Music is an artistic form of sound communication via musical instruments that produce sounds and tones. Music is as old as mankind. All cultures past and present have music. The "oldest known song" dates back 4,000 years ago and was written in ancient cuneiform. It is not certain how or when the first musical instrument was invented, however, most historians point to early flutes made from animal bones that are at least 37,000 years old. Below you will find the stories behind several popular musical instruments.
Harpsichord
The ancestor of the harpsichord was the psaltery.Metronome
In 1696, Etieune Loulie made the first recorded attempt to apply the pendulum to a metronome.Moog
Robert Moog designed his first synthesizers in collaboration with the composers Herbert A. Deutsch, and Walter Carlos.Oboe
The oboe (hautbois in French) was invented in the 17th century by the French musicians Jean Hotteterre and Michel Danican Philidor. The oboe evolved from the shawm, a double-reed instrument.Ocarina
Giuseppe Donati invented the modern 10-hole ocarina. The ceramic ocarina is a musical wind instrument that is a type of vessel flute.Piano
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The piano first known as the pianoforte developed from the harpsichord around 1720, by Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, Italy.
Synthesizer - Hugh Le Caine
Canadian, Hugh Le Caine (1914-1977) not only built the world's first voltage controlled music synthesizer (1945), touch sensitive keyboard, and variable speed multi-track tape recorder, he also composed unique works that helped to popularize electronic music. he designed over twenty analogue musical instruments.Saxophone
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The saxophone was invented by a Belgian manufacturer, Adolphe Sax (1814 - 1894) and exhibited to the world for the first time at the 1841 Brussels exhibition.
Trombone
The trombone is certainly the most recognizable wind instrument, being the only one with a true slide sectionTrumpet
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The trumpet is the instrument that Mozart's father Leopold, and Haydn's brother Michael, wrote concertos for in the second half of the eighteenth century. The first trumpet was a very different instrument from the modern valve trumpet. The trumpet has evolved more than any other instrument known to modern day society. Its long history began with ancient people using hollow materials such as animal horns and sea. A conch shell was one of the first brass family instruments produced, mostly resembling a trumpet.
