Understand string theory? Take a bow.
The orchestra is one of the first things that come to mind when you think of Classical music, right? That’s because, classical music has a distinctive sound. And it comes from the smart organisation of the instruments that produce the soundscape. Remember how we saw that the musical air is a continuum of auditory frequencies, textures, timbres and amplitudes? Don’t be confused! Auditory frequencies are the same thing as pitch. Amplitude is nothing but volume or loudness. And the timbre (rhymes with amber) of an instrument depends on something called harmonics or overtones. Which we’ll talk about later.
So, you know why you get a feeling of completeness after listening to orchestral music? It’s because it covers every timbre range, amplitude, auditory frequency, tempo and texture. It leaves nothing out. The credit should go to the choice of instruments, composition methods and the skill of the conductor.
This is a great insight in itself about how we get a sense of completion with music. A well-balanced approach is what sets compositions apart. Let’s see how it all works.
Encore!The orchestra has sections that include brass, woodwind, string and percussion. The various instruments from each of these produce varied timbres and pitch ranges. For instance, among the strings, the pitch continuum is covered by the contrabass (sounds really deep like the inside of a canyon), cello (sounds like a big friendly giant), viola (sounds like your dad), violin (sounds like an emotional mouse) — in the order of heaviness to shrillness. Among the woodwind instruments, you have the bassoon, oboe, flute, clarinet and recorder. In brass, they play the tuba, horn, trumpet and trombone.
Percussion instruments were not that diverse in the classical era. The main one was the timpani, which is like a bass drum shaped like a large teacup, and produces deep low booms that rumble for a while. They also used pitched instruments like the xylophone, marimba and triangles, which could play various notes along with keeping the beat. Later, jazz music introduced the snare drum, which plays short high-pitched slaps. That produced just the right high-range counterbalance for the bass drum’s low-range thud.
The grand piano was given a special stage presence, right at the centre, near the conductor.
These instrument sections are segregated and placed cleverly on the symphony stage. The naturally loud instruments, like percussion and brass, are at the back, furthest from the audience, so that their volume doesn’t break any eardrums and can reverberate to produce a canyon-like atmosphere. The softest instruments form a semi-circular cordon at the front, next to the conductor, so that they can be heard and their sound is clear and full.
The conductor is constantly signalling increases and decreases in volume for each section. If you see him suddenly look in the direction of the clarinets and shrivel up like a tortoise withdrawing into its shell , it means he wants the clarinets to get softer. When he flares his chest out like King Kong, he means for the instruments to turn up the volume dial.
And this is why you always see the conductor taking a bow at the end of every symphony. You’d think, “Hang on, all this guy has done all day is dance around jerkily with a baton in his hand, while the instrumentalists did all the work. Why is he taking all the credit?” But the conductor is the one who steered the performance and made sure all the right nuances were played at the right time, at the right speed and volume.
If you’re inspired to learn one of these instruments, take a bow. And run it over strings to make music!
