MUSIC. 
385 
he pleafed, genius, and profound knowledge of compofi- 
tion, delighted all hearer?, and made them forget, or at 
leaft forgive, its querulous and nafal quality of tone. The 
inftrument now is as dead as this great mufician, and 
feems to have departed this life at the fame time; viz. in 
the year 1787. (See p. 309.) The late Mr. Lidl, indeed, 
(fays Dr. Burney,) played with exquifite tafte and ex- 
preflion upon this ungrateful inftrument, with the ad¬ 
ditional embarrafthient of bafs firings at the back of the 
neck, with which he accompanied himfelf; “ an admira¬ 
ble expedient in a defert, or even in a houfe where there 
is but one mufician; but to be at the trouble of accom- 
5 ing yourfelf in a great concert, furrounded by idle 
irmers who could take the trouble off your hands, 
and leave them more at liberty to execute, exprefs, and 
embellifh, the principal melody, feemed at bell a work of 
fupererogation. The tone of the inftrument will do 
nothing for itfelf; and it feems with mufic as with agri¬ 
culture, the more barren and ungrateful the foil, the 
more art is neceflary in its cultivation ; and the tones of 
the viol da gamba are radically fo crude and nafal, that 
nothing but the greateft fkill and refinement can make 
them bareable. A human voice of the fame quality 
would be intolerable.” (Burney, vol. iv.) That all idea 
of this once-favourite inftrument may not be entirely loft, 
we have given a reprefentation of it at fig. 7. 
The Violone, or Double Bafs, is almoft twice as big 
as the violoncello, and the firings are bigger and longer 
in proportion. Its found is an oftave lower than that 
of our bafs-violin, which has a noble effeft in great con¬ 
certos ; but this depends on the number of firings, and 
the manner of tuning them ; fome performers ufing four 
firings, and others three; and in the tuning of thefe there 
is a confiderable difference. The true ufe of the violone is 
to fuftain the harmony, and in this refpeft it has a noble 
effect: divided bafies are improper for it, the firings not 
anfwering immediately to the percuffion of the bow : thefe 
can only be executed with a good efteft on the violon¬ 
cello, the founds of which are more articulate and diftindl. 
The double-bafs now moft commonly in ufe has but 
three firings, which are tuned fourths ; but the Italian 
violone has four, and they are tuned fifths. Their nota¬ 
tion is as follows; but it is to be obferved that the real 
founds are an odlave lower than here marked : 
With three Strings, 
ilf 
3E 
With four Strings. 
lft String. 2d. 
3d. 
In general, however, a feparate part is not compofed 
for the double bafs, but the performer looks at the vio¬ 
loncello-book, playing the fame notes an odlave lower, or 
omitting fuch notes as he thinks will not have a good 
eft'edl. The words Solo Violoncello , and Tutti Baffi, are 
ufed to fhow when thefe inftruments are to play feparately, 
and when together. But Dr. Crotch very jullly obferves, 
that the parts ought to be written feparately, with an oc- 
cafional variation in the paflages. 
Of Wind-Instruments. —The moft ancient and fim- 
ple wind-inftrument was the imperforated flute formed 
of a Angle reed ; and the next to that was the fyrinx, or 
Pan’s pipes, compofed of feveral reeds joined together; 
and now fo common as aftreet-inftrument under the vul¬ 
gar name of the mouth-organ. 
The flute at prefent ufed in Otalieite, confifts of one 
joint of cane ; but differs from the flutes of the ancients, 
as it is founded by one of the nollrils, whilft the performer 
flops the other with his thumb. This nofe-flute gives 
only four founds with the firft degree of breath, which 
are, in an afcending feries, by a femitone, a tone, and a 
femitone. If urged with a ftronger breath, it will give 
odlaves above thefe ; but it then becomes ill in tune; and 
it feems the natives of Otaheite ufe no more than thofe 
firft four founds. Notwithftanding the lmall extent of 
VOL. XVI. No. uao. 
this feries, yet, by the aid of varying the meafure, it is 
capable of feveral different melodies, though the general 
caftof them will be melancholy. 
An inftrument fomething fimilar to the above, but of 
greater compafs, was obferved by Mr. Ledyard in the in¬ 
terior of Africa. Speaking of the prefent Egyptian mufic, 
he fays, “Their mufic is inftrumental, confiding of a 
drum and pipe, both which refemble thefe two inftru¬ 
ments in the South Seas. The drum is exactly like the 
Otaheite drum; the pipe is made of cane, and confifts of 
a long and Ihort tube joined;” but he does not fay in 
what manner, whether longitudinally, or laterally like 
the fyrinx ; probably the former. But the South-Sea 
iflanders have a fyrinx confining of nine mufical pipes of 
various lengths, and connected together in a parallel po- 
fition. This inftrument was brought by Capt. Fourneaux 
from the Ifle of Amfterdam in the South Seas, to London, 
in 1774; given to the Royal Society, and defcribed in the 
Ixvth volume oF the Phil. Tranf. by Jofliua Steele, efq. 
The manner of blowing the pipes, in making the expe¬ 
riments, was the fame as people ufe to whiftle in the pipe>- 
liole of a key. The upper feries of tones, which are exaft 
fifths to the lower, are eafieft produced by an unexpe¬ 
rienced perfon; and the loweft feries, which we (hall call 
fundamentals, with fomewhat more addrefs and a weaker 
blaft. Befides the above-mentioned tones, if the velocity 
of the breath be increafed a little, the firft five pipes will 
give o6laves to the fundamentals, and, if further increafed, 
(harp thirds above thefe odlaves. In the pipes 6, 7, 8, 
Mr. S. could neither make the oflaves to the fundamen¬ 
tals nor the (harp thirds ; but, in their (lead, the minor or 
flat third above the odlave came, when the breath was 
urged beyond the degree requifite to produce the fifth. 
This minor third is an accident out of the natural order of 
tones produced from fimple tubes, which Mr. S. does not 
pretend to account for. He then adds the notes of the 
feveral tones which he produced from each pipe; and he 
afterwards more particularly defcribes a lyrinx of ten 
pipes from the fame place. See Phil. Tranf. abr. vol. xiii. 
P- 59 j j *• 
The moft fimple wind-inllrument we have at prefent, is 
the tabor-pipe. This little flute has but three holes, and 
is played with the thumb, and firft and lecond fingers of 
one hand ; the third finger is not ufed at all; but the lit¬ 
tle finger is ufed by fome dextrous players to (lop the hole 
at the bottom; and, by (lopping that hole and the others 
occafionally only half-way, a fucceflion of notes has been 
produced from the middle C* to A in alt, thirteen notes 
in all, including the half-notes. 
The English Flute. —The common flute, called flute 
a bee, from the upper end, or mouth-piece, refembling the 
beak of a bird, was, at the beginning of the lad century, 
till the works of Corelli came over, in far more general ufe 
as a concert-inllrument than the violin. Sonatas for two 
flutes, and a thorough-bafs, violone, or theorbo, were 
innumerable; with lolos, duets, and concertos, for the 
fame inftrument; nor was there a ballad then printed 
which was not tranfpofed for the flute at the bottom of the 
page; as, in the middle of the fame century, almoft every 
long and tune was let to the guitar. The concert-flutes 
for which this mufic,was compofed were generally Fand C. 
Its fcale is from the loweft D in the treble to D in alt ; 
two o&aves. 
The flageolet, or o< 5 lave-flute, has the fame fcale, but 
generally plays in the key of F. Its extent is from F on 
the firft (pace to Ain alt. We have not thought it ne¬ 
ceflary to give figures of thefe fimple and well-known in¬ 
ftruments. 
The German Flute. —This inftrument confifts of four 
pieces, or joints, inferted one in the other. Its name fup- 
pofes it to be of German origin ; but in France it is called 
flute traverflere, from its being held in a horizontal pofi- 
tion, or acroj's the lips, to diftiqguifh it from the common 
Englilh flute, or flute a bee, which is kept in a more ver¬ 
tical or upright polition. 
To 
