is there such a CD?

[Nick B]

I have no formal music background and I rarely attend live events. I'd like to find a CD or two that would accomplish the following:

1) play a sample of music that would identify a particular instrument
2) play a sample of music, identify the instrument and where it falls within the musical spectrum

Thanks for any suggestions
Nick

[tmazz]

If you are looking for a piece of music that identifies particular instruments I would recommend the opening sequence of Tchaikovsky's Peter and the Wolf where a natarotor introducers the animals in the story and tells which instrument will represent them in the music.

One of my favorite readings of it is the John Williams/Boston Pops recording on Phillips that was narrated by Dudley Moore.



It can be found on both Tidal and Qobuz.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by where an instrument falls in the musical spectrum, but if you are looking to see where the frequencies put out by a particular instrument fall within the range of human hearing, that is probably most easily explained visually using a in a chart , such as this:



I hope this helps.

Tom

[dflee]

Neat chart Tom.
Would you post an address where I can download that?

Thanks
Don

[tmazz]

https://www.eetimes.com/wp-content/uploads/media-1064767-decibel-fig218.jpg

Just for reference, if you right click on any graphic in one of our posts  you should get a drop down option called Copy Image Link which will put the source location for that image in your clipboard and you can then paste it where ever you need to. (I know this works at least in Windows using Firefox or Edge, I an sure there are similar options n other browsers and OSs.)

This is how I post album covers in the listening thread from Discogs or a Google Image search.

[Nick B]

If you are looking for a piece of music that identifies particular instruments I would recommend the opening sequence of Tchaikovsky's Peter and the Wolf where a natarotor introducers the animals in the story and tells which instrument will represent them in the music.

One of my favorite readings of it is the John Williams/Boston Pops recording on Phillips that was narrated by Dudley Moore.



It can be found on both Tidal and Qobuz.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by where an instrument falls in the musical spectrum, but if you are looking to see where the frequencies put out by a particular instrument fall within the range of human hearing, that is probably most easily explained visually using a in a chart , such as this:



I hope this helps.

Tom

That's very helpful, Tom. Yes, your wording describes what I'm looking for. I have saved it on Qobuz and also saved the link to the chart. The Dudley Moore cut is also helpful, but I wish there were many more instruments. When listening to music, I'm often guessing as to what the instruments heard actually are. Minoring in music sure would have been fun.

[tmazz]

If you want more instruments try this version of Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra



The version on Qobuz has most of the instruments indexed to their own cut numbers so they are easy to find.

[steve]

Does it have to be on CD Nick? If not, here that I hope helps the public as well.

Piano, all 88 keys. Exceptionally accurate/natural.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRRAQL78rEA

Piano and violin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZI2bX-E0WY

Viola
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKxpRfybe1U
$45 million viola
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe11Pp1g39I

Snare drum and kick drum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7Iab-AC3Dw

Amazing Tambourine, pom pom. I am hoping the combination, if one does not
know how one instrument sounds, the other might help. If one sounds bright or full,
the other will be as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCmY9_NFbQg

3 different cello players.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQg2TnYnxnI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGQLXRTl3Z0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prweT95Mo0

Hope this helps everyone.

steve

[S Clark]

If you are trying to get a handle on each instrument's tone and nuance, just type it in to Youtube. 
Type in oboe, and pick any of the solos.... ex. Gabriel's Oboe
or French horn, or Viola de Gamba....
There's a treasury to pick from.   

[dflee]

It took my wife to teach me how to listen to classical music "symphonies".
I found I was trying to listen to the individual instruments within the orchestra but she taught me to hear it as a unit and it was only then that I was able to hear the different instruments within the movement without getting lost. God I love that woman.

Don

[Nick B]

If you are trying to get a handle on each instrument's tone and nuance, just type it in to Youtube. 
Type in oboe, and pick any of the solos.... ex. Gabriel's Oboe
or French horn, or Viola de Gamba....
There's a treasury to pick from.

I've come up with a list of musical instruments from Wikipedia and will use that as my starting point. Then I'll do as you suggest 👍

[Nick B]

Does it have to be on CD Nick? If not, here that I hope helps the public as well.

Piano, all 88 keys. Exceptionally accurate/natural.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRRAQL78rEA

Piano and violin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZI2bX-E0WY

Viola
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKxpRfybe1U
$45 million viola
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe11Pp1g39I

Snare drum and kick drum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7Iab-AC3Dw

Amazing Tambourine, pom pom. I am hoping the combination, if one does not
know how one instrument sounds, the other might help. If one sounds bright or full,
the other will be as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCmY9_NFbQg

3 different cello players.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQg2TnYnxnI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGQLXRTl3Z0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1prweT95Mo0

Hope this helps everyone.

steve

Thanks, Steve 👍

[Nick B]

If you want more instruments try this version of Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra



The version on Qobuz has most of the instruments indexed to their own cut numbers so they are easy to find.

Thanks, Tom. I really enjoyed it. Found and saved it on Qobuz. The album cover was different.