Every human being gets affiliated to music as music describes the expression of heart. Music instruments are used to generate music and are moderated by a musician so as to get desired audio effects. They play an extremely important role in the field of music and it's always a different experience to play any musical instrument.
Jew's Harp
The Jew's harp is one of the oldest instruments and is traditional to cultures around the world. Despite the English name, this instrument has no particular connection with the Jewish people or Judaism. This instrument is native to Asia and used in all tribes of Turkic peoples in Asia where it is variously referred to as a temir komuz (literally, iron komuz), agiz komuzu (literally, mouth komuz) or gubuz.
The instrument is a lamellophone, which is in the category of plucked idiophones: it consists of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. The tongue/reed is placed in the performer's mouth and plucked with the finger to produce a note. The frame is held firmly against the performer's parted front teeth, using the jaw (thus "jaw harp") and mouth as a resonator, greatly increasing the volume of the instrument. The teeth must be parted sufficiently for the reed to vibrate freely, and the fleshy parts of the mouth should not come into contact with the reed to prevent damping of the vibrations. The note thus produced is constant in pitch, though by changing the shape of his or her mouth and the amount of air contained in it (and in some traditions closing the glottis) the performer can cause different overtones to sound and thus create melodies. The volume of the note can be varied by breathing in and out.
The roots of Sitar can be traced to an instrument first built under Medieval Muslim influence from the tanbur, a Middle Eastern lute with a distinctive long neck as well as from the vina, a narrow, intricately crafted Indian Zither. Although images similar to the Sitar date back to 1800, the more well-known form of the Sitar had become prominent by the mid nineteenth century. The long heavy neck and gourd body produce a rich resonance and harmony, and is the dominant instrument used in Hindustani classical music and is played as an accompaniment to dance throughout India and Pakistan. Sitar music is universal in these and other Middle Eastern countries. More intricately added design innovations made during the mid-twentieth century have given form to the standard Sitar made popular by musicians such as Ravi Shankar who is the utmost popular Sitar player, and rock acts such as The Beatles, looking to infuse their music with the exotic sound that emanates from the intricately crafted instrument.
Sitar is one of the most popular classical instruments. It played a significant role in introducing western audiences to Indian classical music. It is categorized as a chordophone in the lute family. The sound of Sitar evokes thoughts and feelings of the sub-continent. It is a plucked string instrument predominantly used in Hindustani Classical Music. The word "Sitar" has an Iranian origin and refers to three strings, despite of it being a multi-stringed instrument. Nowadays, Sitar has become the most popular melody instrument in classical northern Indian music today and is, together with the Surbahar and the Tanpura, part of the family of long-neck lutes. Despite of it being a popular instrument, its origin is not clear and revolves around a number of theories. It is believed to have evolved into its present form in the 1700's, during the collapse of the Moghul Empire, as a marriage between the Persian Setar and the South-Indian Vina, while using the characteristically resonant bridge of the Tampura.
Guqin
Guqin is seven-stringed zither without bridges, the most classical Chinese instrument with over 3000 years of history. It is literally called qin yet commonly known as "guqin" (where "gu" stands for ancient), whereas the qin has become a generic name for all string instruments today.Guqin has the most well-documented history and best preserved repertoire among all the instruments from China. There are a lot of literatures around guqin, and the information about the guqin is plenty.
Guqin has been frequently referred to as the preferred instrument of the sages and literati. For instance, Confucius (551 – 479 BC) was a great master of this instrument. Another notable great master is Ji Kong (223–262) who is one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove".
To learn to play qin used to be regarded as a very important element for education for the purpose of enriching the heart and elevating human spirit or spirituel communication (to associate with the values and attitude of the past sages). In Imperial China’s past, monks, scholars and ladies of the elite society were supposed to master the four traditional arts, namely, qin, qi, shu and hua.
Sho
The instrument is 50 cm. long and 7 cm. in diameter. The body of the instrument is called the kashira and is made of a bowl of Japanese cypress or cherry with a cover of water buffalo horn. Around the edge of the body are seventeen pieces of bamboo of various lengths about 3 - 4 cm. in diameter. Each piece of bamboo has a copper reed attached to the bottom end, in the part hidden by the body of the instrument. When the instrument is blown, the air makes the reed vibrate in a manner similar to the harmonica. But even though there are seventeen pieces of bamboo, reeds are only attached to fifteen and two make no sound whatsoever. It is thought that originally all of the pieces of bamboo had reeds, but because these two were not used, gradually reeds disappeared from these two pieces of bamboo. There are holes on the pieces of bamboo and a very complicated method of fingering so that different chords are produced as the player inhales and exhales to make a continuous sound. Before the instrument is played, it is heated over a charcoal fire. This eliminates any moisture that may have accumulated inside the instrument and prevents the pitches of the pipes from being altered or the reeds not sounding.
Ukulele
The instrument most associated with Hawaiian music would most likely be the ukulele, possibly the Aloha Islands' most popular instrument. The ukulele, which means "jumping flea," is a small, four-stringed version of guitar. It can be heard in Hawaii's most popular musical genres, including the music of its most well-known recording artists, the Beach Boys. So popular has the ukulele become throughout the islands that the unique-sounding instrument is often considered the voice of Hawaiian music.
The arrival of the ukulele on the Hawaiian islands has been accredited to a Portuguese immigrant who came to the island of Honolulu in 1879. He brought with him the Madeiran Portuguese braguinha, a stringed instrument related to the cavaquinho. Quickly adopted into Hawaiian music, it was called the taro-patch fiddle, or in the native Hawaiian language pila li'ili'i, meaning "little fiddle." The braguinha was combined with another stringed instrument called the rajão, and that eventually evolved into the ukulele. There is some dispute about where the name of the ukulele originated, but most believe it was named after the ukeke, the only indigenous string instrument to Hawaii.
Akogo, Likende, Akadongo, Sansa, Mbira, Akalimba
Many different names exist for this instrument; kalimba, sansa, and mbira are the most common ones. It consists of a series of flexible metal or cane tongues of varying lengths fixed to a wooden plate or trapezoidal sound box. Nowadays the resonator is made of kiaat wood, and the tines are made of high-quality spring steel. The musician holds the instrument in both hands and uses his thumbs to pluck the slightly upturned free end of the tines. The number and arrangement of the tines, or lameliae, vary regionally. In Uganda the instrument is usually played solo, perhaps to relieve a traveler's solitary trek or a night caretaker's long watch. The instrument accompanies a repertoire of "songs for thought," or laments, sung by both men and women.
Sansas today are usually tuned to the diatonic scale of G major, although they can be retuned to any key. Instruments, which produce sounds through the vibration of their whole bodies, are known as idiophones.
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