the instruments of the orchestra

String instruments
The largest family of instruments in the orchestra, and they sit at the front too! We have 60 in the CBSO, and theyre all either violins or slightly larger violins (invented in Italy in the early 16th century), except for the double basses (more of that shortly). Theyre all made of wood, and they make their sound when a bow made of wood and the hair from a horses tail is drawn across one of four strings, originally made of a sheeps gut. But nowadays theyre made of nylon or wire (and dont worry, the horses tail grows back eventually too). The strings can be plucked as well, like a guitar this is called pizzicato in Italian.

Violins
The top instruments in any orchestra, the violins play the tunes, give the lead to the other instruments, and are so important that theyre even divided into two separate sections: first violins and second violins (though the second violins are really just as important as the firsts!).

Double Basses
You cant miss them theyre the biggest instruments in the string section. The musicians perch on stools to play them. Theyre not just big violins though; theyre the last of a vanished breed, the Viol family, and if you look closely, youll see that theyre a slightly different shape from the others. Theyre the foundation of the orchestra, playing so low that sometimes you can hardly hear them but youll feel their rumbling sound wobbling in your chest!

Violas
The violins bigger, quieter sister. Unless you look carefully, it looks just like the violin, and its even held under the chin in the same way. It plays the middle notes in the orchestra, and tends to get ignored. Some musicians even tell cruel jokes about the viola but theyre just jealous of its gorgeous, velvety sound. After all, Mozart was a viola player!

Harp

Cellos

The harps not usually classed as part of the string section, becausewell look at it! With 47 strings to tune instead of 4, its not surprising that the harpist is usually the first player on stage. Nothing says heavenly like the harpist running his fingers quickly down all those strings, and even the word for that sounds extraordinary: Glissando.

or to give them their full name Violoncellos, are the largest of the violin family in the orchestra so big that they have to be held between the players knees, with a metal spike to stop them from slipping. Cello players feel that theyre just as important as violinists and its true that composers often give them some of their very best tunes!

Woodwind instruments
Sitting behind the strings, in the very middle of the orchestra, the woodwind instruments are the paintbox of the orchestra they give the sound its different colours. And theyre all played by blowing into a type of tube! There are four basic woodwind instruments, and an orchestra usually has at least two of each, but each instrument has lots of cousins, sisters and distant relatives, all of whom make an appearance from time to time so there may be up to 20 players.

Flutes

Clarinets

Played sideways and made of wood or shiny metal, the flutes are the brightest and most brilliant instruments in the orchestra. They can play even higher than the violins and their miniature cousin, the Piccolo, can play even higher than that even though its not much bigger than a pencil!

Oboes

They might look like oboes in need of a diet (musicians call them licorice sticks), but theyre very different and they were only invented in the 18th century. Theyve got around a bit, though theyre great for jazz and the clarinet players in an orchestra also play the deep, chocolatey-sounding Bass Clarinet, the squealing Piccolo Clarinet, or the brassy Saxophone (which doesnt even look like a clarinet!).

Bassoons

These thin black tubes are amongst the oldest of woodwind instruments, and theyre played by blowing through two very thin pieces of wood, the reed. Their sound is so pure and piercing that, at the very beginning of the concert, an oboe player gives the note to which all the other instruments tune. Its closest relative is the Cor Anglais or English Horn which is neither a horn, nor English, but a slightly larger oboe with a wonderful, smoky sound. Imagine a thick broom-handle with holes drilled in it, and youre half-way there - the lowest, and biggest of the woodwind instruments is the only one that really looks like its made of wood! Its also probably the best instrument in the orchestra for making rude noises. And its big brother, the contrabassoon (basically a double-sized bassoon folded in half) can sound like either the scariest thing youve ever heard, or a hippo with a tummy bug.

Brass instruments
The clues in the name. Theyre metal, theyre shiny, and they sit all along the back row of the orchestra. In Mozarts day, they were rarely more than a pair of horns and trumpets but since then, composers have embraced the thrills of heavy metal, and a great 20th-century symphony or movie score might have up to 25 brass instruments. And youll definitely be able to hear them!

Horns

Trombones

Sitting on the left hand side of the orchestra, these mediumsized, circular instruments can be both thrillingly loud and wonderfully gentle and romantic. But a lot of the time, theyre playing in the background gluing the sound of the orchestra together and making the sound glow; theyre the orchestras central heating! An orchestra usually has four, but since playing the horn is incredibly difficult and tiring, theres often a fifth player the bumper who takes turns to give the others a break.

The heavy brigade! The trombones make a deep, rich and powerful sound though when they let rip with their famous slides, the result can be outrageous. Whenever a piece of music needs some serious welly, the trombones can deliver. And although the orchestra usually needs only three of them, thats more than enough. They can fill Symphony Hall with sound without even trying.

Trumpets

Tuba

Theres no mistaking the sound of the trumpet, and every good orchestra has at least two - sitting in the middle of the brass section, and providing some of the biggest thrills in all music. You cant have a fanfare without them but when they play softly, it can be terribly sad. Its not just about noise, though: trumpet players have incredibly nimble tongues and lips.

Thats right, just the one! The tuba does for the brass what the double basses do for the strings, and like them, even when you cant hear the tuba, you can feel it! It looks quite funny one person hugging such a huge piece of brass but the brass section wouldnt have half the power it does without the tubas powerful support from the bottom.

Percussion section
Or as its sometimes known, the kitchen sink department. Anything that you hit to make a noise (and quite a few things that you blow through, wave, shake or drop) is in the percussion section. An orchestral percussionist may have to play hundreds of different instruments including bird whistles, coffee mugs, bits of broken glass, babies rattles, buckets of water and gas cylinders! Here are a few of the most important:

Timpani
Big, copper bowls on legs, with a plastic skin stretched tightly over the top - take the lid off and you could boil soup in them! (Thats why theyre sometimes called kettledrums). As the only drums upon which you can actually play a tune, theyre essential in any symphony orchestra; youll see at least two at the back, sometimes as many as 10, all tuned to play a different note.

Drums
Listen out for the huge, booming bass drum (usually seen on its side, its so big!) and the snare drum, which has a little metal snare fixed against it to make a furious rattling sound.

Cymbals
When you see a percussionist lifting up the two shimmering metal discs of the Clash Cymbals, get ready for an ear-splitting climax!

Keyboard instruments
They arent in every concert, but every orchestra uses them from time to time. The piano is exactly the same as the piano at school or home, but the same player can also be asked to play the electric keyboard and the wonderful, magical celeste: a little piano made of chime bars, best known for its starring role as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker.

Triangle
Well, its a metalertriangle, basically! And although people joke about it, its one of the easiest instruments with which to make a disastrous mistake. Percussionists are experts at the art of counting, and theyll often sit silently throughout an entire piece of music before playing a single, perfectly-placed note. But just imagine getting that note wrong!

Tuned percussion
There are xylophones with keys made of wood, glockenspiels (with keys made of metal), marimbas, vibraphones and many more. These are the percussion instruments that can play tunes (rather than just make a loud noise), and they can look very similar. But they all sound very different (the xylophone is the one that composers use when they want to portray dancing skeletons!) and a percussionist has to be able to play them all.
Sketches by Philip McCulloch-Downs www.philipdownsart.co.uk