Title: Revising instruments

• Before this lesson listen to some music featuring the String, Woodwind, Brass and Percussion families of the orchestra.
• Discuss the general characteristics of each group.
• Talk about how Jazz instruments are played.
  

The teacher will need

• CDs illustrating the different sections of the orchestra.
• Jazz CDs particularly by Ella Fitzgerald singing scat (e.g. How High the Moon) and Louis Armstrong.
• A video of the film High Society to show in class during the week in case the students cannot do the assignment at home.
• A print-out of the questions
  (see link)

Extra Resources

• Worksheet (pdf)
• Solutions (pdf)

• Before this lesson listen to some solo and unison group Irish traditional performances.
• Create a folder called Timbre. Leave it on the Desktop. Music files may be downloaded and stored here.

• Real pictures (see link)
• Useful background information (link)
  
• Recording equipment e.g. cassette with inbuilt mic or minidisk recorder and mic

Extra Resources

• Interactive orchestra
• Solutions (pdf)
• Timbre timeline

• Access to a tuning fork, violin, flute and/or cymbals would be useful.
• The senior Biology course deals with the ear. Find the section in their text book.
• The senior Physics course deals with sound waves. Look at their text book.
  

• Link 1
• Link 2
• Link 3
• Link 4

• Students will use manuscript paper and a pencil - two staves.
• Give examples of how string players use harmonics.
• Play a piece that has harmonics.
• The 1st overtone is the 2nd harmonic. All are partials.

• A piano.
• A blackboard/whiteboard with staves
• Gerald Barry's Piano Quartet or any work where strings play harmonics.

• Harmonics
• Synthesis

• Compare the wire-string and the gut-string Irish harps.
• Compare the guitar and banjo.
• Compare the clarinet and oboe.
• Belfast Harp Festival 1792

• Recordings to supplement the lesson, as necessary.
• Information about the orchestral and the Irish folk harp.
• To check their summary at the end of the lesson.

Extra resources

• Pythagoras
• The harp
• Print-out version of the crossword on strings

• Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
• Blow, Bow, Pluck, Strike - also mention Shake/Rattle.
• If there is a problem recording sounds, use any of the ones provided here or go to the SHARC site and download an example from their database: SHARC

• An audio editor
• Goldwave is an audio editor which has a 30-day trial period
• Microphone.
• A lead for connecting the minidisc player to the computer - jack lead ('line out' to 'line in')

Click here

• Vibrato v tremolo 1
• Vibrato v tremolo 2

• Composing and recording a piece using real world sounds needs some preliminary listening to pieces in the style.
• Cool Edit and Goldwave allows manipulation of sound. Try delay effects, reversing the sound and time-stretching.
• Minidiscs record sound digitally so there will be no hiss.
• Pierre Schaeffer's and Steve Reich's train pieces would make an excellent study at this point.
• The students' final edited pieces are burnt to CD.
• PowerPoint is needed if the students decide to play their Musique Concrète piece to an audience - slides could be an effective focus for the listeners.

• A recording of a piece of Musique Concrète e.g. Under the Green time, by Roger Doyle, on a free CD from the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin.
• Knowledge of Irish electroacoustic composers e.g. Rhona Clarke, Donncha Dennehy and Ben Dwyer. (See link above.)
• Information about Pierre Schaeffer who started Musique Concrète.
• Ideas for the composition - one group could be limited to a single sound source (e.g. a balloon) while another could be asked to record 10 or more sounds and use them.
• Trains are a big thing in Musique Concrète because of their inherent rhythm.
• Create 'mood' pieces without using musical instruments. The audio editor allows us to manipulate real world sounds.
• Listen to flange, delay, echo, overdubbing, multi-layering and other recording effects in pop music - Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is a good example.

• Link to Pierre Schaeffer
• Link to Hildegard Westerkamp
• Link to Paul Lansky (Check out his downloadable 'idlechatter' piece.)
• Guide to experimental music
• More links will be added here over time.