Tuning Up
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Tuning Up
''Tuning Up'' is an unfinished composition for large orchestra by French composer Edgard Varèse. Conceived as a parody on the orchestral sounds before a concert begins, it was sketched in 1947 but was abandoned and never premiered. Chinese-American collaborator Chou Wen-chung reconstructed it many years after Varèse's death, in 1998. Background ''Tuning Up'' was an indirect request made in 1946 by producer Boris Morros through an old friend of Varèse's, Walter Anderson, who championed his work and had published Varèse's seminal essay "Organized Sound for the Sound Film" in his magazine ''The Commonweal''. Morros was working on a movie at the time, entitled ''Carnegie Hall'', and needed Varèse to compose a short piece parodying the sounds orchestras make at the beginning of a concert, initially though to be played by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leopold Stokowski. However, whereas Morros wanted the piece to have a certain humorous effect, Varèse attempted to wr ...
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Edgard Varèse
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French and American composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined the term "organized sound" in reference to his own musical aesthetic. Varèse's conception of music reflected his vision of "sound as living matter" and of "musical space as open rather than bounded". He conceived the elements of his music in terms of "Sound mass, sound-masses", likening their organization to the natural phenomenon of crystallization. Varèse thought that "to stubbornly conditioned ears, anything new in music has always been called Noise in music, noise", and he posed the question, "what is music but organized noises?" Although his complete surviving works only last about three hours, he has been recognized as an influence by several major composers of the late 20th century. Varèse saw potential in using electron ...
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Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The Reed (mouthpiece), reed is considerably larger than the bassoon's, at in total length (and in width) compared with for most bassoon reeds. The large blades allow ample vibration that produces the low register of the instrument. The contrabassoon reed is similar to an average bassoon's in that scraping the reed affects both the Intonation (music), intonation and response of the instrument. Contrabassoons feature a slightly simplified version of bassoon keywork, though all open toneholes on bassoon have necessarily been replaced with keys and pads due to the physical distances. In the lower Register (music), register, its Fingering (music), fingerings are nearly identical to bassoon. However, the octave mechanism used to play in the middle register wo ...
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Tamtam
The tamtam, sometimes spelled tam-tam, is a type of Gong#Chau gong (tam-tam), gong. TamTam, Tam-Tam, tamtam, or tam-tam may also refer to: * Tam-Tam (album), ''Tam-Tam'' (album), a 1983 album by Amanda Lear * Tam Tam (Samurai Shodown), Tam Tam (''Samurai Shodown''), a character from the fighting game ''Samurai Shodown'' * Tamtam (rock club) (TaMtAm), a rock club in Saint Petersburg, Russia * Tam Tam (video game developer), a Japanese video game developer; see List of tactical role-playing video games: 2000 to 2004 * Tamtam, Iran, a village in Kermanshah Province, Iran * Tam-Tams, a weekly drum circle held Sundays in the summer in Montreal * Sekhar Tam Tam (born 1951), Indian medical doctor in Grenada * Slit drum (Vanuatu) or tamtam, a type of slit drum used in the country of Vanuatu * Tam Tam crackers, an hexagonal crumbly cracker made by Manischewitz * Tam Tam o El origen de la rumba, a 1938 Cuban musical film. See also

* * * TAM (other) {{disambiguation ...
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Clash Cymbal
Clash cymbals (also called concert cymbals, orchestral cymbals, or crash cymbals) are cymbals played in matched pairs by holding one cymbal in each hand and striking the two together. To differentiate this type of cymbal from a suspended cymbal, they are also called hand cymbals. Terminology In musical scores, clash cymbals are normally indicated as ''cymbals'' or sometimes simply ''C.C.'' If another type of cymbal, for example, a suspended cymbal, is required in an orchestral score, then for historical reasons this is often also indicated ''cymbals''. Some composers and arrangers use the plural ''cymbals'' or ''crash cymbals'' to indicate clash cymbals, with the singular ''cymbal'' to indicate a suspended cymbal. Composers will often condense the clash cymbals and a suspended cymbal into the same part. There are a number of techniques used to indicate which is desired. Whenever ''with stick'' or ''with mallet'' is written, a suspended cymbal is used. A return to clash cymbals ca ...
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Crash Cymbal
A crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to a ride cymbal. It can be mounted on a stand and played with a drum stick, or by hand in clash cymbals, pairs. One or two crash cymbals are a standard part of a drum kit. Suspended cymbal, Suspended crash cymbals are also used in Band (music), bands and orchestras, either played with a drumstick or rolled with a pair of Drum stick#Mallets, mallets to produce a slower, swelling crash. Sometimes a drummer may hit two different crash cymbals in a kit at the same time to produce a very loud accent, usually in rock music. Although crash cymbals range in thickness from paper-thin to very heavy, all crash cymbals have a fairly thin edge. They are typically in diameter, but sizes down to and up to are manufactured. Custom crash cymbals up to in diameter have been used by big bands. Different thicknesses are used for different kinds of music, and the alloy ...
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Ride Cymbal
The ride cymbal is a cymbal of material sustain used to maintain a beat (music), beat in music.Schroedl, Scott (2001). ''Play Drums Today!'', p.7. Hal Leonard. . A standard in most drum kit, drum kits, the ride's function is to maintain a steady pattern, sometimes called a ride pattern, rather than provide the accent (music), accent of a crash cymbal. It is normally placed on the extreme right (or dominant hand) of a drum set, above the floor tom.Peckman, Jonathan (2007). ''Picture Yourself Drumming'', p.195. . It is often described as delivering a "shimmering" sound when struck soundly with a drumstick, and a clear ping when struck atop its bell. The ride can fulfill any function or rhythm the Hi-hat (instrument), hi-hat cymbal does, with the exception of an open and closed sound. Types The term ''ride'' may depict either the function or characteristic of the instrument. Most cymbal makers manufacture specific cymbals for the purpose. Alternatively, some drummers use a chi ...
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Tambourine
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head. Tambourines are often used with regular percussion sets. They can be mounted, for example on a stand as part of a drum kit (and played with drum sticks), or they can be held in the hand and played by tapping, hitting, or shaking the instrument. Tambourines come in many shapes with the most common being circular. It is found in many forms of music: Albanian folk music, Arabic folk music, Israeli folk music, Turkish folk music, Greek folk music, Italian folk music, French folk music, classical music, Galician traditional music, Asturian traditional music, Persian music, samba, gospel music, pop music, country music, and rock music. History The origin of the tambourine is unknown, but it appea ...
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String Section
The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In discussions of the Orchestration, instrumentation of a musical work, the phrase "the strings" or "and strings" is used to indicate a string section as just defined. An orchestra consisting solely of a string section is called a string orchestra. Smaller string sections are sometimes used in jazz, pop, and rock music and in the pit orchestras of musical theatre. Seating arrangement The most common seating arrangement in the 2000s is with first violins, second violins, violas, and cello sections arrayed clockwise around the Conductor (music), conductor, with basses behind the cellos on the right. The first violins are led by the concertmaster (leader in the UK); each of the other string sections also has a principal player (principal secon ...
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Harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or concerts. Its most common form is triangular in shape and made of wood. Some have multiple rows of strings and pedal attachments. Ancient depictions of harps were recorded in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), Persia (now Iran) and Egypt, and later in India and China. By medieval times harps had spread across Europe. Harps were found across the Americas where it was a popular folk tradition in some areas. Distinct designs also emerged from the African continent. Harps have symbolic political traditions and are often used in logos, including in Ireland. Historically, strings were made of sinew (animal tendons). Other materials have included gut (animal intestines), plant fiber, braided hemp, cotton cord, silk, nylon, and wire. In pedal harp scor ...
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Timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. Thus timpani are an example of kettledrums, also known as vessel drums and semispherical drums, whose body is similar to a section of a sphere whose cut conforms the head. Most modern timpani are ''pedal timpani'' and can be tuned quickly and accurately to specific pitches by skilled players through the use of a movable foot-pedal. They are played by striking the head with a specialized Beater (percussion), beater called a ''timpani stick'' or ''timpani mallet''. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the European classical music, classical orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of Musical ensemble, ensembles, incl ...
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Tuba
The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the newer instruments in the modern orchestra and concert band, and largely replaced the ophicleide. ''Tuba'' is Latin for "trumpet". A person who plays the tuba is called a tubaist, a tubist, or simply a tuba player. In a British Brass band (British style), brass band or military band, they are known as bass players. History Prussian Patent No. 19 was granted to Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz on 12 September 1835 for a "bass tuba" in F1. The original Wieprecht and Moritz instrument used five valves of the Brass instrument valve#Double-piston valve, Berlinerpumpen type that was the forerunner of the modern piston valve. The first tenor tuba was invented in 1838 by Moritz's ...
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Bass Trombone
The bass trombone (, ) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and usually two brass instrument valve, valves to fill in the missing range immediately above the pedal tones. History The earliest bass trombones were pitched a minor third, perfect fourth, fourth, or perfect fifth, fifth below the tenor, which was then pitched in A.Due to the higher concert pitch#History of pitch standards in Western music, church pitch used throughout parts of Renaissance Europe, tenor trombones were usually described as pitched in A, even though they are a similar size to modern B♭ tenor trombones. The first position A = 466 Hz in high pitch produces the B♭ in the modern A440 (pitch standard), 440 Hz pitch standard. They had a smaller bore and less flared bell than modern instruments, and a longer slide with an att ...
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