Memo
To: Mr. Merchant, Intern Coordinator
From: Cullen Toups, College Intern
Subject: Definition of Intsruments
Date: April 10, 2017
The purpose of this memo is to define instrumentation as it relates to Taxi Cab’s effort to provide music to students.
Introduction
Instrumentation refers to a particular instrument used in a piece of music or the manner in which a piece is arranged for instruments. There are thousands of instruments being used today to produce a wide variety and unique set of sounds.
Discussion
Instruments have been used to create music for a long time. Scholars believe that the first instrument was a flute made about 67,000 years ago. Instruments may have had many purposes in early human cultures such as
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The musician’s lips must vibrate when blown into the instrument, the vibrating air then causes sound to come out the other end of the instrument. Brass instruments include the trumpet, trombone, tube, French horn, cornet, and bugle.
Percussion
Percussion instruments operate by the musician hitting them with something. This causes the surface to vibrate the air around it causing sound. Percussion instruments can be made out of almost anything from trash can lids to PVC pipe. Different sounds are produced by different material, each creating a unique set of sounds. Percussion instruments include the drums, cymbals, triangles, chimes, timpani, bells, and xylophone.
String
The sound of string instruments comes from then strings vibrating the air around it. The strings may be plucked, bowed, or struck making them vibrate. There a many different types of string instruments such as the violin, cello, harp, and dulcimer.
Figure 3. The String Family
Woodwinds
Woodwind instruments produce sound when air is blown inside of them. Air can be blown across the edge of the instrument (flute), between a reed (clarinet), or between two reeds (bassoon). A few of the instruments in this group are the flute, piccolo, clarinet, recorder, bassoon, and