Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 118
Scan 118
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
14 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 98. See the scan on archive.org.
1states that they were the work of one Lodovico Zacconi, and that in quality of tone they resembled the cornemuse, but were softer than the krumhorn. The compasses of these instruments were usually:—
3Contra-bass. Bass. Baryton. Discant.
5An instrument of apparently similar construction is described by Mersenne, who calls it courtaut, by reason of its shortness. It had eleven holes, the vent being at the back, precisely as in the two specimens described presently.
7The cornemuse, although in a sense belonging to this family, was sounded from a reservoir of air, and has therefore been described particularly in the section of this work devoted to bagpipes.
9216.
11SOURDINE. A bass instrument having a cylindrical bore. The wind-passage is of very small diameter, and is constructed of two parallel channels, which communicate at the lower end, and are cut in the same block of wood. The total length of the column of air thus formed is 44 inches, inclusive of crook and reed. The crook is of brass, and the reed resembles that of a bassoon. There are six open finger-holes of very small diameter, and a number of brass keys which work within wooden boxes, the tops of which are made to slide off, to allow access to the keys. The instrument measures, outside, 33 inches; and the lower portion is made to serve the double purpose of a box for spare reeds, and for a rest. The successive opening of the keys and finger-holes produces the following series:—
13This specimen is a facsimile of an instrument in the Ambrosen
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