What is this instrument?

Lesson 1 - GENERAL REVIEW - Strings & Woodwinds - northernsounds.com

In the first video what is the instrument that plays right from the beginning and stops when the violins end its crescendo (the first 4 secs of the video)?

Thx! :)

Horn, Piano maybe a wind instrument as well. Maybe a xylophone like instrument also, but that may be the piano. bad recording so difficult to tell\l.

horn(s) indeed.

Of course, I can't tell which horn.

That fast alternating sound is a horn? wow

I hear Piano, Flute (piccolo?), but no Xylophone or Horn. I think you are referring to the Piano.

WOW- I just realized that that is the transcript from Rimsky-Korsakov's Principles of Orchestration! I have that book :toothygrin:

There is a horn, no doubt, there is no piccolo, maybe flute.

piccolo? you might be a few octaves off..

Notice how I had the piccolo inside (parentheses)...

I noticed that the tone didn't seem quite as mellow as the flute, so I just threw that out there. Is that a problem? Besides, a flute on that octave would have more of an airy sound, as well as being louder.

PS- What piece is that? It's really cool!

That fast alternating sound is a horn? wow

OK, you ARE referring to the Flute/picc in the opening. Does it also last through the melody?

There is no flute playing at all. Nor piccolo. You are referring to the movie and not the score???

There is only strings and percussion at the beginning. Any other instrument is inaudible.

i was still under the impression this was about the horn part. the melody's (if one could call it that) most likely doubled. i'd go for piccolo and xylophone.

There isn't a piccolo on the strings, and I don't think there is flute, there may be a clarinet playing.

i get the feeling everybody's watching a different movieclip :)

There is no flute playing at all. Nor piccolo. You are referring to the movie and not the score???

There is only strings and percussion at the beginning. Any other instrument is inaudible.

I AM referring to the movie.

After the strings have their runs at the very beginning and start playing the melody,there are some high-pitched notes that are definitely of a piccolo in the background that you can hear if you listen closely enough. It is playing quarter notes in the 3/4 meter. It IS there, and audible to boot. It starts at :02 and ends at about :25. If you can't hear it now, I can't help. Just don't try too hard to look for it- I did, and I couldn't hear it very well.

[EDIT] I think that the Piccolo is playing a different meter (not written WITH one) than the strings. The conductor is counting in four, and the piccolo is definitely in three, either that or it is my imagination. :)

[EDIT2] Oh, duh- it's in triplets! :pinch:

There isn't a piccolo on the strings, and I don't think there is flute, there may be a clarinet playing.

Are you watching the first movie clip? There is a bass clarinet, but definitely no Bb/A clarinet. :huh:

There is a bass clarinet, but definitely no Bb/A clarinet.

Those high pitched notes you are talking about are not piccolo or flute, they have a specific attack and decay that is not of a wind instrument, that is what made me think of Piano, xylophone, vibes etc. it is not a piccolo, it is percussive.

It's not uncommon to have clarinet doubling strings.

That is true, and it may be there, but I personally can't hear it.

Those high pitched notes you are talking about are not piccolo or flute, they have a specific attack and decay that is not of a wind instrument, that is what made me think of Piano, xylophone, vibes etc. it is not a piccolo, it is percussive.

You may be right that it is a percussion instrument, but I find that I can't hear an attack, nor is the tone like any percussion instrument I have ever heard before- is it something that I haven't heard of? And don't forget, woodwind instruments also have a very clear attack... The notes that the mystery instrument plays do not have any decay (granted, they are short, but they are obviously stopped/cut off cleanly and very quickly- it would be hard to do that with a percussion instrument), and sounds as if it has the potential to sustain its note. I think that unless it is an instrument I don't know, it HAS to be a piccolo.

[EDIT] Could it be a keyboard or electronic instrument...?

The notes that the mystery instrument plays do not have any decay

To me it sounds like a piccolo too. (Between seconds 3 and 23 or so). I don't hear any triplets though. It's just playing short eighth notes.

Then, at about second 30, when the violins play that rhythm I hear a piano (possibly Xylophone).

It's definitely not Piccolo...

To me it sounds like a piccolo too. (Between seconds 3 and 23 or so). I don't hear any triplets though. It's just playing short eighth notes.

Yay! Someone else who believes that it is a piccolo!

I thought it was playing eighth notes too, but if you watch the conductor (for the short time he is there) he is counting in four, and the piccolo sounds like it's in three or 6/8- basically triplets.

It's definitely not Piccolo...

Alright, what is it then? Can you say 100% what the instrument is?

Okay, I will bet my life on this. In the first 4 seconds, there is low register piano and timpani together, then the first violins kick in. Behind the violins is high horn with a melody/counterpoint (French horn, possibly a descant or triple model, as high as it is) and some rhythmic chords high in the piano. Near the very end, trombones kick in.

This is not solely piccolo, it is nowhere near piercing enough, plus you can tell they are chords, there are not likely to be three piccolos playing. It is not xylophone, nowhere near dry enough. What I AM willing to bet, is there might be those high percussive piano chords, and piccolo might be doubling on the highest note of those chords with short staccatos.

high percussive piano chords

Alright, what is it then? Can you say 100% what the instrument is?