100 to 1 which is the smallest musical instrument. How does the largest musical instrument in Russia work? No need to force the child to learn notes and go to music universities

100 to 1 which is the smallest musical instrument.  How does the largest musical instrument in Russia work?  No need to force the child to learn notes and go to music universities
100 to 1 which is the smallest musical instrument. How does the largest musical instrument in Russia work? No need to force the child to learn notes and go to music universities

If a child shows musical abilities from childhood and dreams of a career as a professional musician, then there is no need to clutch his head and predict his life in complete poverty. The modern holiday industry allows not only celebrity musicians to make good money. But a lot depends on the musical specialization and "monetary value" of the instrument.

Who are the richest musicians in the world?

The most lucrative industry in the music industry is authoring pop-rock music. Accordingly, the richest musicians in the world are eminent singers and authors of popular songs, or members of pop-rock groups who are engaged in authorship, and not re-singing and remaking other people's compositions in their own way.

They earn tens, hundreds of millions of dollars a year and lead the life of an average oligarch who buys yachts and islands (for example, the fortune of Sting and Mick Jagger is estimated at about $ 300 million, Madonna at $ 650 million, Paul McCartney at $ 800 million. $, Bono - $ 1 billion, etc.).

The ability to compose beautiful, catchy, hit songs and perform them in a well-recognizable voice is the main source of wealth and millions of royalties for world music celebrities. And the best, "money" and "rich" musical instrument, coupled with the original author's work, is, of course, the human voice.

Unfortunately, classical and jazz musicians earn hundreds, thousands of times less than pop stars (although the fortune of the famous Russian viola player Yuri Bashmet is estimated at $ 3 million, but this is more the exception than the rule). Almost all the money in this industry is concentrated in pop music.

Therefore, if your child loves to sing since childhood, and in adolescence begins to write songs in pop-rock style, and he has real talent, then this is the surest way to climb the musical Olympus, including financially.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, only a few of those who write songs in their youth achieve this. But nothing prevents your teenager from trying himself in this direction, if he has a great desire to make author's music.

You just need to take into account that in Russia, unlike in Europe and the USA, where sometimes it is enough to write one hit song in order to then lead a comfortable life at the expense of numerous royalties, it is almost impossible to make money on music content.

The main bread of musicians in Russia is concerts. The gifted also earn money by composing music for commercials and films.

No need to force the child to learn notes and go to music universities

If you carefully study the biographies of famous pop-rock musicians, it turns out that most of them never studied music in any educational institutions, and did not know notes (for example, the greatest melodists and composers of the 20th century Paul McCartney and John Lennon were not familiar with musical notation). But this did not stop them from achieving great success in the musical field. They just followed their talent and learned music through practice, not theory.

Therefore, there is no need to require from a child who is fond of music and composing songs, compulsory admission to some music universities and the study of musical notation. The number of self-taught people who have achieved great success in the field of pop-rock music far exceeds the number of those who studied the world's greatest art in special institutions.

Which musicians are most appreciated in Russia

Unfortunately, in the Russian music industry, it is not original talents that are most valued, but money and "hype". Therefore, the biggest royalties in Russia are earned by those musicians who most often appear on the TV screen (Grigory Leps, Stas Mikhailov, Philip Kirkorov, Nikolai Baskov, Dima Bilan and others) and those into whom the producers "pump" the most money.

But nothing prevents your child from singing in English in the future, so that his talents can be noticed at the international level, since they are not able to do this at home, where completely different things are appreciated. In any case, if a child has a talent for writing songs, this should be encouraged in every possible way, regardless of the presence or absence of external success and recognition of his work.

How most graduates of music schools and conservatories make money from music in Russia

But even if your child does not manage to enter the big stage, this does not mean that he will not be able to earn money with music. The modern event industry (the sphere of organizing and holding various festive, business and advertising events) provides an excellent opportunity to receive decent money for numerous graduates of music schools, conservatories and simply talented self-taught musicians.

To do this, you need to perform popular songs and melodies at weddings, corporate parties, anniversaries, presentations, in restaurants, cafes, shopping centers, etc. You just need to choose the right "money" musical instrument, which is in demand in the event industry, both in a solo version and as part of a musical group.

The most "money" musical instrument is the voice

The most popular musical instrument at festive events is, of course, the human voice. Owners of luxurious timbres who can sing well can earn decent money at weddings and corporate parties, while spending a minimum of time on work.

The only problem is that there are too many wedding singers and singers, and it is not so easy to stand out among them in order to receive many orders for performances. To do this, you need to find your niche, your repertoire and your customer. Then it will be possible to receive decent money for the performance of popular songs.

There is much less competition among wedding-corporate instrumentalists.
What musical instrument should a child choose in order to earn decent money in the event industry?

Tenor saxophone - modern musical wedding king

If once the main musical king at weddings was the button accordion, today the sound cues have shifted somewhat (although the button accordion and its closest relative, the accordion, are still in great demand at weddings in rural outback and in small towns).

One of the most popular wedding instruments is now the saxophone, and in particular, the most euphonious and romantic tenor saxophone. Slightly less in demand in the event industry is the sharper-sounding alto saxophone.

Sometimes orders are received for the performance of compositions on the soprano saxophone at weddings. The rest of the saxophone family (bass saxophone, double bass saxophone and baritone saxophone) do not appear at such events, although there are exceptions.

In any case, if your child decently masters the tenor saxophone and learns to play popular melodies on it with a beautiful, luxurious, juicy sound (which is actually not so difficult, since this is not improvisation or composing music), then he will have every chance successfully enter the event business. He will make good money at weddings and corporate parties, spending a minimum of working time on it.

For example, my acquaintances saxophonists who play at weddings, corporate parties and presentations earn 50-60 thousand rubles, working only 8-10 hours a month! (one hour of their performance costs from 6 thousand rubles). For such a salary, many sales managers and office plankton representatives have to incubate an entire month, working within a standard 40-hour work week.

Can you imagine how much free time you get? It is enough to play for an hour at a wedding or corporate party twice a week in order to lead a completely comfortable lifestyle. At the same time, you can still earn decent money by giving private lessons on the saxophone.

Other musicians playing wind instruments (flutists, clarinetists, trombonists, oboists, etc.) were much less fortunate. They are rarely invited to weddings and corporate parties, only if they are part of a musical group.

Violin - musical wedding queen

Among the stringed instruments, the most popular in the event industry is, of course, the violin. This is the real musical queen of the wedding and corporate sphere. If the "Saxons" are mainly played by men, then among the wedding violinists there are many representatives of both sexes.

Other classical string instruments (cello, viola) are most often invited to such events as part of string trios and quartets.

One of the most popular instruments in the world - the synthesizer, oddly enough, is not very much in demand in a solo version at events. As a rule, pianists and keyboardists are invited to play for the background in cafes and restaurants, but not at weddings and corporate parties.

Much more popular are the "singing keyboardists" who know a lot of popular songs and can fill the breaks during the holidays with instrumental music.

The main instrument of pop-rock musicians, the guitar (both acoustic and electric), is most often invited to festive events as part of duets and musical groups, or as an accompaniment for a singer.

If your teenager plays in a rock band, then he may well earn decent money with her at weddings and corporate parties, performing cover versions of popular songs. True, since the performance of musical groups is 4-5 times more expensive than the performance of a solo musician, then they invite them at weddings and corporate parties are much less common than solo instrumentalists and vocalists.

Unfortunately, those who play exotic instruments have to look for other sources of income (for example, they can periodically earn extra money as studio musicians). Music connoisseurs and lovers of exoticism among newlyweds, unfortunately, are very rare.

Instrumentalists can make money anywhere in the world

It is best, of course, if your child becomes a multi-instrumentalist, will confidently own several instruments (he will earn money on some, and play for the soul on others), and know a huge number of popular melodies. Then he will definitely be able to feed himself with music. Moreover, not only in Russia, but also in any corner of the planet, since instrumental music is a universal language, understandable to all inhabitants of the Earth without any words.

Better to let music be a favorite hobby than a boring "obligation"

But even if he cannot break through to the big stage, and does not want to play "money" instruments, but will write complex, experimental music that cannot be sold, there is no need to worry about this. Better let the greatest art in the world become for him a favorite hobby and passion than a tedious "obligation" to perform other people's songs in order to cut down more "dough". Only now he will have to make a living in some other area.


Article provided by:

Alexey Kormushkin,
specially for DETINFORM

Topical issues

Hello! My child is 3 months and 3 weeks old today. From 24.02-28.02 - we had a hoarse voice, the throat is not red, there is no fever and no snot, a disease-causing condition. (Treatment: 1 Kipferon suppository, 1 Viferon suppository, inhalation with saline). From 20.03 to this day, the hoarse voice again is not as strong as the first time, there are no signs of illness, the state is playful, from 03.04 the voice is hoarse even more, the condition is pathogenic, and since yesterday the voice has almost disappeared, the temperature is 37.2. On the blood which they donated on March 12, when they were healthy and their voice was normal, a slight increase in lymphocytes .. What to do?

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Question number 913 |6 year old son takes off his panties at night |20.02.2017 | Petrova Nadezhda Alekseevna asks

Good day! My son likes to sleep naked, because everything constantly interferes with him, presses, presses, etc. During the day, he tugs at the shirt, then pulls the panties down, then the neck, he is very active and constantly straightens something out of his clothes. Since you can't undress in the garden during the day and put him at least in his underpants at night to get used to it, but most often at night he takes everything off. And not so long ago, in general, I began to lower my panties on the priest, i.e. not completely take off, I wake him up - and the panties on the pope are lowered. What does this mean? Why does the child do this? What do I need to do - is it worth paying attention to?

Do you know where the largest musical instrument in Russia is located? This huge organ is installed in the Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International House of Music. The organ weighs 30 tons, the total height is about 15 meters, like a five-story building, the total number of pipes in the organ is six thousand. The largest pipes are 10 meters long. Let's take a closer look at this amazing tool and even take a look inside.


2. The project of the organ of the Moscow International House of Music was developed specifically for the Svetlanov Hall long before the opening of the concert venue.
“The hall and the organ should be created together, at the same time, as if for each other,” explains Pavel Nikolaevich Kravchun, associate professor of the Department of Acoustics at Moscow State University and chief superintendent of organs at the Moscow International House of Music, who participated in the creation of the instrument.

3. The organ was built in Germany by the world famous consortium of German firms Glatter Gotz (Ovingen) and Klais (Bonn). It was manufactured and originally assembled in Bonn in the spring of 2004 and transported to Moscow in the summer. The installation and setup of the tool lasted six months. The opening ceremony of the organ took place on December 21, 2004; in the spring of next year, the first organ festival with the participation of prominent musicians from around the world was held in the Svetlanov Hall.

4. The control panel for the House of Music organ has four manual keyboards (manuals), located one above the other, each keyboard has 61 keys. There are 32 more pedal keys on the foot (pedal) keyboard. In addition, there are many auxiliary buttons and handles on the remote control.

5. Using the knobs, you can turn on or off the corresponding register, that is, a group of pipes of the same timbre. There are 84 such registers in total and two more are sound-visual. Each register constitutes, as it were, a separate musical instrument, for example, a flute, an oboe, or even Christmas bells. It turns out that the handles include the necessary registers, and the keys open air access to the pipes of specific tones. If the registers are off, the organ will not sound when a key is pressed.

6. A certain group of pipes is assigned to each keyboard. The connection between the keys and the valves that allow air to enter most of the pipes is mechanical. Therefore, the farther the pipes are from the performer, the harder the keys that are responsible for them are pressed. For example, the first keyboard is connected with pipes located a meter from the organist, its keys are pressed easily and without hindrance. And the fourth keyboard is responsible for the outermost pipes located in the upper part of the organ - there the keys are pressed with some difficulty (still: from it to the pipes 13 meters up and a few more meters to the left and right).
For the shamad registers and the lowest-sounding pedal registers, an electrical connection is organized, since the air pressure creates a large force on the valves.

7. Three huge fans are responsible for supplying air to the pipes. Earlier, before the advent of electric motors, air was pumped into organs by specially trained people who stomped on huge pumps - bellows.

8. Play the organ with hands and feet at the same time. The capabilities and sound of the instrument are amazing. The range of this organ is from infrasound (8 hertz) to ultrasound. In terms of sound volume, the organ is comparable to a whole symphony orchestra.

9. This is how an organ recording looks like. Considering that all organs are different, a lot of performance depends on the particular organ and organist.

10. There is a pedal keyboard for the feet.

11. You can also control the sound volume with your feet.

12. Pavel Nikolaevich is an excellent storyteller and a very enthusiastic person. Organs are his whole life. He became interested in this instrument while still a schoolboy, because of the organ he entered the Department of Acoustics of the Physics Department of Moscow State University, now he is a leading expert on organs in Russia. We were very lucky with the excursion.

13. A few words about the hall. It is finished in larch for a better sound.

14. For better acoustics, many panels are angled.

15. But that's not all. In order for the whole hall to have good acoustics, a special Constellation system is used. The Constellation can be described as follows. Microphones pick up sound in certain areas of the hall, then the processor processes this sound according to a certain algorithm and sends it to the loudspeakers located in the hall. In this way, room acoustics can be simulated and controlled.

16. Depending on the settings, you can achieve a sound like in a cathedral or in a huge hall, the dimensions of which are several times larger than the actual dimensions of the hall.

17. Now let's go to see what the organ looks like from the other side. We take the elevator up several floors.

18. This is how the organ looks from the inside. A huge number of pipes and intricacies of mechanisms.

19. From the keys to the pipes there are mechanical traction. When you press a key, the flaps open and the trumpets sound.

20. The rods are made of wood. Attempts to replace wood with metal cables were unsuccessful, the metal is too sensitive to temperature extremes.

21. The pipes in the organ are made of different materials, there are metal ones from an alloy of tin with lead and wooden ones from pear, pine and oak. The timbre and pitch of the sound depend on the design of the pipe, material and size.

22. The thickness of the walls of metal pipes is only 0.5 millimeters, the alloy is very soft, if you carelessly touch the pipe, you can leave a dent.

23. The organ is a rather "meteosensitive" device, changes in temperature and humidity can affect the sound quality. Therefore, the microclimate is monitored very carefully.

24. The design of the pipes allows for customization. It is different for different pipes, some are equipped with special tongues, the smallest pipes need to be expanded or rolled.

25. Organ tuning takes several hours and is done before each concert. It takes tremendous patience to tune an organ.

26. This is what the "mouth" of the pipe looks like. The trumpet "sings" through it.

27. The smallest pipes are a few centimeters in size. It's even surprising that these little ones can sound to the whole audience.

28. Remember the pipes protruding forward on the facade? This is how they look from the balcony inside the organ.

29. In general, the instrument is fantastic, you should definitely listen to it.

30. Many thanks to the Moscow International House of Music for the most interesting excursion.

And a very short video:

An ancient Greek legend says that the first musical instrument was created by the god Pan, who walked in the forest by the river, plucked a reed and began to blow into it. It turned out that the cane tube is capable of making enchanting sounds that add up to beautiful melodies. Pan cut off several branches of the reed and connected them together, creating the first instrument - the prototype of the flute.

Thus, the ancient Greeks believed that the first musical device was the flute. Perhaps it is - at least it is the oldest instrument ever recorded by researchers. Its oldest specimen was found in southern Germany, in the Holi Fels cave, where excavations of a prehistoric human settlement are being carried out. In total, three flutes were found in this place, carved from an ivory and having several holes. Also, archaeologists have discovered fragments that apparently belonged to the same flutes. Radiocarbon dating helped determine the age of these instruments, with the oldest dating back to 40 millennium BC. So far, this is the most ancient instrument that was found on Earth, but perhaps other copies simply have not survived to this day.

Similar flutes and pipes were found on the territory of Hungary and Moldavia, but they were made in the 25-22 millennia BC.

Candidates for the title of the most ancient musical instruments

Although while the flute is considered the most ancient musical instrument, it is possible that in fact the first was made a drum or any other device. For example, Australian aborigines are sure that their national instrument called the didgeridoo is the oldest, its history goes back to the depths of the history of the indigenous population of this continent, which, according to scientists, is 40 to 70 thousand years old. Thus, it is possible that the didgeridoo is indeed the oldest instrument. It is an impressive piece of eucalyptus trunk, in some cases reaching three meters in length, with a hollow core eaten away by termites.

Since didgeridoo are always cut from different trunks with different shapes, their sounds are never repeated.

The oldest drums found date back only to the fifth millennium BC, but scientists believe that this is one of the most likely candidates for the title of the first musical instrument. Its long history is spoken of as a wide variety of types of modern drums and their almost ubiquitous prevalence, as well as a simple and uncomplicated design that would allow even the most ancient ancestors of people to play melodies with the help of simple devices. In addition, it has been proven that in many cultures, drum music was a very important part of life: it accompanied all holidays, weddings, funerals, wars.

People have discovered the enchanting sounds of music since ancient times. In ancient Greek myths, both gods and mortals owned the art of playing various musical instruments. Not a single feast was complete without flutes, tympans and flutes, which brightened up the celebrations of kings and ordinary peasants. But what is the oldest instrument on Earth?

The first musical instruments

Archaeologists were the first to tell about the existence of musical instruments in ancient times, who find pipes, tweeters and other items for playing music in almost all excavations. At the same time, similar finds were found in those territories where archaeologists managed to excavate the sites of primitive people.

Some of the musical instruments found by archaeologists date back to the Upper Paleolithic - in other words, these instruments appeared in 22-25 thousand years BC.

In addition, the ancient people were able not only to make musical instruments, but also music to them, writing down musical signs on clay tablets. The oldest musical notation to date was written in the 18th century BC. Archaeologists found it in the Sumerian city of Nippur, which they excavated, which was once located on the territory of modern Iraq. Scientists at the University of California, who deciphered the music tablet in 1974, stated that it contained the words and music of an Assyrian love ballad for string lyre.

The oldest musical instrument

In 2009, archaeologists discovered in one of the caves located in southwestern Germany the remains of an instrument that strongly resembles a modern one. Analyzes and studies have shown that the age of the ancient flute is more than 35 thousand years. In the body of the flute, five perfectly round holes were made, which should be closed with fingers when playing, and at its ends there were two deep V-shaped cuts.

The musical instrument was 21.8 centimeters long and only 8 millimeters thick.

The material from which the flute was made turned out not to be wood, but from a bird's wing. Today this instrument is the oldest, but not the first in the history of archaeological finds - bone pipes, hollow animal horns, shell pipes, stone and wooden rattles, as well as drums made of animal skins, have also been repeatedly found during excavations.

There are many legends about the origin of music. The ancient Greeks believed that the great gods of Olympus gave it to them, but modern scientists have carried out a number of ethnographic and archaeological studies. As a result of these studies, it was found that the first music appeared in primitive society and was used as a lullaby for lulling.

No one can say for sure when exactly music was born, but it is known that it has accompanied humanity since ancient times. At the dawn of civilization, three methods of musical sound production were distinguished: hitting a sounding object, vibrating a stretched string, and blowing air into a hollow tube. This was the beginning of three types of musical instruments - percussion, strings and winds.

The earliest wind instruments were the hollow bones of various animals. For example, the oldest known to scientists - the Neanderthal pipe - is made from the bone of a cave bear. In their development, wind instruments took different forms, but among different peoples, general patterns were observed in this process.

Pan flute

Having learned to extract a sound from a tube (first a bone one, then a wooden one), a person wanted to diversify this sound. He noticed that pipes of different lengths emit sounds of different heights. The simplest (and therefore the oldest) solution was to tie several different tubes together and move the structure along the mouth.

This is how the instrument, best known by the Greek name Syrinx, or Pan's flute, was born (according to Greek myth, it was created by the god Pan). But one should not think that such a flute was only among the Greeks - among other peoples it existed under different names: ekuduchay in Lithuania, nai in Moldavia, kugikly in Russia.

A distant descendant of this flute is such a complex and majestic instrument as the organ.

Pipe and flute

To produce sounds of different heights, it is not necessary to take several tubes, you can change the length of one by making holes on it and overlapping them with your fingers in certain combinations. This is how the instrument was born, which the Russians called the flute, -, among the Belarusians - the pipe, u - sopilka, u - salamuri, among the Moldovans - fluer.

All these instruments are held across the face, this is called a "longitudinal flute", but there was another design: the hole into which air is blown is in the same plane as the holes for the fingers. Such a flute - transverse - was developed in academic music, the modern flute goes back to it. And the "descendant" of the flute - the block flute - is not included in the symphony orchestra, although it is used in academic music.

Pity

The instruments mentioned above are among the sibilants, but there is also a more complex design: the instrument is equipped with a bell, into which a tongue is inserted - a thin plate (originally made of birch bark), the vibration of which makes the sound louder and changes its timbre.

This design is typical for the Russian zhaleika, the Chinese sheng. There were similar instruments in Western Europe, and the modern classical oboe and clarinet date back to them.

Horn

Another variant of the wind instrument's design is an additional part in contact with the musician's lips, the mouthpiece. This is typical for the horn.

The horn is usually associated with the work of a shepherd. Indeed, the shepherds used horns, because the sound of this instrument is quite strong, it can be heard at a great distance. This is facilitated by the conical shape.

This is just a small part of the diversity that wind instruments of different nations represent.

Related Videos

Sources:

  • Vasiliev Y., Shirokov A. Stories about Russian folk instruments

Tip 4: What musical instruments are considered folk

Folk instruments are an integral part of the traditional culture of a country, however, in order to understand which instruments can be considered folk, it is necessary to turn to history and folk music.

Roughly speaking, anything that can make a sound more or less pleasant to the human ear can be called a musical instrument: a spoon, a knife, a saw, sticks, and so on. But still, we are used to more or less standardized devices. The largest is the organ - a huge piano with a complex system of pipes that emit sounds of high power and the widest range. But what is the smallest musical instrument? Let's figure it out.

The harmonica is a tool that can easily fit in your pocket. This is a plus: you can always have it with you, which is something that harpers use with pleasure - people who play this unusual instrument professionally.

Despite its seeming frivolity, the harmonica is often introduced into blues, jazz and even rock compositions. Many Russian musicians play it well, for example, Boris Grebenshchikov, Sergei Chigrakov, Vladimir Shakhrin and many others.

The smallest harmonica "Little Lady" had a length of 5 centimeters and a thickness of 1.5. It was made in Germany in the 90s of the 19th century, but it has survived to this day.

The harmonica in the minds of most musicians is a frivolous instrument, folk or even amateur. The triangle is another matter. Despite the seeming simplicity, even primitiveness, it has a strong and bright sound. The part of the triangle, as funny as it sounds, is included in many classical pieces.

For example, Anita's Dance from Grieg's drama Peer Gynt and the overture to Wilhelm Tell are incomplete without the sound of a triangle. It was used by Beethoven, Mozart, Hayden and many other composers. And Liszt even wrote a piece that the musicians call "Concerto for the Triangle" - Concerto No. 1 for piano and orchestra. In it, this frivolous instrument plays a very serious role.

The flute itself is miniature, and the piccolo is also called a small flute. This miniature instrument has a high-pitched but pleasant sound. She can often be found in symphony orchestras, but the little one is rarely assigned to the leading part, more often she simply complements other instruments. Vivaldi, Shostakovich, Ravel appreciated the delicate beauty of this instrument.

Children's fun, the whistle, in skillful hands turns into a musical instrument with a bright and rich sound. Traditional vernacular is usually made from wood, clay, and now plastic. Interestingly, a wide range of sounds can be extracted from the same whistle by simply pouring a little water inside. Then the whistle turns into flooded trills.

This simple and unpretentious musical instrument cannot be found in symphony orchestras, but folk groups are happy to insert them, adding authentic sound.

The tools we have listed above are tiny in themselves. Of course, if you want, you can make the triangle smaller, but they have their own standards and must obey them. But there are tools that have become so tiny at the behest of the creators.

For example, Dustin Carr and Harold Craidhead from the Department of Nanotechnology at Cornell University presented the nanogitar to the public. It has a total length of about 10 micrometers, and the strings are about 10 atoms in diameter. Nevertheless, it plays, however, you can crush it with your finger without even noticing, so you have to use a laser beam. The guitar makes sounds, but the human ear cannot hear it, you have to use amplifiers.

Nanoarfa

To say that this is just a small musical instrument is to say nothing. For its manufacture, they took a silicon crystal, on which the instrument was etched. The diameter of the strings is really nano - 50 nanometers. They emit a sound of 380 million hertz. They play it in the same way as the nano-guitar - with a laser beam.

In addition to miniature and ultra-tech nano toys, there is a third category - smaller copies of conventional tools. One of them is a piccolo saxophone that will fit on your dinner plate. Its length is 30 centimeters. This is especially noteworthy given that the saxophone is considered one of the most complex instruments. To repeat it in miniature is a real feat.

In 2006, Sega Toys Co presented an unusual musical instrument, a piano weighing 2 kilograms. It, as expected, has 88 keys, each of which is 4 millimeters wide. It is incredibly difficult to play, and the sound is also not very familiar. But on the other hand, you do not need movers to carry such a piano.

The bowed group (double bass, viola, cello and violin) is highly dependent on the size of the body, because it resonates and reflects the sound. Some artists like to experiment with size and shape to achieve unusual sounds. But in 1973, Eric Massner did not take extreme measures at all: he created an instrument 41 millimeters long. Surprisingly, this cello repeats the usual one in everything, it can even play, albeit in a very high range.

The quality of the instrument does not necessarily depend on its size, and the ones we found are a direct confirmation of this.

People not only invented and improved musical instruments, they also tried to increase and decrease their size. And if the smallest musical instrument can also produce any sounds, then there will be many who want to get to know it.

The smallest piano

In 2006, Sega Toys released a miniature piano weighing 2.5 kilograms. It is the smallest keyboard instrument on which you can perform a piece of music. The width of each of its keys is 4 mm, and there are 88 of them in total.

The smallest guitar

At Cornell University in New York, the Department of Nanotechnology created a silicon guitar 10 microns in size (this is the length of a blood cell). It contains 6 strings, each 50 nanometers thick and can even be played, albeit with a laser beam.


The smallest accordion

Since the beginning of the 19th century, the Hochner company has been producing large-scale harmonicas in the form of a keychain. It is called "Little Lady", contains only 4 holes and has a range of 1 octave. Its length is 5 cm, and its width is 15 mm.


The smallest violin

Here, masters from all over the world organized a whole competition and the record is constantly changing downward. Chinese master Chen, working for 7 years, created a 2 cm violin, and before that there was an instrument 3.5 cm long. It is made of maple, it is fully operational, all parts are made using real technology - it's just hard to understand how you can play it. But those who are fond of active sports can learn the rules of airsoft - understandably, briefly, quickly and go to play your favorite game.


American miniaturist David Edwards broke his record by creating a 1.5 cm long violin.It is a copy of the works of Stradivari and costs only 1000 pounds.


Ukrainian master Mikhail Maslyuk from Zhmerinka sculpted a violin 11.5 mm high back in the 80s. Only a penny coin will hold 5 of them.

Nikolai Sryadisty, a resident of Kiev, constantly competed with Maslyuk and created a violin that fits in the eye of a needle and has a size of 3.5 mm. It completely copies the famous Stradivarius violin and consists of 50 parts.


The smallest balalaika

The same story happened with the balalaika. First Maslyuk made a musical instrument the size of a poppy seed. The spruce one put the balalaika in a case, and it in a poppy shell. Zhmerinsky "left-handed" performed a musician sitting on a chair, playing a balalaika and looking into a music stand - and all this in a poppy shell.


Micronium

At the Dutch University of Trent in the city of Enschede, a group of students invented a device using microcircuit technology. The instrument consists of strings, each up to 1 mm long and a few micrometers thick (which is ten times thinner than a human hair). Small combs and weights are fixed on these strings. By controlling them from a computer, sound vibrations can be obtained using electrostatic force.


The vibrations themselves are only a few micrometers long, but the computer amplifies the sound so that the human ear can distinguish it. Each chip contains a specific key, and several hundred are capable of reproducing an entire musical orchestra.

Students have already performed a special composition "Improvisation for Micronium" on it. When creating the world's smallest musical instrument, they tried to achieve complete sterility, and then the device was placed in a vacuum so that no dust particles would affect the sound quality.


In addition to the world record "smallest musical instrument", this device can be considered the beginning of the era of nanotechnology in music - any sound generated by an instrument is not devoid of noise and linear distortions in the recording, and one born in a vacuum will be reproduced much cleaner.