The history of the orchestra depends significantly on how one uses the term. An individual can state that an orchestra is a corporation of instrumental musicians or that an orchestra is a corporate of musical instruments. (The Orchestra) It’s best to agree that an orchestra are instrumentalists combined with different sections. These sections are divided up by a string section, a woodwind section, a brass section and percussion section performing classical music.
The history of the orchestra started within the seventeenth century. Previously, any ensembles of instruments were not really assigned to a specified role. These were more of just any instruments that were available massed together. Once the seventeenth century took place, there was a little thought process of specifying what instrument should play a part.
Since time immemorial, composers and musicians have used percussion instruments to accompany their music, dances and rituals. In the West, percussion in the orchestra gradually developed and grew over time into a dominant section of the group, with an eye-catching range of tools and roles at its disposal. As more orchestras were formed, more musical instruments were developed into orchestras. The development of musical instruments was broken down into several waves.
The first wave (1650-1700), the development of the instruments coincided with a vogue in Italian fashions in architecture, painting, costume and music. (The Orchestra) In England the Restoration, the period of artistic expansion, followed the Civil War, while the incessant squabbling with the French had just started a new phase. This set the stage for musical experiment. Timpani found their way, being the first percussive instrument into an orchestra by the introduction of the trumpet corps. They used two timpani that were made of shells of beaten sheet metal tuned to C and G. Having these two timpani, they were capable of providing a harmonic bass to the trumpets. “The integration with strings and woodwinds of such martial and ceremonial noise-makers necessitated swift and effective refinement.” (The Orchestra) Thus now having the timpani, drumsticks underwent rapid change. They were now introduced to leather and similar resilient, but softer padding materials. Between 1700 and 1780, the orchestra began to come together as a uniformed body. This bond had implications for the balance between the instruments in not only the playing style and technique, but also in technical development. The timpani continued to be the dominant percussion instrument of the orchestra. Both the size and number increased and the tuning mechanism became more sophisticated. Now the side-drums began to make an appearance. Towards the end of the century the bass drum was introduced. Unlike hammered metal kettledrums, the frames of these drums were made of wood, steamed and bent into shape.
The second wave (1780-1840) saw the change in the design, construction and manufacture of musical instruments. Once again the tuning systems of the timpani became more mechanically sophisticated. The percussive sound was widened progressively by the introduction of cymbals, gongs, the triangle and similar devices. Within 1840 to present day, the nineteenth century held the biggest development and proliferation of orchestra instrumentation. The slate of tone-colors and effects in percussion progressively increased. Wood blocks, cymbals, tubular bells and the larger gongs were introduced. The xylophone, whose tones are produced by the resonance of wood and the glockenspiel which uses metal make an appearance in orchestras. In conclusion, the most common instruments in the orchestra included the timpani, xylophone, cymbals, triangle, gongs and others.
The percussion family is the largest in the orchestra playing the role of keeping the rhythm, making special sounds and adding excitement and color. Unlike most of the musicians within the orchestra, a percussionist will usually play many different instruments in one piece of music. Every percussive instrument plays a separate role during the performance of an orchestra. Percussive instruments fall into two categories, those that are capable of producing a fundamental pitch, therefore capable of sounding melody, and performing a harmonic function. Then there are those instruments that simply produce a sound of indefinite pitch. This is an important feature of percussion instruments from the fact that the vibrating objects employed come from the idiophone and membranophone classes. The idiophone class hold instruments of which vibrate to produce a sound when struck, shaken or scraped, such as bell, gong etc. While the membranophone class hold any musical instrument that produce sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane.
The timpani, a pitched instrument, was first established as the kettledrum, evolved to be the grandfather of percussive instruments in Western music. The kettledrum produces a deep, resonant sound with a variable pitch making appearances in concert settings by the late 17th century and many composers appreciated the dramatic effects it could provide. The timpani became well established as an orchestral instrument by the classical era, although for the most part it remained in a supporting role. Franz Joseph Haydn is credited with being among the first composers to give prominence to the instrument. The kettledrum then grew importance throughout the romantic era. It was often used to add bass to the luminous treble of the trumpets. It later came into the composition Bach and Handel, and in the opera orchestra of Lully. Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Wagner and Berlioz were influenced into using the kettledrum to their own significant desires. Within Beethoven’s pieces, the kettledrum fulfilled the desire to control the rhythm of the orchestra, as it more forced it to its will, or to simply go into solo rhythms. Brahms had a different approach. He was more concerned with the color of sounds so he worked around the kettledrums harmony and chords, giving it the role as a support to soloists in the orchestra.
Chimes are a tuned instrument consisting of a set of 12 to 18 metal tubes hung from a metal frame. The metal tubes range from 1 to 2 ½ inches in diameter and from 4 to 6 feet in length. The chimes, or tubular bells, are struck with a mallet and sound like church bells when played. The longer the length of tube that is struck, the lower the pitch that is created.
First used in the orchestra just over a century ago, the xylophone is a tuned instrument made of hardwood bars in graduated lengths set horizontally on a metal frame. The xylophone had to wait until the ‘percussion age’ of the mid-to-late-twentieth century before attracting much attention from composers and arrangers. Orchestral parts for the xylophone started with Saint Saens in 1874. The xylophone now plays a role as a versatile and flexible component of the percussion section of the modern orchestra and bands of many kinds. With the larger, lower-sounding bars on the left, the notes of the xylophone are laid out much like a piano keyboard. Striking the bars with hard mallets produces a bright, sharp sound while played with softer mallets produces a hollower and dim sound. The xylophone was originally modeled after an African instrument and its name is Greek, meaning "wood sound".
Also called orchestra bells, the glockenspiel resembles a small xylophone, but it is made of steel bars, in which a row of tuned bars is used to create the effect of small bells to replace the dreadful corresponding peal of bells. In the twentieth century it became an important tuned percussion instrument, used both orchestrally and in other ensemble music. The glockenspiel is typically played with wooden or plastic mallets, producing a high tuned sound that is bright and penetrating. The name glockenspiel comes from the German language and means "to play the bells."
The snare drum, a non-pitched instrument also known as the side drum, is one of the most easily recognizable instruments in the entire percussion section. The snare drum was originally developed from the medieval instrument known as the tabor. The medieval tabor appears to have originated with the Arabs or the Saracens, and was brought to Europe in the thirteenth century by returning crusaders. The snares, which could be placed on either head were placed on a small cylindrical shell. The snare drum found its way through to the orchestra in the eighteenth and nineteenth century giving off a martial flavor. However, it has developed to exploit its own musical characteristics rather than association. The first recorded use of the snare drum was for military purposes, often playing along with the three holed flute that was common at the time. At the time in the 1400s, the snares of the snare drum were typically made of rope. During the seventeenth century, new methods of strengthening the snares across the bottom of the drum became common. These new methods provided the "snapping" sound that is quite similar to the sound made by snare drums today. This development made it possible for percussionists to play faster and more complex rhythms with tighter snares. It plays the role of accenting rhythms from other families and voices of instruments within the orchestra. It could also be used as a soloistic instrument, especially in pieces that have a military theme, feel or sound to them. The snare drum works extremely well as an accentuating instrument. When played correctly it can produce sounds ranging from quick, short, and snappy to thick, warm, whip-crack like accents giving the orchestra ranging effects. As a soloistic instrument, the snare drum has certainly found its place in classical music. An example of this use of the snare drum would be the opening of Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé suite. After an opening trumpet solo, the snare drum plays a military-style solo at a pianissimo dynamic marking, designed to create a march-like feel. This particular part presents a number of problems for the orchestral percussionist, but its main difficulty lies in keeping the various rudiments consistent at such a soft dynamic level. By the middle of the nineteenth century, snare drums were made out of brass and reduce them in size from their older counterparts. This new construction method gave the snare drum a brighter sound that was more suitable for orchestral use. The first use of the snare drum in orchestras was for Baroque music with a martial feel. Georg Frederic Handel used the snare drum in his composition, "Music for the Royal Fireworks."
The bass drum, with a wooden, cylindrical shell, heads of skin and no snares, was rare in Europe until the eighteenth century. It was particularly used within the military band. Single-headed bass drums were used earlier within this century in orchestras and dance bands. These drums have a good tone, but also have a more tendency to give off a sound with a definite pitch. In an orchestral setting, the concert bass drum plays a structural role in the overall feel of a piece of music. The bass drum usually deals more with coloring and shading the sounds of the orchestra as opposed to providing a solid, rhythmic foundation like in marching. The bass drum is usually used to accent strong points in the music and is often combined with a cymbal crash to further accent the piece. The bass drum and crash cymbal usually are the two instruments used simultaneously so often that many parts simply contain one rhythm and the composer then indicates which instruments are to play at which points.
There are many types of cymbals used within pieces. Cymbals have developed largely independently in oriental and Western cultures. Orchestras mainly use crash cymbals and suspended cymbals. The crash cymbal, made from two large, slightly concave brass plates, are fitted with leather hand straps and are shaped so that when they are crashed together, only the edges touch. During the Middle Ages, they were of thicker gauge metal than that is currently in use. A pair would be held horizontally and played with a primarily vertical movement. Cymbals have been used within orchestras since 1680, rarely, but from the mid-nineteenth century commonly. The suspend cymbal isn't as sudden as the crash cymbal. The suspended cymbal is placed on a stand while it’s played with mallets giving a build up effect to the orchestra or suspenseful feel or played with a stick a more ringing effect such as the crash, but without such a bombastic sound. Although cymbals are untuned instruments, different sized cymbals produce a wide range of sound effects. Some are so small that they are played with just the fingers.
Much like the bass drum, the concert toms are meant to add color and shading to orchestral music. However, it can also be used much like the snare drum. In fact, the snare drum can have the snare off, producing a high tom sound. Depending on the composer and/or music, the concert tom can be used as both. It provides a warm but sharper tone due to the size of it since they are between 8 to 16 inches in diameter whereas the concert bass is a much larger 30 to 45 inches. So, there's really not standard to how the toms are used. However, there usually is relationship between factors such as the dynamic, feel of the piece, and also the time period in which it portrays or was written.
Gongs and tam-tams are one of the instruments that are commonly confused with one another. A gong, generally within the center, has a large hung cymbal. As such, they're usually known as nipple gongs. This nipple is a small dome in the center of the cymbal that produces a single note when struck with a soft beater. Whereas, a tam-tam has no nipple, and so has a flat central area. When this cymbal is struck with a beater, it produces a myriad of sounds with no single overruling note. One can distinguish the two by ear by following a simple method. A gong sounds like a slightly muffled church bell, producing a soft but clear note, whereas the tam-tam sounds much more like a large metal object being struck by a hard material.
The percussion section also has some underappreciated instruments which may seem miscellaneous. The triangle evolved in historical times. Back from medieval times up to the nineteenth century, triangles had a series of rings on the lower bar. The triangle gives an effect of a single note producing more of a ‘zing’ than the cling ‘ting’. The triangle made from a small round steel tube, and is played by striking it with a steel beater, displays a bright shimmering sound which is untuned and resembles the sound of a bell. The triangle first joined the orchestra in the late 1700’s.
The tambourine is a shallow, handheld drum made of a circular wooden frame with a calfskin or plastic drumhead stretched across the top. The tambourine has small discs called jingles set into its circular frame which produce sound when the tambourine is shaken, rubbed, or struck on the drum head with the knuckles or fingertips. If played a certain way where a percussionist jingles the bells in a crescendo or diminuendo style, it can add the drama and contrast of a high pitch with either a soft touch or a percussive hit.