not played by the organ grinder or his monkey. They used a large music box operated by a crank. Today's hurdy gurdy is roughly the same as those built in the middle ages. It has three to six strings which are caused to vibrate by a resined wheel turned by a crank. Melody notes are produced on one string, or two tuned in unison, by pressing keys which stop the string at the proper intervals for the scale. The other strings play a drone note.

Some instruments have a "dog", "trompette" or "buzzing bridge" A string passes over a moveable bridge, which by a clever movement of the crank in the open hand, can produce a rasping rhythm to accompany the tune by causing the bridge to hammer on the sound board. The instrument is held in the lap with a strap to hold it steady. The case can be square, lute back, or flat back with a guitar or fiddle shape. Forms of the vielle a roue existed not only in France, but in Germany, Italy, Britain, Russia, Spain and Hungary.

The earliest known form of the vielle a roue was called an organistrum and bore little resemblance to the modern one. It was so large that one person turned the crank and another played the keys. The wooden keys were arranged in various ways depending on whether secular or religious music was to be played. The organistrum was only capable of playing slow melodies and simple harmony because of the hard key action. It's main use was in the medieval church.

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The Lute

During the Renaissance the lute held the highest respect of all musical instruments. The repertoire for this courtly instrument is vast. Delicacy, expressiveness and nuance of performance were made possible when the use of a plectrum to pluck the strings was replaced by use of the fingers. The lute was an ideal accompaniment for voice and other soft instruments, and the most eloquent of all solo instruments. In paintings and other art works the lute is often associated with Apollo, angels, or Orpheus, and it is often mentioned at climactic points in tragedies.

Although the greatest repertoire for the lute is from England, the best makers were Germans who lived in Italy. The delicacy and expressiveness of Renaissance lute music is mirrored in the light construction of the instrument. Its belly is made of pine, often only one-sixteenth inch thick, with a carved sound-hole or rose in the middle. Wooden bars glued underneath the belly strengthen it and add to the resonance. The pear shaped back is constructed from several ribs, shaped and bent over a mold, and then glued together edge to edge. These ribs may be made of sycamore, cedar, yew, or cypress, and often are no more than one-thirty-second of an inch in thickness. Stringing is light since the body is not able to withstand twelve or more strings at high tension. Plucking is done with the soft part of the fingers and thumb, not the nails. The best lute players use little motion of either hand.

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Bagpipe

The origins of the bagpipe can be traced back to the most ancient civilizations. The bagpipe probably originated as a rustic instrument in many cultures because a herdsman had the necessary materials at hand: a goat or sheep skin and a reed pipe. The instrument is mentioned in the Bible, and historians believe that it originated in Sumaria. Through Celtic migration it was introduced to Persia and India, and subsequently to Greece and Rome. In fact, a Roman historian of the first century wrote that the Emporer Nero knew how to play the pipe with his mouth and the bag thrust under his arm. During the Middle Ages, however, the bagpipe was heard and appreciated by all levels of society.

The construction of the bagpipe allows a continuous supply of air to be maintained. By squeezing the bag with his left hand while a breath is taken, the flow of air can be kept up in both the drone pipes and chanter. Other features of this instrument are the mouthpipe and the double reed of the chanter and drone. The mouthpipe contains a round piece of leather hinged onto the bag end which acts as a one way valve. As the player blows air in, the flap opens; when he stops blowing the air pressure within the bag forces the flap shut. The chanter has seven finger holes and a thumb hole, and has a usual range of an octave and one note.

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Psaltery

The psaltery (psalterion, saltere, sauterie, Psalterium, Psalter, salterio) is an ancient intstrument seen in many forms. Early versions were simply a wooden board with gut strings stretched between pegs. The strings were plucked with fingers or by plectra (the name might have derived from the Greek psallein meaning plucked with fingers). Later instruments included the hollow box or soundboard with soundholes and metal strings. The player performed with the instrument on the lap or on a table, or in front of the chest held with a strap around his neck if movement was needed.

The name of psaltery entered Christian literature in the 3rd century B.C. translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint where, in the Psalms, nebel was translated psalterion. Thus, Nebuchadnezzar's idolatrous ensemble included the Aramic psantria. Notice, also, that the book of Psalms has also become known as the Psalter (or psalterium), from the hymns sung with this harp.

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Positive Organ

Unlike the portative organ, which faded from use without leaving a substantive legacy in the form of literature or an impact on later instruments, the positive organ of the Middle Ages provided the workplace for at least one development that became a standard element of the organ: a chest mechanism that allowed the use of different stops. By the middle of the fifteenth century, such stop controls were typical of positive organs and were in fact being found on some larger organs in churches.

Because some form of the positive remained in use after the fifteenth century, there is more information available about it than about the portative organ. Representations of positive organs can be found in manuscript illuminations, painting, stained glass, and other forms of visual representation. Furthermore, the evolution of the instrument provides a line of continuity to surviving instruments that is not found in the history of the portative. The positive organ appears to have had two primary uses: it was used in the performance of secular music, and thus may be considered to have been a secular chamber instrument, at least in part. The earliest preserved keyboard music, from c. 1325 AD, consists of secular pieces (three dances and three intabulations), and the degree of sophistication found in them indicates a thriving keyboard practice as early as the fourteenth century. The positive - under several different names - is associated with the church in the form of instruments placed at the front of the nave and used to accompany the singing of the choir. Descendents of organs of this type are found in many European churches today.

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Fiddle

There were two early string instrument families that led to the modern string family: the fiddle family and the rebec family. These two families developed during the Middle Ages and renaissance. Instruments of the rebec family were known in Europe from the 13th century. They are distinguished by small, pear shaped bodies with rounded backs made from one piece of wood. Short necks and decorative sound holes also separate them from the fiddle family. These instruments have lateral tuning pegs like today's instruments.

Medieval fiddles vary in shape and size, but all had from 3 to 5 strings. Popular in the 12th-14th century in many different areas of the world, the fiddle was also called the vielle, fidel and fithele (World 208). Fiddles had flat backs, unlike rebecs, and peg disks with tuning pegs that stuck out perpendicular to the face of the instrument. The fiddle bow, made of a pliant stick held taut with horsehair, was shorter and broader than today's bow. One offshoot of the medieval fiddle is the lira da braccio. It has a gently waisted profile, and a wide fingerboard with 5 strings. There are also 2 drone strings, off of the fingerboard, tuned an octave apart. The sound holes were C-shaped, but later became F-shaped like modern instruments. Yet another medieval fiddle is the lira da gamba or lirone, a bass version of the lira da braccio, with 9-15 fingerboard strings and 2 drones. It has the usual side sound holes, plus a central sound hole, and is held like a cello.

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Frame Drum

Frame drums are among the oldest and most versatile of drums. Most cultures have some type of frame drum; the Egyptian Riq, the Brazilian pandeiro, the kanjira from south India, the middle eastern tar and bendir ,and the native American versions are but a few of the available frame drums. Of course, the frame drum most Westerners are familiar with is the good old tamborine.

The frame drum family is a versatile and extremely adaptable group of percussion instruments that possesses a vast tonal spectrum. The vast array of sounds that can come from this ancient single-headed drum is due to a combination of many variables. These include: the type of playing surface, i.e., animal skin (goat, cow, dear, lizard, fish, etc.) or synthetic (plastic); thickness of the playing surface; depth, shape, diameter and thickness of the shell; the material the shell is made from (wood or synthetic); whether there are jingles, metal rings or bells attached to the shell; snares on the head; what kind of beater is being used (in the case of the hands, what fingering / hand technique is used, or the use of sticks, mallets, brushes or Superballs); and the playing position being used.

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