unit 4 music and technology in the west

 UNIT 4

Music and technology

in the west 

The music technology I will be writing about is a piano. How this instrument influence music for a very long time. 

The piano was first invented in the 1700. The person who invented the piano was Bartolomeo Cristofori the reason why Mr Cristofori created the piano was because he wanted to make more of a dynamic range and doing this was by making a hammer mechanism that struck strings making sounds that where soft and loud hence why the first piano was not called a piano is was called "gravicembalo col piano e forte" which translated into harpsichord with soft and loud. Over time the piano evolved being made with metal frames and additional keys leading to the grand upright piano we know today. 

 

The reason why pianos where invented was to come forth from the limitations of instruments allowing musicians to control volume notes from soft to loud however it all depended on how much force was used to press the keys which at this time there where only 49 keys.

The evolution of the piano started in the 18th and the 19th centuries which composers where demanding for greater range which led to the increase of the keys. Gottfried Silbermann was a very well known organ maker which he copied the idea from Mr Cristofori had but added the sustain pedal which the musicians where able to hold keys even when there fingers were not on the keys. 

as time went on the piano went through many changes to also make the instrument better for composers and musicians as they wanted more from the instrument as this technology was ground-breaking, but they wanted more. however the industrial revolution happened which changed the way the piano was made introducing cast iron frames, allowing for higher tension and a more powerful sound, and enabling mass production of more affordable and accessible instruments this made the frame to withstand the tension on the string compared to the original piano. The keys had changes as well instead of five octaves there where seven and more which this aloud composers such as Beethoven to express more in his music.

Before the piano there where four instruments which all let to the piano which where the harpsichord ,the clavichord and the monochord and the hammered dulcimer. The harpsichord worked by plucking the string with quills. the clavichord worked by striking the string with a tangent. the monochord worked by a single stringed instrument. the hammered dulcimers used the hammer technique however they all lacked the dynamic range which as time went of theses techniques evolved to the modern day piano know but with out these mechanism we wouldn't have know how to get the volume right the technologies put together has now made a staple to the music industry with pianos