Voice Emission and Instrument Classification in Music

Voice Emission:

Production: The voice is produced in the vocal tract, whose main organ is the larynx, where the vocal cords are. The vocal cords are two small linked muscles, which contract and vibrate when air goes through, producing voice.

Elaboration: The vocal resonators are the thoracic cavity, the trachea, the nose, the forehead, and the mouth.

Voice Classification:

• The extension of voice tessitura, that is the range of the pitch of sound it is capable of covering: high, medium, low
• The distinction between male and female voice: male voices sound an octave lower than female voice.

Writing Voice: The different register of voice is expressed in musical notation by writing different clefs.

Instruments and Their Classification:

• String Instruments: These are all the instruments in which the sound is produced by the vibration of one or more tightened strings.
• Bowed String:
  • Violin: It is the smaller and the one with the highest pitch of the family.
  • Violoncello: Bigger and with a lower register.
  • Double Bass: The biggest one and with a very low register.
• Wind Instruments:
  • The sound is produced by the vibration of the air column inside the tube of the instrument.
  • In wind instruments, the pitch of sound is determined by the length of the air column and the thickness of the tube. The longer and the thicker, the lower the sound. The shorter and the thinner, the higher the sound. Most of the wind instruments have different mechanisms (holes, pistons, etc.) which allow to modify the length of the tubes and, therefore, their tuning.

Percussion Instruments:

They produce sound when hit, shaken or clattered against each other. Percussion instruments form the largest and the most varied group. We divided percussion instruments into 2 groups:

• Pitched Percussion: These instruments can produce pitched notes and therefore they can perform melodies. Examples of this group are the kettledrums and all bar instruments: the xylophone, the carillon, etc.
• Unpitched Percussion: They produce unpitched sounds and therefore they can only perform rhythms, not melodies. Examples of this group are bass drums, triangles, tambourines, etc.

Instrumental Groups:

• Soloists: All instruments can be performed as soloists, although the most important one is the piano.
• Small Groups: The most important group is the string quartet, consisting of 2 violinists, 1 viola, and 1 violoncello.
• Big Group: The most important big instrument group is the symphonic orchestra, which gathers 4 different sections of instruments: string, woodwind, brass, and percussion.

When did the opera start? Italy. 17th century.

What's the 1st opera masterpiece? English = Orpheus / Italian = L'Orfeo

Who composed it? Claudio Monteverdi

What is a castrato? Vocally gifted man who had been castrated before puberty

How was the Italian comic opera called? Opera buffa

What's the name of the composer who revolutionized the opera after Handel? M.A Mozart

Name 1 comic opera by Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte

Who was the master of comic timing? Rossini

How many operas did he write? 40

How was Rossini's type of singing called? Bel canto

What's Rossini's crowning masterpiece? The Barber of Seville