What ancient musical instruments gained popularity after modern reconstructions? I know that the lyre is one of them, but what others?
What ancient musical instruments gained popularity after modern reconstructions? I know that the lyre is one of them, but what others?
The old recorders sounded worse?! 😧 (I tease!)
What instrument did you start with, and what got you into older music and instruments?
Here is a video of a professional Renaissance recorder consort in lower voicings (the lowest I believe being contrabass) that shows how great they are. They do get a bad reputation because it’s easy to make them squeak really badly as a beginner (and especially as a young person with no musical training). They really are a great introductory instrument into early music though; you can get a plastic tenor for about $40 and it’ll be the same one professionals practice on regularly.
I got started in early music on modern guitar with a book of tabs, and it was a great way in. I later met up with a local group who pointed me towards some great resources, and I loved it so much that I wanted to go deeper by learning to play an actual period instrument. I did some research and talked to a bunch of people for advice on what to buy and finally picked one up and took some lessons at the beginning of the year. It’s a lot harder to get into than guitar, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.
Bravo, those are by far the best recorders I have ever heard! My music teacher is in a recorder quartet, so she has a few of the decent modern Yamahas, and they’re leaps better than the classroom recorders kids play, but I still don’t really dig how they sounded. Flute is her primary instrument, and I’d much rather hear her play that. The recorders in the video look like another huge step up from the Yamahas though. I do feel though they definitely serve a purpose in music education though.
I am glad there are people keeping all these instruments and musical styles alive though. Like any other bit of art/culture, it’s easy to forget about it when it goes out of style, and by the time anyone remembers, it’s all been lost. One of the surprising parts of my musical education is learning just how much of a joyous part of life music was for so much of our history. With no tv, internet, or recordings, live music was a way to have fun, an opportunity to dance or sing, a way to cross cultures and learn about places you would only ever hear stories about.
I wholeheartedly agree!
One of the things out group does is play for dancers at reenactment events. The dance steps were recorded for a lot of the Renaissance period pieces, and it’s pretty incredible to be able to coordinate the tunes for the same dances from hundreds of years ago.
It really changes the atmosphere of an event to have music around; it’s a living connection to history.
As I like learning about history as well, having historical music education helps tie things together also. You can follow who are the trendy cultural centers of the time, and different countries get the best composers, and just the attitudes of the people of the time, if you have songs meant to be played by some rich guys full orchestra, or one person playing folk music on a single instrument. With being the musician, you’re not an observer, you’re trying to embody the spirit that song was composed to share with others. It’s like a very basic time machine if you really get into what you’re doing. I think it’s really cool stuff!