There are many varieties now of these brass instruments, nearer
particulars of which may be found in Gevaert, and other eminent
musicians' works on instrumentation. One fact I will not pass by,
which is that, from the use of brass instruments (which rise in pitch
so rapidly under increase of temperature, as Mr. Blaikley has shown,
almost to the coefficient of the sharpening under heat in organ pipes)
has come about that rise in pitch which, from 1816 to 1846--until
repressed by the authority of the late Sir Michael Costa, and, more
recently, by the action of the Royal Military College at Kneller
Hall--is an extraordinary feature in musical history. All previous
variations in pitch--and they have comprised as much as a fourth in
the extremes--having been due either to transposition, owing to the
requirements of the human voice, or to national or provincial
measurements. The manufacture of brass instruments is a distinct
craft, although some of the processes are similar to those used by
silversmiths, coppersmiths, and braziers.
I have only time to add a few words about the percussion instruments
which the military band permits to connect with the wind. Drums are,
with the exception of kettle drums, indeterminate instruments, hardly,
in themselves, to be regarded as musical, and yet important factors of
musical and especially rhythmic effect.
Pages:
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66