Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 121
Scan 121
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
10 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 101. See the scan on archive.org.
1VI.
3CLASS-REED INSTRUMENTS.
5FAMILY: Single reeds (α) with cylindrical bore.
7INSTRUMENTS sounded by means of a single-beating reed are of great antiquity, and though almost unknown among the ancient Aryans, were in common use in the early civilization of Egypt; and there have been latterly exhibited before the Musical Association some specimens of very ancient Egyptian instruments, recently discovered by Mr. Flinders Petrie, and which were thus sounded. The single reed is found still in the Arabian and Egyptian Arghoul, and its use among the Greeks and Romans was probably borrowed from Egypt. Fragments of ancient tibiae discovered at Pompeii, show the application of this species of reed, and that its use was popular appears to be beyond doubt. Reed instruments of this kind were, however, in their early stages of development, inferior to those of the double reed families; they lacked the delicacy and quality of tone of the latter, and were capable of little expression. Their use was, therefore, confined to musicians of a lower social status. The single free reed appears to have been known from time immemorial in China, where it is found in the "Cheng," the prototype of the elaborate reed organ of the present day. Instruments of the free reed type are, however, rarely sounded except from a reservoir of air, and, therefore, need no more than passing notice here.
9The beating reed, applied so commonly to different kinds of tibiae by the Romans, eventually found its way to Germany; and instruments thus sounded were frequently known as Shalmei, or, in France, Chalumeaux; but the word was sometimes applied to double reed instruments, and its use, therefore, is liable to lead to confusion. The chalumeau of the 13th century was usually a single tube, cylindrical in section, pierced with some nine finger-holes, and sounded by means of a reed, the tongue of which was placed upon the upper side. The tongue of the reed was generally cut from the same wood as the instrument, and shaved down to the required thickness. In course of time the instrument came to be better constructed, and a key was
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.