Summary: The story of the trumpet begins with the trumpeters' guilds of the Renaissance. We see how improvements in its construction led to its use in the Baroque period, and how Vivaldi began to use a more refined version in his compositions. Later flexibility made it popular with dance bands and jazz musicians. Combining computer graphics with music, a trumpeter demonstrates how the sound of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Despite its title, this program actually covers all the wind instruments, including the pipe organ. It considers the way in which the technology of making instruments has affected the course of musical development, particularly the development of valves for trumpets and Boehm's system of woodwind keys. The program examines the subject of vibrations in tubes, the role of finger holes, and the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: No other instrument has been as important to the history of Western music as the piano. Since its invention in Florence three hundred years ago, the piano has become many things to many people-a bridge between the worlds of classical and popular music and the ultimate composer's companion. This program traces the ancestry of the instrument and the history of those composers who championed its...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: How do three talented individuals translate their unique artistic sensibilities into action? This program explains. Section one focuses attention on Jacques d'Amboise, one of the world's finest classical dancers and founder of the National Dance Institute, which exposes thousands of inner-city school children to the magic and discipline of dance. Section two introduces viewers to Andre Andreev...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The modern version of the oboe and the many forms it has taken during its evolution are the subject of this program. We see the oboe's ancient Egyptian ancestor-an unrecognizable prototype of the instrument played today. The more familiar-looking oboe, developed in the 17th century, is discussed within the context of its predecessors-the English horn, the heckelphone, and the contra bassoon....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program discusses the history and evolution of electronic music. The synthesizer's roots are traced from the 1920s to the invention of the "Trautonium"-a prototype of the modern synthesizer. Its acceptance in European music circles is discussed. Performances that include the synthesizer show how the development of the modern Moog synthesizer in the 1970s revolutionized contemporary music...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007