Aerophone

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Flutes are aerophones

An aerophone (

chordophones and membranophones), and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound (or idiophones).[2]

According to Sachs,[3]

Aerophones or 'air instruments' include what are usually called '

free aerophones
.'
A wind instrument has two essential factors: a tube enclosing a column of air, and a device for setting that air into vibration by interrupting into pulsations the steady breath of the player (or the wind of a bellows).

These may be lips, a mechanical reed, or a sharp edge. Also, an aerophone may be excited by percussive acts, such as the slapping of the keys of a flute or of any other woodwind. A free aerophone lacks the enclosed column of air yet, "cause a series of condensations and rarefications by various means."

Overview

Aerophones are one of the four main classes of instruments in the original

woodwind instruments (e.g., oboe,[4] flute,[4] saxophone, clarinet[4]).[5] The wind factor is not only provided by the players' lungs function. The organ and the mouth harmonica
are also aerophones, both supplied with free reeds, which are blown by a mechanical system.

Additionally, very loud and impulsive sounds can be made by explosions directed into, or being detonated inside of resonant cavities. Detonations inside the calliope (and steam whistle), as well as the pyrophone, might thus be considered as class 42 instruments, despite the fact that the "wind" or "air" may be steam or an air-fuel mixture.

Other cases of aerophones with impulsive sounds are the boomwhackers and the so-called thongophones, made up of cylindrical pipes that are struck on the sides (boomwhackers) or extremes (thongophones), thus generating percussive aerophonic tones. [citation needed]

History

fipple flutes are found in all three. It is likely, states Powell, that the modern Indian bansuri has not changed much since the early medieval era
.

Identifying the origin of the aerophone is difficult, though it is believed that

Aztec. The use of shells of Conches as an aerophone has also been found to be prevalent in areas such as Central America and Peru.[7]

Examples of aerophone-type instruments in China can be dated back to the Neolithic period. Fragments of bone flutes can be found at the burial sites of the Jiahu settlements of ancient China, and they represent some of the earliest known examples of playable instruments. The instruments were typically carved from the wing bone of the red-crowned crane, and had five to eight holes. The flutes were efficient enough to produce sound in a nearly accurate octave, and are thought to have been used ceremonially or for ritualistic purposes.[8][9] Examples of flutes made out of bamboo in China date back to 2nd Century BC. These flutes were known as Dizi's or simply Di (笛) and typically had 6 holes for playing melodies that were framed by scale-modes.[10]

Flutes including the famous

BCE has made vague references to the cross flute.[16]

Types

Free

Free aerophones are instruments where the vibrating air is not enclosed by the instrument itself.

Displacement

The air-stream meets a sharp edge, or a sharp edge is moved through the air.

Interruptive

The air-stream is interrupted periodically.

Plosive

Also known as percussive aerophones, plosive aerophones are percussion instruments sounded by a single compression and release of air.[17] An example of a plosive aerophone is the scraper flute which has tubes with ridged or serrated edges so that they can be scraped with a rod to produce sound.[18][19]

Another example of a percussive aerophone is the so-called thongophone, consisting of a cylindrical pipe that is struck by a special mallet, somehow equivalent to a flip-flop (thong). A thongophone may sound like an open-open pipe if the mallet is quickly removed after striking the pipe's extreme. Also, it may sound as an open-closed pipe, if the mallet remains closing the pipe after the attack. In the first situation (open-open), the first resonance mode will have a wavelength that corresponds to two times the pipe length, approximately. It is called by acousticians as a "half-wavelength" air column. In the second situation (open-closed), the first resonance mode will have a wavelength that corresponds to four times the pipe length, approximately. Acousticians call it as "quarter-wavelength" air-column.

Non-free

Further information: Wind instrument

Non-free aerophones are instruments where the vibrating air is contained within the instrument. Often called wind instruments, they are typically divided into two categories; Woodwind and Brass. It is widely accepted that wind instruments are not classified on the material from which they are made, as a woodwind instrument does not necessarily need to be made of wood, nor a brass instrument made of brass. Woodwind instruments are often made with wood, metal, glass or ivory, with examples being flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, recorder and the saxophone. Brass instruments are often made with silver, copper, ivory, horn, or even wood. Examples include the trumpet, cornet, horn, trombone and the tuba.[20]

Flute

Main article: Flute

A flute is a type of aerophone, as is the

Swabian Alb region of Germany. These flutes demonstrate that a developed musical tradition existed from the earliest period of modern human presence in Europe.[21][22]

Reed

Main article:
Reed aerophones
Further information: Free reed aerophone

A reed aerophone is a

lamella or pair of lamellae which periodically interrupt the airflow and cause the air to be set in motion. Reed aerophones can be further subdivided into two distinct categories: single-reed and double-reed instruments. The former includes clarinets and saxophones, while examples of the latter are oboes and bassoons
.

Brass

Main article: Brass instrument

A brass aerophone is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones, literally meaning "lip-vibrated instruments".[23] There are several factors involved in producing different pitches on a brass instrument. Slides, valves, crooks, or keys are used to change vibratory length of tubing, thus changing the available harmonic series, while the player's embouchure, lip tension and air flow serve to select the specific harmonic produced from the available series. Unlike all other aerophones, brass instruments can be "muted", in other words, their sounds can be somewhat suppressed as one would use a silencer on a firearm. A variety of mutes exist for these instruments, ranging from those made of plastic to others made of metal, and in various shapes.

List of aerophones

Main article: List of aerophones by Hornbostel–Sachs number

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-674-00084-1
    .
  2. ^ "aerophone — OnMusic Dictionary". Connect for Education Inc. December 4, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  3. ISBN 0-393-02068-1
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-920051-62-4
    .
  5. von Hornbostel, Erich M.; Sachs, Curt (1914). "Abhandlungen und Vorträge. Systematik der Musikinstrumente. Ein Versuch."
    . Zeitschrift für Ethnologie (in German). Vol. 46. Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte. pp. 582–590. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  6. ISBN 978-0-292-78840-4
    .
  7. ISBN 978-1-135-90008-3
    .
  8. ^ Jiahu (ca. 7000–5700 B.C.)
  9. ^ "Brookhaven Lab Expert Helps Date Flute Thought to be Oldest Playable Musical Instrument" Archived February 10, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Brookhaven National Laboratory.
  10. ISBN 978-90-04-18337-7
    .
  11. ^ "Bansuri Bamboo Flute". Brindavan Gurukul. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010.
  12. ISBN 0-9766219-0-8
    .
  13. ISBN 0-85229-760-2
    .
  14. ISBN 81-288-1476-1
    .
  15. ISBN 0-8369-0724-8
    .
  16. ISBN 978-1-4067-5847-4
    .
  17. ISBN 978-1-884365-08-9
    .
  18. ^ Bart Hopkin. "Scraper Flutes". Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  19. ISBN 978-1-884365-08-9
    .
  20. ISBN 978-0-486-42422-4
    .
  21. S2CID 205216692
    .. Citation on p. 248.
  22. PMID 22575323
    .
  23. ISBN 0-486-27574-4
    .

Further reading
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