A Quick Guide to Musical Equipment

by Frank Vanderlugt

People have been musical since the dawn of humanity. Most items of musical equipment were invented well before the 20th century (synthesizers would be the exception here), with electronic additions being the only real innovations (and even then, these electric or electronic additions are on an already existing piece of musical equipment).

All items of musical equipment work by the principle of creating vibrations in the air at different frequencies. Exactly how the vibrations are produced varies according to the different "section" or class of musical equipment chosen. These vibrations can be caused by hitting something, blowing down something, or making a string vibrate (either by rubbing, picking or hitting).

Musical equipment that produces vibrations by hitting is traditionally referred to as the percussion section. Musical equipment in this category includes all the drums and cymbals, and also things like triangles, glockenspiels, marimbas and chimes. Shakers such as tambourines and rainsticks also fit in this category of musical equipment.

Musical equipment that produces vibrations by blowing is referred to as either a woodwind or brass instrument (both are sometimes called wind instruments). The difference between these two types of musical equipment lies in the material used in its construction. Brass musical equipment is (not surprisingly) made of metal and includes things like the trumpet, the saxophone, tuba, cornet and trombone.

Woodwind instruments were traditionally made of wood, but many these days are made of plastic or even metal. Musical equipment in this category includes the flute, the recorder, the clarinet and the oboe.

Some wind instruments do not fall into the classical divisions used for musical equipment, as they are a bit more exotic and not usually found in a traditional orchestra. These exotic items of musical equipment include the bagpipes (including the uilleann pipes), the didgeridoo and the shofar. Technically speaking, the pipe organ should also fall into this category of musical equipment.

Musical equipment in the string category comes in two basic types. Some require the musician to touch the strings directly (or with a bow). These items of musical equipment tend to be a bit more portable and include the violin, the guitar, the double bass, the ukulele, the oudh and the harp.

The items of musical equipment that use strings but don't require the user to touch the strings are the keyboard instruments. These are the keyboard instruments including our old friend the piano, as well as older versions such as the harpsichord and spinet.

Modern electronic musical equipment creates vibrations by using electric signals to make a speaker vibrate. These instruments either use vibrations created by the instrument in a "normal" way and transmit these vibrations to an amplifier (e.g. an electric guitar), or they produce the vibrations directly. Most of the "direct" types of musical equipment are based on a keyboard.

About the Author

frank j vanderlugt owns and operates http://www.musical-equiptment.com 2 Musicalequiptmentcom