Music Instruments
While A musical instrument
is constructed or used for the purpose of making the
sounds of music. In principle, anything that produces
sound can serve as a musical instrument. The history of
musical instruments dates back to the beginnings of
human culture. The academic study of musical instruments
is called organology.
The date and origin of the first device of disputed
status as a musical instrument dates back as far as
67,000 years old; artifacts commonly accepted to be
early flutes date back as far as about 37,000 years old.
However, most historians believe determining a specific
time of musical instrument invention to be impossible
due to the subjectivity of the definition.
Musical instruments developed independently in many
populated regions of the world. However, contact among
civilizations resulted in the rapid spread and
adaptation of most instruments in places far from their
origin. By the Middle Ages, instruments from Mesopotamia
could be found in the Malay Archipelago and Europeans
were playing instruments from North Africa. Development
in the Americas occurred at a slower pace, but cultures
of North, Central, and South America shared musical
instruments.
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind
family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute
is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that
produces its sound from the flow of air across an
opening. According to the instrument classification of
Hornbostel-Sachs, flutes are categorized as Edge-blown
aerophones. A musician who plays the flute can be
referred to as a flute player, a flautist, a flutist, or
less commonly a fluter.
Musical Box
A musical box is a 19th century automatic musical
instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of
pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to
pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were
developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century
and called carillons à musique. Some of the more complex
boxes also have a tiny drum and small bells, in addition
to the metal comb. Note that the tone of a musical box
is unlike that of any musical instrument.
