NEW MUSICAL HORIZONS, ISSUE 2

PREHISTORIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
It is said that the rhythm was established first, probably
in imitation of the heartbeat, produced by clapping
the hands or striking trunks and branches, or a large
hollowed-out fruit into which seeds or pebbles were
inserted and which was thus transformed into a rattle.
Subsequently, man learned to create melodies
with his voice by imitating the sounds of nature:
the noise of the wind, streams, thunder.
Little by little man learned to create increasingly
elaborate instruments: by making small holes in
the bones of birds, he realized that he could produce
a sort of melodious sound that changed when
the fingers kept the small holes closed or open.
THE FIRST REAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
The Sumerians made a decisive contribution to the
evolution of musical instruments. Their civilization,
considered the first urban civilization, which lived in
the region of Mesopotamia (corresponding to present-day
Iraq and part of Syria and Turkey) between
the 4th and 3rd millennium BC, created, in addition
to writing and arithmetic, the musical instruments
harp and the lyre, precursors of the current
instruments of the same name. Stones, wood and
precious metals were used to make them, while the
ropes were made from the intestines of animals.
From the 4th to the 1st century BC the first examples
of trumpet and pipe organ were born.
BRIEF HISTORY
OF MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS
The first musical
instruments used by
man were rudimentary
and came from nature.
Our ancestors, in fact,
used what they found
and had easily
available: animal bones,
trunks and excavated
branches.
And again, drums to get
the rhythm, flutes and
voices to
create melodies.
It therefore seems that
already in prehistory
man dedicated
himself to music,
experimenting with the
very first musical
instruments in the
woods and caves and
creating the first songs
and melodies.
Thanks to the
Sumerians there was an
important
evolution with the
invention of the harp
and the lyre, both
equipped with strings
that were plucked to
produce sounds.
PIANO AND VIOLIN:
THE GREAT CLASSICS
Above all, the piano, invented by Bartolomeo
Cristofori, marked the modern
era. It is an instrument whose strings
are struck by small hammers.
The piano spread in the eighteenth
century, obscuring the scene that until
then had been that of the harpsichord.
At the same time, the violin also began
to become very popular, in particular
those produced by the luthier Stradivari.
Around the mid-nineteenth century
(the period in which the drums and
saxophone also began to spread) the
modern guitar also began to spread.
the fingers kept the small holes closed
or open.
ELECTRICAL AND
ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS
Technological advances led to the creation
of completely different musical
instruments. One of the first was the
theremin which is played by moving the
hands in the electromagnetic field that
the device creates; yes, this is probably
the only instrument that can be played
without touching it!
Subsequently electric guitars, synthesizers
and samplers of every type,
shape and price.
Currently in recording studios and almost
everywhere, software that replicates
the sounds of their “brothers”
real synthesizers and samplers are becoming
increasingly popular.
22 NEW MUSICAL HORIZONS
CONTINUE 23