Here is a guide to some of the more common and more interesting wind instruments. Some of these instruments are common place in the United States and others have a decidedly more worldly origin.

Native American Flutes

Native American flutes are flutes that have been around for quite a very long time. The Native American flute is capable of producing a sound that is distinctive in its softness.

Harmonium

The Harmonium was introduced to India by the British during the Colonial period. Indian cultures quickly adopted this unique instrument. The harmonium falls into the family of free reed types of aerophones. They resemble small organs that are the size of a tabletop. Each unique harmonium possesses a bellows at its back, and this is pumped by one of the player's hands while the player uses the other hand to play the keyboard. The most common position for playing the harmonium is to place the instrument on the floor, sitting with crossed legs in front of it. The keys can be played using your dominant hand while the other hand works the bellows. The right hand is the most common hand to play the keys.

Hunting Horn

The hunting horn is an instrument that is commonly used when it comes to fox hunting in order to announce the position of a hunter as well as to signal to the hunting dogs. The hunting horn is one of many different types of bugles.

Ocarina

The original Ocarina is the ceramic Ocarina, and this type of Ocarina is estimated to be more than 12,000 years in age. Ancient examples of this instrument have been cited, as small whistles that are shaped in the form of birds and other wild animals. In India, these small whistles were made from terracotta. Another country where Ocarinas have been common throughout history is in China, where song and dance incorporating the Ocarina has been dated back as far as 5,000 to 6,000 years.

Shvi

The Shvi is essentially a whistle of Armenian descent. It is a flute-type of instrument and it is capable of producing between one and a half and two octaves out of the chromatic scale of music. The lower octave is typically attained by way of blowing normally into the instrument's mouthpiece, while the upper octave on the other hand is attained by way of blowing even harder. The instrument's lower octave is capable of creating soft and recorder-like tones while the upper octave has a more powerful and birdlike shrill sound to it that is similar to the flute or the piccolo. This instrument is actually best known for the ability that it has to mimic many different bird calls.

Photo Credits: lrargerich

Originally posted 2009-09-24 03:38:56. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Categories:

Acoustic Musical Instruments, Flute, Horns, Instrument History, Ocarina

Tags:

aerophones, armenian descent, bellows, colonial period, dominant hand, fox hunting, free reed, hunting dogs, hunting horn, indian cultures, many different types, native american flute, native american flutes, Ocarina, ocarinas, softness, song and dance, whistles, wild animals, wind instruments