Page 41 - All About History - Issue 28-15

Through History

Don’t be fooled by its
appearance – the triangle is
capable of cutting through an
entire orchestra when struck

1
TRIANGLE 14TH CENTURY OCARINA 0,000 BCE
Another unassuming little object, and This strange-looking wind instrument has been around
one that you may remember from for thousands of years in some form, dating back to
school, the triangle possesses the ancient Far Eastern and South American cultures such
resonant power and requisite high as the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas. However, the ocarina as
pitch to fully penetrate the wall of sound created by an we know it was invented by an Italian teenager named
orchestra. Some find it incredibly annoying, it has to be Giuseppe Donati in the 19th century and is often made of
said, and yet it has continued to be used and adapted clay, metal or porcelain, typically sporting between four
since its inception, with early forms a trapezoid shape. and 12 finger and thumb holes that open
Until 1800, the triangle had an array of rings attached to George this unassuming little instrument up to
it that would also create percussive sound. Harrison plenty of melodic possibilities.
1943-2001, BRITISH
George Harrison has been referred
The octobass has OCTOBASS 1850 to by many as ‘the quiet Beatle’ due to
to be operated his demure demeanour when compared
with a bow and a The octobass is truly one of the strangest to John Lennon, Paul McCartney and
series of pedals musical instruments ever invented, Ringo Starr. His influence on the Beatles’
essentially resembling a gargantuan sound is impossible to ignore in the
outfit’s later material, with him
double bass that stands at over ten feet penning classics like I Me Mine
tall. It was masterminded by violin shop and While My Guitar
proprietor and bow tinkerer Jean-Baptiste Gently Weeps.
Vuillaume and is so large that, often, it
requires two people to operate it – one to
bow and one to fret. It’s a preposterous
instrument, frankly, yet it does achieve
a far deeper tone than any other.
Unfortunately, you’re only ever
likely to see one in a museum
– you won’t be surprised to The ocarina as we
know it wasn’t
hear that the octobass never
invented until
really took off. 1853, yet has been
around in some
The electric guitar has form for millennia
dictated much of the
popular music in the
20th century
PIANO 1709
ELECTRIC GUITAR 1930 Yet another musical instrument with decidedly
humble beginnings, the piano as we know
The electric guitar is perhaps the
it today was first invented by Bartolomeo
most well known instrument of our
Cristofori, a harpsichord maker based in
time, having been a staple of the
Florence, Italy. The time between then and
vast proportion of musical genres
now barely needs mentioning, as it’s plain to
for the last few decades. Its origins
see the remarkable influence that the piano has
were humble; guitar player George
had on all genres of music since its inception,
Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker,
despite barely changing in sound or build since
an electrical engineer, met in 1930 in
its invention. The influx of digital pianos in the
LA to develop an electrical guitar, using
last few decades has only
magnets to pick up the vibrations from
cemented the piano as a
a metal string when plucked. Larger
true icon of the arts.
manufacturers developed the idea, and
by the middle of the 20th century
the electric was essential
for any blues or rock
musician, before
busily evolving in
both design and
application
until the
present day.
An ornate pianoforte from
the 19th century