pipe and tabor | musical instrument | Britannica.com musical instrument ocarina Pipe and tabor, three-holed fipple, or whistle, flute played along with a small snare drum . The player holds the pipe with his left hand, stopping the holes with the thumb and the first and second fingers; the other two fingers support the instrument. A scale is obtained by overblowing, using the second to the fourth harmonics; the gaps between the harmonics are filled by uncovering the finger holes. The tabor, suspended from the player’s left wrist or elbow, is beaten with the right hand to provide rhythmic accompaniment. Pipe and tabor. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection DCM 0722a and 0722b Mention of the pipe and tabor first occurs in the Middle Ages, as an ensemble providing music for court dances. By the 17th century its popularity began to decline, and it survived primarily as a folk instrument. In Provence and Spain, where players of great virtuosity accompany regional dances, the tradition of playing remains unbroken.

In England, where pipe and tabor playing was associated with the Morris dancers, the tradition was broken at the end of the 19th century; the 20th-century renewal of interest in English folk music stimulated a revival. Learn More in these related articles: Musical Instruments Classical Music Home > Introduction to Classical Music > Musical Instruments Musical Instruments The great majority of musical instruments fall readily into one of six major categories: bowed strings, woodwind, brass, percussion, keyboard, and the guitar family, the first four of which form the basis of the modern symphony orchestra. Bowed Strings The four principle orchestral string instruments are (in descending order of overall pitch) the violins (usually divided into two sections, playing individual parts), the violas, the cellos and the double basses.

Each have four strings arranged in order of pitch, can be played by means of a bow (arco) or plucked (pizzicato), but whereas the violin and viola are played with the instrument resting between the shoulder and the chin, the larger cello (or, to give it its full title, violoncello) is placed facing outwards between and slightly behind the knees, and the bulky double bass is played standing up or seated on a high stool. Enthusiasts of Medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque music will encounter earlier varieties of bowed instruments known variously as vielle, viol, or in its earliest form, fidel (hence the modern nickname for a violin, 'fiddle'). The most popular member of the viol family is the cello's precursor, the viola da gamba (literally 'viol of the legs'). Woodwind The four principle woodwind instruments of the orchestra all work by means of a system of keys (usually silver-plated) which when variously depressed and released allow air to pass through differing lengths of the instrument resulting in notes of different pitch.

In order of descending overall pitch, these are: Flute a normally silver-plated (or in more extravagant cases, gold), narrow-bored instrument, held horizontally just under the mouth, and activated by blowing air across an aperture at one end of the instrument. Its higher-pitched cousin, the piccolo, is often encountered, although the lower alto flute rather less so. Early forebears include the unkeyed fife. The most popular close relation is the recorder family, largely unkeyed and end-blown in the vertical position. Oboe a narrow-bored wooden instrument descended from the medieval shawm, held vertically, and activated by means of placing the end-positioned double-reed in the mouth, and blowing under high-pressure so as to force air between the two bound reeds, causing them to vibrate. Other members of the oboe family include the lower pitched cor anglais (or English Horn), and (far more rarely) baritone oboe and heckelphone (bass oboe). The instrument's most famous predecessor is the Baroque oboe d'amore, often used by Johann Sebastian Bach .

Clarinet like the oboe usually wooden, played vertically and held in the mouth, but with a wider bore and consisting of a single reed which when activated vibrates against a detachable mouthpiece. The standard instrument can be pitched in B flat (usually) or A, and the family is unusually extensive including the higher-pitched E flat, the B flat bass, the rarely-used C, the alto (a modern relative of the basset horn), and the even more obscure double-bass or 'pedal' clarinet. Occasionally the clarinet's 'popular' cousin can be seen in the concert hall, the saxophone. Bassoon as the name would suggest, the bass member of the woodwind family, and by far the largest, especially its lower-pitched relation, the extremely bulky double or contra-bassoon. Like the oboe, it is a double-reed instrument, although to facilitate the playing action (the instrument is normally held across and in front of the body) it is connected to the bassoon via a silver-plated, curved crook. Its most notorious cousin is the Baroque serpent, shaped very much as its name would suggest.

Brass Instruments Brass instruments are also activated by blowing into them, although instead of using a form of reed over which the mouth is placed, the lips are placed against or inside the cup of a metal mouthpiece, and made to vibrate against its inner rim. In order of descending pitch, these are: Trumpet one of the most ancient of all instruments. Played horizontally via a series of valves on the top of the instrument which are opened and closed in various combinations to create different pitches. Occasionally, the piccolo (higher) or bass (lower) trumpets are heard (and the trumpet's 'popular' cousin, the cornet), although more common nowadays in 'authentic' Baroque orchestras (which use instruments of the correct period or copies thereof), is the 'natural' or valveless trumpet. The more notationally limited bugle is rarely heard away from its traditional military context. French horn another ancient instrument, descended from the use of animals' horns (hence the name) in pre-historic times. The modern instrument is the most outwardly complex, consisting of a basic tube, rounded into a compact shape culminating in a conical bore or bell, into which a series of valves are centrally set.

Before the valve system had been developed, the changing of basic pitch was facilitated by the insertion of a variety of crooks which altered the length of the basic tube, and the changing of certain notes by holding the hand in a variety of subtly differentiated positions within the bell. In a popular context the term 'horn' invariably refers to the saxophone, and for the cor anglais see 'oboe' under the woodwind section above. Traditionally, the French horn section is seated away from the rest of the brass family. Trombone descended from the medieval sackbutt, it is the only popular orchestral wind instrument which operates without the use of a valve or key system. The trombone is easily recognisable by its extended elliptical shape culminating in a conical bore, and its distinctive use of a hand-operated slide held out in front, in order to change pitch. The slide can be moved to any one of seven main positions, each of which facilitate a different series of notes. The tenor and bass trombone are occasionally seen (especially the latter), although the alto and double-bass are extreme rarities. Tuba not unlike the French horn in basic construction, only more oval in shape and much bigger.

The piston valve action is similar to the trumpet, only the valves themselves are situated in the middle of the instrument. A variety of types and sizes exist aside from the typical concert instrument in F (bass tuba), including the tenor tuba (higher), and double-bass tuba (lower), often referred to as a bombardon in a military or brass band context. Percussion instruments A percussion instrument is probably best defined as one where a resonating surface is struck by the player, either by hand or by some form of stick. These divide roughly into tuned instruments which have a definite pitch or series of pitches, and those of indefinite pitch. Popular examples of both types are: Tuned timpani or kettle drum, xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, vibraphone, marimba. Occasionally, the piano and celesta (see left) are included in scores as part of the percussion section. Indefinite pitch triangle, gong, castanets, whip, rattle, anvil, tambourine, cymbals (struck and clashing), and a variety of drums (side, tenor, bass, tabor, bongo etc.).

Keyboard instruments Conveniently collected together as any instrument which is operated by means of a standard keyboard, the differences in operation are wide-ranging and carry obvious associations with certain of the above categories. These break down into four main types: Plucked mostly instruments emanating from the 17th/18th centuries where a series of stretched and tuned strings are plucked by a quill or plectrum (e.g. harpsichord, virginal, spinet). Struck where the strings are actually hit, either by a tangent (e.g. 17th/18th century clavichord), or hammers (e.g. piano, celesta). Aerated where the notes are activated by a column of mechanically propelled air within a series of tuned pipes (e.g. organ). Electronic where a number of effects approximating to those derived from any of the above instruments, as well as totally original sounds, can be achieved (e.g. electronic organ, synthesizer). Guitar family The 'classical' guitar is typically a Spanish-derived, six-stringed instrument played using a plectrum or the finger-nails, with frets set into the fingerboard.

Popular music tends to use amplification for both six-stringed instruments and the four-string bass guitar. The guitar family gradually supplanted the lute which had come to prominence during the Renaissance. Composer Tapia's Gold - Instruments of the Renaissance The instruments of Renaissance music Musical instruments have been in use for millennia, but their place in the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance was often sharply defined and restricted. In the view of the Mediæval church, the human voice was an instrument created by God, and thus more able to sing His glories than instruments created by people. Because of this view, sacred music was predominantly vocal music. Instrumental music already had a long history, and in some cultures was at least as important as vocal music, but popular instrumental music especially suffered from being regarded as "pagan". Inasmuch as many folk tunes likely predate the spread of Christianity, this was not an unreasonable view. During the Middle Ages, instrumental music was most often an accompaniment: it accompanied voice, it accompanied dance, it accompanied ceremony, and it accompanied war.

Only toward the end of the Renaissance did instrumental music "for its own sake" become common, and even the people of that era might have been astonished at the crowds attending concerts in the age of Beethoven or even Mozart. Music in the early Middle Ages was largely monophonic. When several instruments played together, they probably took turns, or else played in unison or in octaves. As polyphony developed, so did the idea of a musical ensemble: instruments chosen because they blended well. Especially among the wind instruments, there were two types of ensembles, loud (haut) and soft (bas), the French terms referring to the volume, rather than the pitch as they do today. The basic loud instrument was the shawm (even today, people characterize them as loud), and the group also included dulcians, sackbuts, tabor pipes, and trumpets. Loud instruments were seldom played indoors except in large halls. Soft instruments, such as recorders, crumhorns, and racketts, were ordinarily played indoors. Cornettos, flutes, and serpents could play with either loud or soft ensembles.

Recorders and flutes Many people think recorder when they hear "Renaissance", and all the instrumentalists of Tapia's Gold play the recorder at one time or another, but the recorder was only one of many instruments of that period. In fact, there are more recorders in existence now than in all of history prior to 1900, because of a revival of the instrument in the early part of this century and its widespread use in schools. Like many instruments of the time, recorders came in various sizes, to match different "voices" of part-music (which began as vocal music). Modern recorders come in soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, as well as less common sizes above soprano and below bass, but all of them are pitched an octave above the corresponding range of the human voice (so that a tenor recorder plays the same notes as a soprano singer). This is because recorders have fewer harmonics than many other wind instruments, and so sound lower. The Recorder Home page , by Nicholas Lander of West Australia, is the basic source on the web for information about recorders. The tabor pipe is similar to a recorder, but has only three holes for the fingers of one hand.

It is played at the same time as the tabor, a small drum, in an early version of the "one-man band". Because tabor pipes are played by taking advantage of higher harmonics, their sound is very shrill. These instruments are featured at Pipe and Tabor, The Morris Instrument Another common Renaissance instrument was the flute - not the metal keyed flute of today, but a wooden flute with no keys, or sometimes a key for the lowest note. The modern instrument most like the Renaissance flute is the Irish wooden flute. Another flute-like instrument, unchanged from the Renaissance, is the fife. Reed instruments Most of the reed instruments of the Renaissance were of the double-reed type, like the modern oboe, rather than the single-reed, like the modern clarinet. The basic reed instrument was the shawm. It was the most common loud band instrument, and was used for the sorts of things that brass instruments would be used for today. Its development had been heavily influenced by the middle eastern zurna, encountered by Crusaders generations before. Shawms came in several sizes; the tenor and bass instruments were called bombardes or Pommern. The modern oboe developed from the shawm.

Tenor and bass shawms were very long instruments. To make them more convenient, in the late Renaissance they were built with the bore doubled back on itself. This instrument, forerunner of the modern bassoon, was called the dulcian. As the name implies, they have a somewhat sweeter sound than shawms, but they are also loud instruments. Softer versions with cylindrical bores were called sordunes. By folding the tube even more, as many as nine times, one gets the rackett, a very short instrument with a deep sound. Although our modern word "racket" comes from the name of this instrument, it has a soft sound similar to a deep kazoo. All the preceding reed instruments had open reeds, but the crumhorn had its reed enclosed in a "windcap" with a hole that the player would blow into. Crumhorns make a buzzing sound very unlike any modern instrument. They came in several sizes, and were popular for consort music, especially in Germany. No modern instrument is descended from the crumhorn, although the bagpipe practice chanter (which has no bag) works on a similar principle.

The Crumhorn Home page , also by Nicholas Lander, is a good reference. Bagpipes have been in use in various parts of Europe, North Africa, and western Asia for at least three millennia. During the Renaissance, bagpipes were used primarily for popular or folk music, but were taken as a "serious" musical instrument in some countries. "Brass" instruments Modern brass instruments, like trumpets, trombones, and tubas, have cup-shaped mouthpieces and valves or slides. In the Renaissance, valves hadn't been invented, and instruments with cup mouthpieces weren't necessarily made of brass. The most familiar instrument was the sackbut, ancestor of the trombone. Trombones have larger bells and wider tubes than sackbuts, but are otherwise little changed in the past 500 years. Many modern "sackbuts" are actually cut-down trombones. Another brass instrument was the natural or valveless trumpet. Unlike a modern trumpet, the natural trumpet plays all the notes only at the highest harmonics. In the Renaissance it was used mainly for war and for fanfares, but in the later Baroque period virtuoso players used it in concertos and other complex music.

The cornetto or zink was made of wood, but modeled on an older, more primitive horn made of an actual goat's horn. The cornetto has finger holes, somewhat similar to a recorder, but plays with a cup mouthpiece smaller than that of a modern French Horn. Its sound is said to blend well with the human voice. Cornettos came in several sizes; the largest, or bass, was developed at the end of the sixteenth century for accompanying singers in churches. It is called a serpent because of its curving shape. Serpents were common band instruments throughout the Baroque and Classical periods, but were eventually replaced by tubas. Other instruments Viols were important instruments throughout the Renaissance and well into the Baroque period. They are superficially like violins, and played with a bow, but they have six strings rather than four, and frets, as well as a somewhat different sound. Two common sizes were the viola da braccia, held over the arm (braccia is Italian for "arm") and the larger viola da gamba, held between the legs (gamba is Italian for "leg") Other bowed instruments were played in folk music.

Besides the tabor, other drums were used, including tambourines and various small kettle drums, many dating back to the Middle Ages and before. Drums were common in folk and some types of dance music, but were evidently not often used in "serious" music of the period. Plucked string instruments included the lute, cittern, and bandura. There were large keyboard instruments - organs and early harpsichords, but also portable versions, the portative organ and the virginal. Musical Instruments by Norman A. Rubin For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob. Raise a song, strike the timbrel, The sweet sounding lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, At the full moon, on our feast day. ( Psalm 81:1-3 .) For many generations research into Biblical music and musical instruments was chiefly of a linguistic nature. Only in last three decades, thanks to important archaeological discoveries, have new horizons been opened for research into ancient music.

Figures of male and female musicians, dance groups and orchestras as well as musical instruments, appear in paintings, coinage, sculptures, figurines, filling entire mosaics and frescoes, carved in ivory and stone, and molded in pottery. The various finds have supplied scholars with clues to a material culture and an iconographic basis for determining the shapes of the instruments and, in certain cases, even the actual mode of playing them. Confirmation is by other external sources, such as the writings of the historians Philo and Josephus (musical events even organized by Herod ( Josephus, Antiquities 15.8.1 ( 270 ), Whiston 1957:463 ), the Apocrypha, the writings of the sectarians of Qumran, and in the Mishnah. F1 Comparative sources from other cultures also add to the knowledge of Biblical music and instrumentation. The Lyre and Harp And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. ( Genesis 4:2 ) Jewish Lyres. Ancient Jewish coins bearing representations of stringed instruments.

The first mention of musical instruments in the Bible is to be found in the Book of Genesis. These two instruments, the harp (Hebrew: nevel) and the lyre (Hebrew: kinnor), are the two stringed instruments most frequently mentioned in the Bible. The lyre was the chief instrument of the orchestra of the Second Temple. F2 King David, who excelled at playing the lyre), was therefore held in particular honor by the Levites. According to Josephus, the first-century CE Jewish historian, it had ten strings sounded with a plectrum ( Josephus, Antiquities 8.3.8 ( 94 ), Whiston 1957:463 ). The lyre is box-shaped, with two arms and a yoke, and of an approximate average height of 50-60 cm. Psalteron (harp). Made of wood with ten strings. Heighth 90 cm. Gaza 6th century BCE. Reconstructed according to ancient mosaics. Photo by Advanced Photo and Graphic Service courtesy of the Haifa Museum.

The only iconographic evidence of the harp (psaltery) is on a mosaic from Gaza (6th century CE) showing King David playing a harp and not a lyre. It is assumed therefore, that it is a stringed instrument with a broad resonance body, ten or twelve strings and arms made of horns approximately 60.5 cm in height and 38 cm. in width. Josephus mentions it as an instrument plucked with the fingers. The carrying of the Holy Ark to Jerusalem by King David was accompanied by the playing of "harps, of tambourines and castanets and with cymbals and trumpets." ( II Samuel 6:5 , I Chronicles 13:8 ). The Pipe The pipe mentioned in this verse is probably the HALIL - a reed flute that was used for rejoicing and mourning ceremonies. Another theory is that it is the syrinx - the Greek word for pan-pipes, a row of hollow reed pipes tied together, sounded by blowing across their tops. The Tambourine Let them praise his name with dancing... make melody to him with timbrel and lyre.

( Psalm 149:2-4 .) Woman with Timbrel. Pottery figurine, heighth 10.5 cm. Cyprus 6th century BCE. Photo by Advanced Photo and Graphic Service courtesy of the Haifa Museum. The tambourine or timbrel (a frame skin-taut drum) is mainly a popular instrument used for accompaniment of song and dance. Archaeological finds indicated that it was an instrument mainly played by women. Thus, Jewish tradition opposed the use of the instrument after the destruction of the Temple as it is based on the belief that TIMBRELS, connected to women and dance, were associated with temptation and corruption. The Castanets The CASTANETS or the POTTERY RATTLES. The numerous finds of pottery rattles (Mena'ane'im - shaking) probably applies to the instrument mentioned in the above passage. The most typical rattles are in the form of a spool, with a loop for suspension and in a fruit or animal shape. Hard objects such as small pebbles or pottery shards were put inside. The Lute The Lute. A bronze figurine, female, playing the lute, heighth 15.5 cm.

Beat Shean, 15-13th century BCE. Photo by Advanced Photo and Graphic Service courtesy of the Haifa Museum. The lute (Hebrew: Minnim) as written in the Psalms 81:2 , 150:3 is a stringed instrument similar to the lyre. The Sistrum The sistrum- sliding rattle, pictured on coins, mainly Roman, indicated its usage as a musical instrument in the ancient world. The Cymbals The cymbals in the Hebrew text were written 'Mezilayim, Zilzalim, Mezillot F3 - bronze plates with a hollow boss and with a metal thumb loop (or with long thin metal arms). Average diameter about 12 cm.. Cymbals were most probably played by the Levites in the Temple. The Trumpets Make two trumpets of beaten silver and use them for summoning the community and breaking camp ....And Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets .... you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings...

( Numbers 10:2-10 .) Stone with inscription "To the Place of Trumpeting to..." discovered in 1969 at the Haram esh-Sharif. Trumpets in this passage were used as a mustering call for the Israelite clans; as a cheering sound into battle; and the sounding was a reminder to the offering on appointed seasons on behalf of the Lord. Later the trumpet was sounded in the presence of royalty; and like the 'SHOFAR' was integral to the service in the Temple. Biblical TRUMPETS may be classified as follows: TEMPLE TRUMPETS - made of silver, long and conical with broadened bell - as shown on the relief on the Arch of Triumph in Rome. MILITARY TRUMPETS - short and broad, with prominent mouth pieces, as depicted on Bar Kokhba coins minted during the revolt with Rome. The CONCH SHELL found in excavation sites such as Jericho and Hebron indicated it is a form of trumpet for the mustering call to battle. The Shofar The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of ram's horn went marching in front of the Ark of the Lord.

( Joshua 6:8-21 .) Shofar. Ram's horns with silver and gold mouthpieces. The silver one to be sounded on the Day of Atonement. The one with the gold mouthpiece to be sounded on the Feast of Trumpets. Photo by Advanced Photo and Graphic Service courtesy of the Haifa Museum. The SHOFAR F4 - The ritual horn is a natural sound-producing instrument carved from a ram's horn. Its famous appearance was at the siege of Jericho when Joshua blew the SHOFAR, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. (Archaeologists estimate it was used as a signaling instrument that served as a call to his army.) Only after the SHOFAR was taken into the service of the Second Temple did its sound express spiritual significance. It is mentioned in the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 16) that the SHOFAR for the Feast of Trumpets (Jewish New Year) must be a straight ram's horn with a gold-plated mouthpiece, while on the Day of Atonement, it has to be curved, with silver-plated mouth-piece.

Today, the SHOFAR is blown in the synagogue at the final prayer on the Day of Atonement: It is the only live sound preserved from Ancient Israel. "They made BELLS of pure gold and put them around the skirts of the mantle..." ( Exodus 28:33-35 ; 39:25-26 ). Musical instruments are frequently mentioned in the Bible, whether relating to ritual ceremonies or to secular festivities. The Temple Priests blew the trumpets on Holy Days and feasts. The trumpets were also used for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. At coronations the trumpets were blown as part of the formal proclamation. The SHOFARS (spiritual horn) were sounded in times of peace and in times of war; the KINNOR was the instrument David played before Saul; and "By the waters of Babylon... there we hung our harps on the willow trees°; the reed flute in numerous legends, is connected to supernatural forces, magic, taboos, hidden desires, and other themes.

Military commanders, returning victorious from battle, were greeted by song and dances, "his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and dances.." ( Judges 11:34 ). Spontaneous rejoicings after victory in war were accompanied by women who sang, drummed and danced. The Bible is also replete with songs which were always accompanied by musical instruments. The musical accompaniment at the feasts of the rich and, of course, at the kings court is also described several times, often with a note of reproach. Amos denunciations against the external pomp of the cult centers of the northern tribes which the prophet rattled against the roaring of song and the playing of LYRES. For many of the terms of musical instruments, a precise archaeological equivalent can already be proposed. Others still await future excavations. The Bell In the Bible, the BELL (Pa'amon, Heb) F5 is mentioned as a distinctive feature, along with the pomegranate ornament, of the High Priest; the trappings served as a ritual accessory. The BELL was also used on secular occasions, up to the Byzantine period - as evidenced by finds of different shapes and metals in various archeological sites.

Most BELLS found in Palestine are small and are made of bronze with an iron clapper. "And Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances." ( Exodus 15:20-21 ). In the original Hebrew text the name of the instrument is TOF - drum. The TOF (membranophone) is an instrument which produces sound by means of vibration of a tightly strained framed membrane which in turn causes the air to vibrate. The TOF The TOF may be single-frame drums (timbrels); or double-membrane drums that have membranes on each end (both types are still in use in many countries). Friction TOF can be of varying shapes and materials. They are rubbed by hands or set into vibration by a friction chord or stick. The Tabor The TABOR as mentioned in Psalms 81:2 is a small drum used to accompanied oneself to the playing of a pipe or flute. "...you are commanded, when you hear the sound of horn, pipe, zither, triangle, dulcimer, music and singing of all kind...

( Daniel 3:5 ) Daniel in this passage describes the orchestra of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. The HORN might be a double-pipe wind instrument made up of one melody pipe and one drone pipe. The PIPE is a wind instrument (aerophones) such as pan-pipes, whistles or skin bagpipes. The Zither The ZITHER, in the ancient past, was a musical instrument made of various materials, which produce sound by themselves. There were a diversity of types and in a variety of materials - wood xylophones; musical glasses; stones chipped to give a graded scale; natural materials such a reeds, nut shells, sea shells; metals such as upturned metal bowls. The Triangle The TRIANGLE is a small musical percussion instrument that consists of a steel triangle, open at one corner, that is struck with a steel rod. (still in use today). Whereas the DULCIMER is an instrument which produced sound by means of vibration of tightly-stretched chords or strings; struck by a small metal or wooden sticks (hammers).

The revolt against the Romans in CE 70 and the catastrophe that followed put an end to the Temple-centered music of the Jewish people, and opened a new period in which the synagogue became the focal point of creativity in the musical form and tone. F6 The sounds of the musical notes of the ancient past are lost. Yet the study of comparative Near-Eastern tradition may be able to point to a certain melodic and formal elements as 'very old' that may be a connection to the ancient past. Yet, their attribution to Biblical or early post-Biblical can never be proved or confirmed. "you who pluck the strings of the lute and invent musical instruments like David.." ( Amos 6:5 .) F1The Talmud - collection of Jewish Law and Tradition consisting of the commentaries of the Mishnah and Gemara. The Sectarians of Qumran seemed to have abstained from the use of instruments holding "the fruit of the mouth" singing, as the pure expression of devotion (some of the hymns are found in the Dead Sea Scrolls). F2After the return from exile in Babylon, music as a sacred art and an artistic sacred act was gradually given its place in the organization of the Temple services.

F3The 'MEZZILLOT, of the horses mentioned in Zechariah 14:20, "On that day, not a bell on the war horse.." are probably the same metal ball trappings depicted on Assyrian reliefs. F4The SHOFAR is capable of producing only a few sounds of undefined pitch: "Tekia" - a long sound with a broken ending. "Shevarim" - alternations between basic and over tones. "Teruah" - three sounds on rising fifths. F5BELLS came into use in the Near East only in seventh century BC. Thus, the mention of BELLS in Exodus could only mean metal platelets. F6The use of musical instruments in the synagogue service was prohibited (except for the sound of the SHOFAR), leaving music a strictly vocal art. PSALMODY, melodic reading of Bible texts, and prayer chants were made to fulfill a function in collective Jewish worship. Photography by Advanced Photo and Graphic Service, Afula, Israel. Emil Gal, manager.

Page last edited: 02/07/09 08:46 PM Thank you for visiting B IB The Pipe and Tabor | Pipe and Tabor The Pipe and Tabor The pipe and tabor is an instrument (or two) with a long heritage. The Pipe The pipe half of the combination is a one-handed fipple flute or whistle (right) having its origins in the bone flutes of pre-history. The English tabor pipe has only two finger holes and a thumb hole. A tabor pipe (Mersenne) It might be assumed that such a pipe would have a very limited range of notes, but by using the technique of overblowing (blowing harder) get get higher harmonics, the range can be extended up to two octaves. The Tabor Tabor is an early name for drum. The size and shape of the drum can vary considerably. The instrument usually has one or more snares, most commonly placed across the batter head. The Bucknell Tabor (Photo: Phil Day) The Pipe and Tabor Playing the pipe in one hand, leaves the other hand free to beat the tabor, and lo, you have the original one man band – the pipe and tabor.

As mentioned above, the origins of the pipe lay in pre-history but the combination of the two together probably only dates back to the 11th Century. Pipe and Tabor is a generic term for a whole family of instruments. These instruments span 10 centuries and two continents Juanma Sanchez Despite the broad spread of these traditions they often have a great deal in common. And now for some history:- Taborers in England Angel Taborers (players of the pipe and tabor) are depicted in medieval churches, but first appear in the literature as court musicians. They provided music for dancing and processions. Taboring as a tradition only just survived into the 20th Century in England as the music for Morris Dancing. It has since undergone a significant revival. The English Tabor Pipe typically has two finger holes and a thumb hole, giving intervals of Tone, Tone, Semitone (TTS). A shallow Tabor has been part of the English tradition since the C12th, but it is not exclusive. Deeper Tabors appear in the iconography throughout the period. Early Bone Pipes Some of the earliest surviving musical instruments are whistles made from bones, often with three or four holes.

In Europe they are probably the most common musical instrument artefacts from the 1st Millennium. Although there is no direct evidence of these pipes being played in combination as pipe and tabor, they are clearly an antecedent of the tabor pipe. Oscar Duarte playing a pipe made from a vulture wing bone. Drawing: Stephen Rowley ©2009 Other percussion The player of the one-hand Pipe is not constrained to the Tabor as his other instrument. Since medieval times the Pipe has been played with bells, triangles, bones and other percussion. A more harmonious alternative to the standard percussion is the ‘String Drum’. This instrument looks like a kind of dulcimer or zither, a long box with strings stretched across it. The strings are struck with a short stick. More widely known in medieval times, this instrument has survived in very few areas, most notably in the Pyrenees. Michel Etxekopar playing Txirula and Txun Txun. Photo S.Rowley Musical Instruments at the Time of Shakespeare Musical Instruments at the Time of Shakespeare by Come, ho, and wake Diana with a hymn; With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' ear, And draw her home with music.

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music Creep in our ears; soft stillness and the night Become the touches of sweet harmony. The Merchant of Venice Ah, sweet harmony. Each of us are pleased in some way by today's touches of sweet harmony, and we are familiar with the instruments that make the music, but what made the sounds of music Shakespeare wrote about in The Merchant of Venice? What did an audience hear when attending Shakespeare's plays? When these plays are performed today, we sometimes hear etherial-voiced violins, or crisp, clear Aaron Copelandesque trumpet fanfares, or full Eugene-Ormandy-style orchestras accompanying the play with emense works by composers living and dead. Sometimes we hear digital sounds sampled from every classical and modern instrument from around the world, and sometimes we hear analog sounds that sound like no other instrument in the world. But the music of the 17th century could not be recorded. What did it sound like? The only clue we have is in the few original surviving instruments and notations.

Many of the musical instruments of Shakespeare's time would look and sound alien to today's audience, but nearly every string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instrument played today had its beginnings before his era. Instruments evolved to different physical and sonic properties during the Renaissance, and many of them evolved to completely different properties today. The tuning of instruments has also changed. Today's standard is A=440, which means that the sound vibrations of A above middle C vibrate at 440 times a second. Music before Shakespeare, during what is called the Medieval period, was tuned several steps lower at approximately A=415. During the Renaissance, tuning shifted upwards to around A=420 or A=425. Since there were hundreds of different types of musical instruments available in Europe during Shakespeare's time, I will limit myself to the most popular. My intent is to introduce the reader to early musical instruments by referencing passages from Shakespeare's plays, and, using this as a catalyst, expand on the subject so the reader will develop a fuller understanding into that era and its people. The Renaissance in Europe lasted roughly 200 years, starting in the 14th century and lasting into the 16th.

Toward the end of that time, when Shakespeare was enchanting England with his plays, musical instrument design and use was changing as rapidly as it does today in our fast moving, high-tech society. Back then some instruments would rise from the company of beggars and wandering minstrels to enter the houses of lords and ladies. But as soon as they lost favor, those same instruments would return to the streets again, usually being replaced by another instrument making the class change. Today, an instrument may begin as a design on a computer, then enter the home as state-of-the-art, only to be replaced by a new improved version the following year. Then, as today, the fads came and went. Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616, and, as noted before, many of the musical instruments we are familiar with were quite different then. Much of today's knowledge about those instruments can be attributed to three important music historians: Virdung of Italy (c. 1500), Martin Agricola of Germany (1486-1556), and Michael Praetorius, also of Germany (c. 1600).

Because of their writings and accompanying drawings, we not only have a more complete knowledge of European instruments, but we can build accurate reproductions of many of them. Much of the research that went into this paper would not have been possible if it were not for those three scholars. Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, The royal banner, and all quality, Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war! Othello, The Moor of Venice One of the easiest instruments to transport, especially by soldiers and wayfarers, was a small flute, commonly known during the Renaissance as a fife. Today, when people in the United States imagine what a fife looks like, they probably have an image in their minds of three disheveled American revolutionaries, two men and a boy, from the popular painting called "The Spirit of '76" by Ohio painter Archibald Willard (who produced 14 versions of the canvas for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition). The boy is playing a drum and one of the men is playing a small transverse flute--a fife.

Even though Othello, in the previous quote, called the instrument a fife, what existed then, nearly two hundred years before "The Spirit of '76," differed greatly. Music historians have stated that in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, many of the different styles of transverse (side blown) flutes were called fifes. There were many sizes, from high-pitched "whistles" barely five inches long (probably the "ear-piercing fife" Othello spoke of), to three or four foot long bass flutes. Unfortunately, few specimens of these instruments survive today, even though it is "...mentioned in writing and depicted in the works of art too often to have been at all an uncommon type" (Adam Carse, Musical Wind Instruments, New York: Da Capo Press, 1975, p. 81). The English word, fife, comes from the German, Pfeife (meaning pipe), which, ultimately, came from the Latin pipare (to chirp, to pipe). In German, the word pfeife is used in combination with a descriptive adjective to explain the type of instrument it is.

For example, Schweitzerpfeiff means Swiss-pipe. Adam Carse, in Musical Wind Instruments, describes one of the surviving instruments: "The very few 16th- or early 17th-century flutes which survive in some of the continental collections (e.g., Vienna and Brussels) are made from one piece of wood, without any joints; they are cylindrical, and are provided with a mouth-hole and six finger-holes.

The specimens are too few to form the basis of any satisfying conclusion as to a standard length and pitch, yet from early in the 17th century there are signs that the instrument of just under 2 feet in length, sounding the primary scale of D major, was to become the standard flute of the future." Carse, in describing an instrument in a Virdung woodcut from 1511, says that it shows "...a narrow flute with six finger-holes placed unusually close together; this he called a zwerchpfeiff, and associates it with a small drum as the instrument of the soldier." (And was still the instrument of the soldier in 18th century America, as shown in "The Spirit of '76.") Carse goes on to mention that Agricola, in 1528, illustrated better proportioned representations of four flutes of different sizes, which he named Scheitzerpfeiffen (Swiss pipes), and Praetorius, in 1619, distinguished the different sizes with names of their own.

The largest he called Querflotten, the alto and tenor, Querpfeiffen and Traversa, and for the small military fife he used Agricola's name of Schweitzerpfeiffen. (The military fife of this era was also called Feldpfeiffen.) Shortly after Praetorius, our knowledge of the history of the keyless cylindrical flute comes to a sudden end, and as Carse mentions, "...after a period regarding which the historian must either remain silent or fall back on his imagination, the instrument emerges near the end of the 17th century in a practically standardized form," which was to last nearly a hundred years when wood gave way to metal. Orpheus with his lute made trees, And the mountain-tops that freeze, Bow themselves when he did sing. To his music plants and flowers Ever spring; as sun and showers There had made a lasting spring. King Henry VIII As bright Apollo's lute, strung with his hair!

And when Love speaks, the voice of all the gods Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony." Love's Labour's Lost This passage from Love's Labour's Lost flows from start to finish in a pleasant alliteration akin to the tonal quality of the lute. Today's lute has survived in its present form, with little change or modification, from the 16th century. One of the earliest known descendants of the lute was known to have come from 7th century Turkey and Persia, where it was called an Oud (or Ud, which is Arabic for wood). Originally, it did not have frets; these were added to the instrument in the 11th or 12th century Spain after the Arabs introduced it there. The late David Munrow, in Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, mentions that the instrument was reintroduced to Egypt in the 13th century "...and from Egypt it traveled to Europe by other routes and in such a round-about way that in 1555 [the scholar] Bermudo could call the lute 'Vihuela de Flandres'." Bermudo believed the lute had come from Flanders (Holland).

Today, the Ud has disappeared from Persia (Iran) and was only recently reintroduced to Turkey. Now it is played mostly in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. In the United States the Ud is seen and heard accompanying belly dancers in Moroccan restaurants. The silk strings of the Ud evolved to twisted gut strings on the lute. A musician played the lute by plucking the strings with the fingers, gently, not using the fingernails. It was not strummed like the steel-string folk guitar of today. When the Ud became the lute (also known as the Vihuela) in the 1500's, it acquired more strings, doubled (like a modern 12-string guitar) in sets of five to fifteen. Some lutes had more than thirty strings. In Shakespeare's time, eight courses (sets) were common; the five highest stretched along the fingerboard, the three lowest were bass drones that were plucked but not fingered. David Munrow described the Renaissance lute as follows: The delicacy and expressiveness of Renaissance lute music is allied to the incredibly light construction of the instrument.

The flat table, or belly, is usually made of pine, planed to as little as one sixteenth of an inch in thickness. Its most obvious feature is the carved circular sound-hole or "rose," though equally important acoustically are the wooden bars (six or more in number) glued underneath the table to strengthen it and increase the resonance; much of the lute-maker's skill lies in the barring and in the finish of the table. The pear-shaped back is built up of a series of ribs, shaped and bent over a mould, and then glued together edge to edge. Usually made of sycamore, the ribs are incredibly thin, often no more than one thirty-second of an inch in thickness. A well made lute is so sensitive that it literally trembles in response to the touch. Around 1600 the lute's popularity was so great that hundreds of pieces were written for it. Before 1600 bass parts were left out of the music because of the lute's short neck (there was little bass response). To compensate, luthiers (stringed instrument builders) developed instruments with a second peg box set high on the bass side of the neck to carry the longer strings needed for the lowest notes.

These strings were off of the fingerboard and were plucked one at a time; they were not stopped, or fingered, as with the treble strings. The Theorbo was one of the first lute-style instruments to have a second peg head and bass strings. David Munrow said that "the earliest mention of this instrument was in the inventory of the Accademia Filamonica in Verona, 1544. The name (French: theorbe and tuorbe; German: Theorb; Italian: tiorba and tuorba) may derive from the Arabic tarab. Its origins in Europe are obscure, the invention having been ascribed to a number of people including Antonio Naldi, who served the Medici family, and a Signor Tiorba about 1600." It seems likely that the initial development took place in Italy. An instrument that Praetorius referred to as a Roman Theorbo was in actuality a chitarrone. When stood on end, this instrument was over five feet high. The sound box, like that of the Theorbo, was the same size and shape of the lute.

Again, a second peg box housed the tuning pegs for the bass strings; only this time the strings were wire and another octave was added to the bottom register. The range of the chitarrone could rival an 88-key piano (which was yet to be invented). The earliest surviving examples of the chitarrone date from the second half of the sixteenth century, and the earliest known music written for this instrument is from 1607. It was a piece for two chitarrones, called L'Orfeo. For do but note a wild and wanton herd, Or race of youthful and unhandled colts, Fetching mad bounds, bellowing, and neighing loud, Which is the hot condition of their blood-- If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound, Or any air of music touch their ears, You will perceive them make a mutual stand, Their savage eyes turn'd to a modest gaze By the sweet power of music... The Merchant of Venice The trumpet of Shakespeare's time was not the same type of instrument Louis Armstrong played. The tone was not loud by today's standards, but rather muted, because the trumpet's bell and mouthpiece were much smaller than they are today.

Also, early trumpets did not have valves. The true trumpet was a straight tapering tube, mouthpiece at one end, bell at the other. A modern version of this can be seen in movies where horns are used to herald the entrance of dignitaries into a medieval castle. In 1511, a thurner horn was described by Virdung as an S-shaped instrument. It was from this S-shape that the later slide trumpet evolved (called a sackbutt, much later called a trombone). The name thurner horn means tower-horn. Originally, this horn was used by tower watchmen to raise the alarm for a fire, an attack, or some civil disturbance. Around 1600, musician guilds were forming, and the free exchange of ideas, both in music and instrument development, was commonplace. Trumpets were being made in different sizes so the entire chromatic scale could be played by three musicians so equipped. During this time the straight trumpet (e.g., thurner horn) was left to the military and to the hunt. The guilds were using finely crafted brass instruments that looped upon themselves, like the familiar military bugle.

Many fanfares, toccatas, and concerti were written to demonstrate the capabilities of the players. And the jocund rebecks sound To many a youth, and many a maid, Dancing in the chequered shade. And young and old come forth to play On a sunshine holiday. John Milton (1608-1674) - L'Allegro [1632] No references to violins, or the violin family, could be found in Shakespeare's writings. This is due to two facts: one, that the violin, as we know it today, was just being developed; and two, the general populace thought of violin music as the "screeching of donkeys." In other words, no one liked the sound of the instrument. However, bowed instruments of other types were very much in favor during the Renaissance. John Milton, nearely twenty years after Shakespeare's death, mentions an instrument in L'Allegro that is the direct descendant and closest in size and sound to the violin: the rebec.

The early history of the violin is unduly complicated by the fact that at first it had no name of its own, and later, as Sibyl Marcuse in Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive History said, it had "...a plethora of names, so that until the end of the 16th century we often cannot tell with certainty which of several instruments our sources refer to." That the violin evolved from the medieval fiddle (rebec, evolved from the 9th century Persian rebab) is an accepted historical fact. Just how and when this transformation took place remains unknown, but the first pictorial reference was in a drawing of a musical group by Albrecht Durer (1515). It shows a harp, a lute, and an instrument appearing to be a small violin. The experts agree that the violin in this drawing is a transitional piece, having the recognizable violin-shaped body but an old-style peg head; it has the same flattened head with tuning pegs sticking through from behind as the rebec and the same number of strings, three.

The first record of a violin similar to today's is shown in the frescoes at Bergamo and Saronno that were created by Baudenzio Ferrari around 1535. At Saronno, three angels are depicted playing instruments of violin, viola, and tenor violin size, each with three strings, yet all true violins. The earliest known violin music was written by Giovanni Gabrieli in 1597. But the instrument was still not known as a violin. Sibyl Marcuse stated that "Praetorius call the same instrument a Discant-Geige, kleine Geige, viola da braccio, violetta piccola, violino da vraccio, rebecchino, and adds that the viole da braccio were called Geigen or polnisch Geigen by musicians." Several other musical historians of the time gave the violin many other names such as dessus, cinquieme, haute-contre, and taille.

Hortense Panum, in Stringed Instruments of the Middle Ages, says that "the name 'violin' actually was used to denote a part in the Sacrae Symphoniae by Gabrieli in 1597, but, as the alto clef proves, this part was for a viola. Seven years later, Valentin Haussmann deliberately wrote 'violin' over the treble part of his 'Neue Intrada,' and [shortly after that] Monteverdi made reference to the Violino Piccolo as the treble instrument of the viola family." Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twandling instruments will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices, That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again..." The Tempest There were literally "...a thousand twangling instruments..." of all sizes and descriptions being played all over Europe, from the pipe and tabor (which was referenced by Shakespeare several times in his plays) to the great organ. The pipe and tabor were the traveler's companions.

More often than not, they were the beggar's companions. The pipe was not side blown like a fife, but end blown; this makes it a relative of the recorder, but only four or five inches long and with two finger holes. This made it easy to use with one hand. The entire chromatic range could be played by combining fingering with breath control. The tabor was a small hand drum, similar to a tambourine but without the rattles. It was held in one hand and hit with a stick held in the other. Usually, one person played the pipe as another kept up a lively tempo with the tabor. These two instruments never became popular, but a very similar music can be heard in recent Irish tin whistle songs. Tin whistles have pitch and tone much like the early pipe, and many times these are accompanied by a hand drum called a bodhran, which is almost identical to the Renaissance tabor. Organs have been in existence since Roman times when the "water organ," a hydraulic pipe organ, was played for the emperors. In Shakespeare's time, the great church pipe organs were still in their infancy; usually, small portable organs served the same purposes.

But, organ music was being written more complex and the instruments had to be improved for the musicians to play it. By the 1400's, several European churches had large organs ranging in size from 195 pipes (in Dijon, France) to 2500 pipes (in the Amiens Cathedral, also in France). For the next three hundred years, the only changes came in the improvement of tone and the ornateness of the casework. Because so many instruments had come into existence by the time of Shakespeare, to discuss them all here in greater detail would require creating an encyclopedia. The intended purpose of this essay is to aquaint the reader with the most common instruments of that era, and to show the reader what Shakespeare might have been hearing in his mind when he wrote the quoted passages. Also, it is hoped that the reader, if he or she intends to pursue the history of the Renaissance, listen to some of the recordings available today of Renaissance music played on original instruments or on reproductions of those early instruments. Part of historical knowledge is being able to make proper associations, comparisons, and relationships between the people of an era and their environment, and music is but one small topic in the history of civilization.

However, the sound of music changes constantly and should be take into consideration when discussing lifestyles. It can definitely give us a clearer picture into the lives of our ancestors. If music be the food of love, play on. The Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will BIBLIOGRAPHY Addington, Christopher. "In Search of the Baroque Flute," Journal of Early Music, Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 34. Baines, Anthony. Victoria and Albert Museum: Catalogue of Musical Instruments, Vol. II, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1968. Bartlett, John. Familiar Quotations, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1955. Carse, Adam. Musical Wind Instruments, New York: Da Capo Press, 1975. De Zayas, Rodrigo. "The Vihuela: Swoose, Lute, or Guitar?" Guitar Review Magazine, Summer, 1973, p. 2. Downey, Peter. "The Renaissance Slide Trumpet," Journal of Early Music, Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 26. Fenlon, Iain.

"Monteverdi's Manuan Orfeo," Journal of Early Music, Vol. 12, No. 2, p. 163. Marcuse, Sibyl. Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary, New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1975. Munrow, David. Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, London: Oxford University Press, 1976. Panum, Hortense. Stringed Instruments of the Middle Ages, London: William Reeves, 1971. Russell, Raymond. Victoria and Albert Museum: Catalogue of Musical Instruments, Vol. I, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1968. Sachs, Curt. Real-Lexikon der Musikinstrumente, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1964. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, (New York: Avenal Books, 1965). "The Flute," Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. by Eric Blom (New York: St. Martins Press, 1973), p. 166.

The pipe and tabor If a pipe is joined thereto, it renders the melody sweeter. Zamora, c.1260 The pipe is a simple instrument with a fipple like a willow whistle or recorder but usually having only three melody holes (index finger, middle finger, and thumb). The bore is narrow to facilitate overblowing. There is a ridge around the bottom of the instrument to aid in supporting the pipe. This allows the player to handle a the instrument with one hand, leaving the other hand free to strike the tabor. The drum is held with a strap or thong around the arm which fingers the pipe. Thus one performer accompanies himself, making an ideal combination for dance music of a rustic nature, or to supply background music for jugglers or performing animals. The pipe and tabor (also whittle and dubb, or un flagol' un tabourin) player also entertained the audience during scene changes of Shakespeare plays. It takes a player with special talents to handle the unusual fingerings of this instrument.See the percussion page for more information about the drum member of this duet.

Playing the Tabor Pipe with your mountain dulcimer - fingering chart The Pipe and Tabor - An Address to a Society of Morris Dancers, 1914 I. Ansorena: Txistu ots gozoa 'nola' (San Sebastian, no date) T. Arbeau: Orchesographie (Langres, 1588/r1965) M. Mersenne: Harmonie universelle (Paris, 1636/r1963) J. Gehot: Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Music (London, 1786) F. Vidal: Lou tambourin (Avignon, 1864) C. Marcel-Dubois: 'Le tambour-bourdon', Arts et traditions populaires, xiv (1966), 3 J. Rimmer: 'Tabor Pipes from Aardenburg and Goedereede: some Musical Implications', Berichten van de Rijksdienst voor het oudheidkundig bodemonderzoek, xxix (1979), 527 Engraving by I.

Van Meckenem German Museum, Nuremberg

Question: What type of musical instrument is a tabor?
Answer: Drum