During the course of the Renaissance western musicians strove to create pure tones. This was reflected in the earlier Medieval Gregorian chant music. As a result the Blockflute, or Recorder, lost ground to the newly developing (Transverse) Flute. This ‘purity’ of tone continued to influence the orchestra throughout the coming centuries until, in the mid 20th Century, Classical composers began to look for a way out of the restriction of the tempered scale, a scale with values midway between the adjacent tones, possibly influenced by the invention of the Piano.
All sorts of experimentation went on, introducing accidental notes that did not belong to the parent key. Alain Danielou, the French dancer and musician, explored this through the recognition of world music, eventually beginning the creation of the World Classical Music library of the United Nations. What he discusses in ‘Introduction to the Study of Musical Scales’ is that the western scale is not based on either Music or the Physics of Sound. He explains that Indian classical music uses a root note to which all other notes relate in a given raga. As a result of this Indian melodies are able to move very much more quickly as they shift about, using the root note as a constant reference.
Danielou explains that in Chinese Music the themes follow the cycle of fifths, and that this is the natural musical movement. A Tone, or string, when divided in half gives the octave of that root note. Yet when the tone is divided into thirds it yields the fifth of the Octave above, the second octave of the scale. Subsequent divisions yield further notes until by the time the musician reaches the division of the tone or string by 8 the note produced is 3 octaves above the root note, while the ninth division offers the listener the tone above that Octave. The rest of the notes follow in proper order. Through the use of the tempered scale western musicians were able to move from one root note to another. But in turn this lead to the pace of the melody slowing down.
In Europe, before this striving for purity of tone, (a thing which was realised in the 1960s with the discovery and exploration of electronic music), the instruments were resonant, as they still are in some parts of the continent. Many instruments used in traditional music were drone instruments, accompanied by one or more resonant elements. Such instruments as the Balalaika in Russia, the Tamboura in the Balkans, are examples of stringed drone instruments, while the Cretan Lyra, called Gdulka in Bulgaria, is a bowed instrument with drone strings similar to those of the Sitar from India.
Here is an example of the Cretan Lyra, notice here though the only drone string is the last, furthest from is playing hand.
In contrast to this is the Bulgarian Gdulka,. Clearly the same instrument yet notice the number of strings on this example. I count 14. Again only two or at most three will be played. The rest resound in sympathy.
Consider this instrument from Slovakia, the Fujara, it is played on overtones, like brass instruments, with a very ethereal sound.
Probably the best known drone instrument, in Britain at least, is the bagpipe. While the most common form of these is the Scottish war pipes, Britain had at least 4 other regional versions with much softer tones. Kentish pipes and the Northumbrian pipes are some examples, not to mention the Irish pipes the uilleann pipes, though this istrument is able to form chords and change its key in a unique way. The Bagpipe is the most widely distributed instrument in the world.
Older instruments used in European music include the Hurdy Gurdy, not a barrel organ but a continuously bowed instrument, played by turning a wheel which scrapes endlessly across the strings. Here is a modern version of that instrument called a Nerdy Gurdy, I suppose it is from enthusiasts that it takes its name.
This is the instrumentalist who inspired me to write this article. His name is Guilhem Desq, and this piece is responsible for the title of this piece.
This is another piece, called Cicatrice, by the same man. A wonderfully accomplished musician.
Another instrument is the Nyckelharpa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyckelharpa) which has four melody strings with a series of resonant strings beneath them which are not played but continue to resonate after the melody notes have been played. There ae various versions of this instrument. Unlike other bowed instruments this one has keys with which the notes are formed.
Here are a couple of examples.
and again ‘Grandmother’s Polska’
In the first of these the musician uses a rounded bow, similar to that used on the Cretan Lyra. Sorry for the profuse advertising on that channel. Someone trying to make money of another’s musical talent I suppose.
What is interesting is that this search for ‘the pure tone’ was accompanied by the growth of materialism and the empirical science movement of the Age of Reason. If anything could be further from the truth I have yet to discover it, yet it guides modern science today. As western Europe lost its religion so it became more involved in social justice and the rights (not duties) of the individual, developing the ego beyond healthy limits. Losing the mystical has left us with an arid culture in which each is only out for what he or she can gain, whether in terms of human experience or material gain. The result is an impoverished Earth. Putting ‘I’ first can only be deemed a mistake.
With the reintroduction of the mystical into our music, as demonstrated by these artists, as well as in world music and other sources, there is hope that we will return to our natural place in the Life of this planet and no longer seek to dominate, own, cajole or brutalise others.