Music

Ever since Stone Age humans used slabs to create sound, man has invented an extraordinary variety of instruments in the pursuit of new ways of making music. Many of the instruments featured in this dazzling collection of specially commissioned pictures come from specialist museum collections; all are reproduced with such clarity of detail that they give new insight into the fascinating world of music and musicians Starting with an explanation of how sound is created, Music explores the three main categories of instruments: wind, string and percussion, showing how different instruments are played, and describing the types of sound they produce. Music reveals how many familiar instruments have evolved from curious-looking early designs, and shows how some modern instruments are made. It also explores the fascinating rituals and traditions that lie behind much of the world's music. Superb, real-life photographs of instruments, ranging from zithers and panpipes to electric guitars and syntesizers, offer a unique 'eyewitness' view of ancient and contempory music See how strings vibrate to make a note sound; how an invisible 'column' of air sounds a pipe; which instrument resembles a peacock; how sousaphone players wear their instruments Learn who invented an important new key system; how to master the bagpipes; why pipe organs have 'ears' and 'mouths'; why French horns are 'doubled up' Discover how a vegetable gourd charms snakes; why tangled fingers led to the invention of the piano; why spiders add a 'buzz' to zylophones'; where reindeer toe-bones were used as whistles