Musical Instruments and the Sounds They Make

Dec 2 07:41 UTC 1997

What instrument sounds do you like?  Which don't you like?

response 2 of 31:

Dec 2 19:58 UTC 1997

Is it your politics that make you not like the saxophone?  8^}

If there is an instrument whose sound I "can't stand", it would be
fingernails on a chalkboard.  B=P

You must have a problem with higher harmonics, which reed instruments
are rich in and stringed instruments are poorer in. That should tell
us something about your nervous system - I bet *you* don't like fingernails
on chalkboards.

response 4 of 31:

Dec 3 00:31 UTC 1997

I think any instrument works in some context.  For instance, I find the flute
to be irritating in bebop-type jazz, but in classical or calypso it works just
fine.  Meanwhile, the soprano sax works great in bebop and badly in calypso.

response 6 of 31:

Dec 3 05:46 UTC 1997

  I love the golden tone of a well played trumpet, flugelhorn, and cornet,
I also love the reeds, especially the clarinet, the oboe and the english horn.

  Bagpipes, when playing something melodious, are wonderful, however they can
easily annoy, and make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I also love
a well played electric guitar in the hands of a person like Jimi Hendrix or
better yet, Stevie Ray Vaughan

response 8 of 31:

Dec 3 16:33 UTC 1997

  At some point while he was concentrating on his "circular breathing"
  he'd realize that he was in the process of swallowing a tenor sax..

response 10 of 31:

Dec 3 20:11 UTC 1997

Are we excluding the human voice here?  If so, I'd have to say that a well
played fiddle is one of my favorites, that and steel drums...

response 12 of 31:

Dec 4 05:59 UTC 1997

   piccolos get a bit too shrill for my comfort sometimes, but other
than that i can't really think of an instrument whose sound i dislike.

response 14 of 31:

Dec 5 02:41 UTC 1997

Edwin E. Gordon, a string bassist, developed a timbre test to determine
students' affinity for particular instruments.  The concept is simple. 
Students will listen to a series of timbres and frequencies and choose which
combination they like best.  Their selections will often match them to the
instrument they prefer.

I used to be more enchanted with the sound of the piano than I am now. 
I, too, began to develop a taste for instrumental applications-- piano often
sounded best with Romantic and Impressionist compositions with big, rich
chords.  There is a Romantic style that is very, very simple, but I can't
remember the name of the composer who invented it.  If somehow I could sing
it, someone would recognize the style.

Right now, I love my classical guitar.  I love the sound of classical and
flamenco styles for guitar.  I love it because guitar has such a great
potential to sound lovely even with simple compositions, often much more so
than the piano.  (Perhaps it is the charm of learning a new instrument; the
guitar is my fifth.)

I love most all instruments, but I especially love synthesizers because the
sounds are newer, more flexible in their parameters, and more varied. 
Percussion applications were never the same once electronic music began to
grow and develop.

It is not so much individual instruments that bother me; it is how they are
used.  There is a big percentage of orchestral music that would put me to
sleep after a while (I'm conditioned to splashier music and I can only take
dominance of violins in the melody for so long).  I hate cheesy MIDI
soundtracks for cartoons-- in general, anyways.

In short, I'm a demanding listener, performer, and educator.  I don't like
to listen to, play, or teach music that is overwhelmingly ordinary.  And yes,
I could say I have my preferences to where and how an instrument or voice is
used.

response 16 of 31:

Dec 7 00:33 UTC 1997

There are times that a slide sound is appropriate.  But as I understand it,
all of that is just sloppy playing.  I haven't been playing long at all, but
I do know that good technique involves picking up the fingers slightly from
chord to chord.

Slide technique is pretty common in rhythm guitar, and I'm not sure what those
guitarists do to keep the strings from squeaking too much.  I do know blues
guitarists use a metal finger guard.

I agree-- simply sliding over the neck and frets isn't very toneful.  But
there must be a creative way to work it into amp distortion and the like--
it would probably be better if it wasn't abused so much..

response 18 of 31:

Dec 7 14:44 UTC 1997

There are times when string sounds aren't really appropriate, especially in
a very 'rich', heavily produced song where they just sound wrong.  But in a
sparser, acoustic setting I actually like them a lot.

response 20 of 31:

Dec 8 22:31 UTC 1997

Hmm...do you have a tape of that still or something?  It sounds interesting...

response 22 of 31:

Dec 9 22:03 UTC 1997

<grin>

response 24 of 31:

Dec 10 03:51 UTC 1997

Well, in keeping with the topic, I must say that the sound depends on the
context.  For example, I have heard otherwise drecky and cheezy MIDI tones
sound just great in the right combinations (I am a clasically trained
musician with perfect pitch.  I am *extremely* picky about music) but
admitedly they are very hard to find.  I guess if I am watching an old cheezy
horror flick, I can kind of guiltily enjoy it.  People have noted that in the
accordions conference I have bashed the sound of the accordion.  Correction,
I bash the sound of an ill played accordion.  I heard the most hauntingly
beautiful sounds ever as an accordion in a big field.  (this was the same day
that some one else, also a master, played bagpipes in the field.  this was
a tie for the most haunting sounds ever) There was even mist and woods so it
was as if little faries were playing.  (font has an overgrown imagination)
As for the worst sounds ever, I would have to say that my most unfavorite
instrumnent ever is the BGees and ABBA.  ;-)
I like the English horn and the Viola de Amore. (in the the same family as
it's more well known cousin , the Viola de Gamba)  It has 2 sets of strings,
so you hear the overtones as well as the vibrating ones above.  I also like
the Bassoon and Electric Guitar, Mandolin and Cello.