The claviorgan is an instrument that has long been neglected by Organologists, and considered a mere oddity in the history of stringed-keyboard instruments. However, the combination of strings and pipes in a single entity permeates musical history from the late-1400s through to present day in a variety of guises. The thesis will present a new nomenclature using the term claviorgan as an ‘umbrella term’ under which a variety of different combinations of stringed-keyboard and pipes will be considered and defined: this recognises that there are distinct trends in instrument building, and different probable uses for the various claviorgans. Through a series of case-studies of building-schools and epochs, the thesis will consider both the written evidence for combination instruments from published musical theory books and from other documentary evidence, as well as the evidence from the surviving instruments. It is not the intention to provide detailed organological studies of surviving instruments, as there are not enough examples from many of the building schools to make a reasonable comparison. However, these instruments will be considered in terms of their status, their owners, and in particular the balance between the elements. Little or no music has survived that was written specifically to exploit claviorgans, and the thesis examines the possible reasons for this lack of music in light of keyboard repertoire in general, and the lack of distinction between music for harpsichord and organ in the greater part of music history. The thesis also discusses the concept of solo music versus accompaniment and continuo, with a particular focus on the claviorgan as an instrument for ensemble performance as evidenced by contemporary descriptions of their use and by the status the instruments held. This discussion will be followed and complemented by an appendix of surviving instruments and references to combination instruments compiled by the author.

This report examines the linguistic, physical, and social construction of the goblet-shaped drum in recent Turkish history. Following recent trends in organological scholarship towards a more socially situated analysis of musical instruments, I examine the role of the goblet-shaped drum as a mediator within large complex webs of interaction and social significance. Drawing on theoretical frameworks for understanding the production of difference set forth by Ruth Solie, my analysis explores the modalities of language, visual and aural representation and positionality. In order to examine the specific process of “othering” that undergird these processes, I supplement this theoretical framework with the concept of “articulation” developed by Laclau and Hall. My analysis begins with a review of the popular and musicological literature on the drum and a discussion of the way in which different names such as darbuka and dümbelek are used to construct social groups defined by notions of gender, urbanity, and professionalism. I follow this with an examination of the workflows and techniques involved in the production of two types of goblet-shaped drums revealing how these processes shape the identity of the artisans and entrepreneurs involved in the production process. Finally, I discuss the representation of the instrument in Turkish television documentaries and the Internet revealing the role of the drum in the production of a Turkish modernist narrative. I argue that while these processes may appear isolated when viewed independently, an organological approach reveals important connections between these different mechanisms for the production of difference and issues such as the masculinization of the darbuka playing profession may be more effectively engaged through an understanding of these connections. / text

Organological inspections of a representative sample of English spinets made during the period 1680-1740 have been performed. The sample includes instruments made by Stephen Keene and his co-workers, by the Hitchcock family firm, and by selected other makers. Analysis of the Keene instruments allows them to be classified into four groups reflecting their development in size and compass over time. In contrast, little development is discernible in spinets from the Hitchcock workshop: rather, the instruments can be seen to have existed as two basic models – a mitred tail model and a serpentine tail one. Some variations and hybrids are recognisable in both models. The commonly held view that the spinet was merely a cheap and compact substitute for the harpsichord, even during the late-Stuart and early-Georgian period, is refuted by reference to archival and iconographic evidence of the status in society of those who bought the instruments.

The thesis, The Bagpipe: perceptions of a national instrument, is a work offered to the University of Edinburgh for the degree of PhD by research publications, and includes a portfolio of published items and research papers, amounting in total to approximately 63,600 words, with a critical review and a CD. Research papers: 1. ‘Making a national collection of a national instrument.’ Lecture to the American Musical Instrument Society and Galpin Society Conference, 3-9 August 2003. 2. ‘The Early History of the Scottish Bagpipe’, in Ellen Hickmann, Arnd Adje Both and Ricardo Eichmann eds., Studien zur Musikarchäologie V (Papers from the 4th Symposium of the International Study Group on Music Archaeology, 19-26 September 2004) Rahden/Westf.: VML 2006, 447-461. 3. ‘Musician and Milieu: piping, politics and patronage through three centuries.’ The John Macfadyen Memorial Trust Annual Lecture, 19 March 2004. 4. ‘Traditional origins of the piping dynasties.’ RSAMD Research Seminar 31 May 2007 (publication forthcoming). 5. ‘The Pastoral or New Bagpipe: piping in the Neo-baroque’, in The Galpin Society Journal, 2007-2008 (forthcoming). 6. ‘Taste and Humour: the Union Pipe of Britain and Ireland’, in Seán Reid Society Journal Volume 3 (2007) [electronic format]. 7. ‘Donald MacDonald, Bagpipe Maker’, in Proceedings of the Piobaireachd Society Conference Volume XXXIII (2006), 10-18. These papers are discussed in a critical review whose thesis and structure is explained in the Prospectus. The critical review amounts to approximately 24,200 words and is divided into seven Sections (as listed on the Contents page) which relate specifically to their respective research papers and summarise their findings. There is some imbalance of wording between the Sections, for example there are more words in sections ‘Piping Dynasties’ and ‘the Maestros’, and this reflects a perceived need to strengthen the statements in these areas in order to deliver the arguments of the thesis more effectively.

Adolphe Sax developed in Paris in the early 1840s a family of brass instruments, the saxhorns, which gained an immediate popularity in France, Britain and other parts of the world. The originality of saxhorns was challenged at the time through long-lasting litigations, and is still questioned by many researchers. This thesis investigates the development of the saxhorn from an organological standpoint. Saxhorns are examined in comparison to instruments predating them by other makers, along with relevant archival material (patents, lawsuit minutes, daily press, publicity material etc.) so as to reveal whether the allegations against their originality were sound. It is noticed that idiosyncrasies of intellectual property law of the time facilitated a strong interaction between musical instrument makers particularly of France and Britain. Instruments examined are Adolphe Sax saxhorns, saxhorns by other contemporary makers, mainly French and British, but not exclusively, as well as a number of related instruments, made before and after the development of Sax’s saxhorns. The assertions of Sax’s rivals are not fully confirmed based on the analysis of instrument measurements. It is also argued that the saxotromba family, so far considered extinct, is in fact represented by two members in the saxhorn family, the alto and the baritone. A number of related instruments emerged around the middle of the nineteenth century in various wraps and with different names. These are compared to saxhorns and classified according to bore-profile properties. Only certain groups were distinct, whereas most were essentially saxhorns in different forms. Sax’s brasswind production as a whole is reviewed not only as an enumeration of his developments, but also to provide an assessment of the genuine innovation in his work.

This thesis examines evidence of the earliest viols in Italy. In light of recent changes in perspective on the origins of the Italian viola da gamba, a new approach to building historical models of the instrument is necessary. By using Castiglione's description of violas as a significant signpost, I have developed a clearer picture of the early viola da gamba's socio-musical context. Using this context, along with my experience as a luthier, I redefine the parameters by which we may interpret the corresponding iconography of the instrument. By relating the building techniques that appear in iconography to our modern knowledge of instrument-making, I expose the differences between building conceptions in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries and those that stem from later "surviving" instruments. Finally, by placing historical models within the musical framework of plausible repertoire, I reveal the ingredients for an updated sense of sound and performance practice.

<p>This dissertation traces the range of popular forms and practices associated with the harpsichord in the twentieth century in the United States, focusing on the 1950s, 60s and 70s. It draws on archives of period correspondence, sound recordings, and news clippings, as well as on my interviews with harpsichord builders and performers and on fieldwork I conducted at a prominent American harpsichord company during 2008. I argue that the harpsichord enabled practices and discourses through which the white middle class could critique the post-World War II United States, and that the material aspects of the harpsichord--its sound, its wooden materials and its construction methods--provided a gauge by which to measure how far the postwar everyday had veered from what was imagined to be an "authentic" human existence.</p> <p>I focus the dissertation around the influence of a particular narrative associated with the harpsichord: that of the aristocratic, delicate instrument decimated by the Industrial Revolution. I first chart the ways that this narrative circulated in academic histories and popular media during the twentieth century, and how it was linked to perceptions of the harpsichord's physical "shortcomings." Focusing on its career in 1940s-60s popular music recordings, I then show how the stereotype of its "tragically disadvantaged" sound shaped acoustic and discursive constructions of that sound. I continue by demonstrating the classed critiques surrounding the instrument's commodification as a "do-it-yourself" kit--an affordable product that seemed to contradict the instrument's history as an elite, custom-made object. Lastly, I show how the harpsichord's story articulated with the biographies and sentiments of specific people, particularly those affiliated with the shop of Massachusetts harpsichord builder Frank Hubbard in late 1960s and early 1970s. Ultimately, I argue that the Movement's ideal of "historical authenticity," along with the post-World War II mass appeal of period instruments and period performance practice, emerged out of time and place-specific meanings, and through multiple social and commodity networks.</p> / Dissertation

The Jew’s harp is unique among instruments, and in its apparent simplicity it is deceptive. It has been adapted to a wide array of cultural contexts worldwide and a diverse range of playing techniques, which, upon closer examination, reveal much about the cultures that generate them. Drawing on perspectives from organology, ethnomusicology, comparative musicology, ethnography, material culture, and the anthropology of the body, I situate my approach to the study of musical instruments as one that examines the object on three levels: physically (the interaction between the human body and the body of the instrument), culturally (the contexts in which it is used), and musically (the way it is played and conceptualized as a musical instrument). Integrating written, ethnographic, and musical evidence, this study begins broadly and theoretically, then gradually sharpens focus to a general examination of the Jew’s harp, finally looking at a single Jew’s harp tradition in detail. Using a case study of the Balinese Jew’s harp genggong, I demonstrate how the study of musical instruments is a untapped reservoir of information that can enhance our understanding of the human relationship with sound.

The Jew’s harp is unique among instruments, and in its apparent simplicity it is deceptive. It has been adapted to a wide array of cultural contexts worldwide and a diverse range of playing techniques, which, upon closer examination, reveal much about the cultures that generate them. Drawing on perspectives from organology, ethnomusicology, comparative musicology, ethnography, material culture, and the anthropology of the body, I situate my approach to the study of musical instruments as one that examines the object on three levels: physically (the interaction between the human body and the body of the instrument), culturally (the contexts in which it is used), and musically (the way it is played and conceptualized as a musical instrument). Integrating written, ethnographic, and musical evidence, this study begins broadly and theoretically, then gradually sharpens focus to a general examination of the Jew’s harp, finally looking at a single Jew’s harp tradition in detail. Using a case study of the Balinese Jew’s harp genggong, I demonstrate how the study of musical instruments is a untapped reservoir of information that can enhance our understanding of the human relationship with sound.

Historical keyboard instruments have for many years been a valuable source of information regarding historical building techniques and performance practices. However, almost no attention has been paid to the evidence of wear present on these instruments. This physical trace documents the form in which an instrument has been used throughout time. Of particular interest is the evidence of wear found on the surface of the keys. An analysis of this physical trace might provide insight into a number of aspects which have defined the manner in which performers have approached their instruments. A survey of historical keyboard playing practices will help to visualise in a broader form the mechanical reasons behind the impact of the fingers on the surface of the key. However, it is important to consider that while the process behind the appearance of a trace of wear is primarily of a mechanical nature, the fact that both instrument and the performer‘s body are cultural objects calls for an examination of a number of issues which seem to influence the form in which the mechanical action is applied. Two important routes are thus taken in this study before the trace of wear is examined. First, a number of uses of the hand and the fingers seem to have originated in the interaction between the performer and the earliest keyboard designs that the medieval organ displayed. An analysis of these uses served as a starting point for the study here of a number of playing practices which remained in currency for long periods. Second, the forms in which the instrument is built and the body operates at it are the result of the socio-cultural and historico-geographical conditions in which both are submerged. Particular attention is thus given here to the potential effect the performer‘s socio-cultural background had on the mechanical action he or she was to use when performing. An experimental clavichord, whose tops were designed to reveal patterns of abrasion more rapidly than those commonly used to cover the keys, was used to aid in an examination of the particular effect of the fingers on the surface of the key. In this form, specific information concerning the various stages of the abrasion caused by the finger‘s contact with the surface of the keys could be gathered. The worn keys of this instrument also provided a much needed reference point to which historical traces of wear could be compared. This helped to establish a number of potential finger actions that might have been responsible for the traces of wear on some historical instruments. A reconstruction of J.S. Bach‘s playing approach was adopted for playing on the experimental clavichord. At the same time, a number of socio-cultural aspects which might have defined Bach‘s approach to the instrument were explored. In this form, a broader picture could be offered which is not limited to an understanding of the most likely mechanical causes behind the origin of the trace of wear.