[Harp-L] re: Roots in Ancient China

["Jonathan R. Ross" <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>The harmonica, accordion, concertina, melodeon (pump reed organ) and
the
>like are all members of the free-reed instrument family.

Yes, though I should point out that the melodeon name is often used for
one-row type diatonic accordions.  Moreover, only a very small sector of
the reed organ family are in fact melodeons the most commonly
encountered being either the suction "American organs" or the pressure
harmonium, but these are not exclusive (Vocalions, Phonoriums,
Phsyharmonikas and Seraphines are but a few of the other types).  The
only type still being produced is the small Indian/Pakistani "harmonium"
derived from portable examples of the older instruments--having never
examined one in detail I can't say whether these are suction or pressure
offhand).

>A free-reed instrument is any type of wind instrument on which each
note
>is produced by air being forced through a narrow channel, either by
>blowing in or sucking out, to strike a thin strip of bamboo or metal
>tuned to a specific note. The strip, called a reed, then vibrates
freely
>within its slot, in a greater frame of reeds, to produce the given
note,
>hence the name free-reed.

There are free-reeds which aren't in a "greater frame of reeds" but are
isolated in a tube (most Asian ones in fact).  Also, the air doesn't
"strike" the reed so much as the pressure differential forces the reed
to oscillate and thus chop up the airstream and making an audible sound.
Also there are free-reeds which will not vibrate without a resonant
chamber or tube at a specific pitch, where the reed itself is not the
sole determinant in the pitch of the note.

>The free-reed concept originated in China, probably sometime in the
14th
>century BCE. . .<big snip>. . .It was through the sheng that
>the free-reed concept was spread-- first, throughout Asia, and then,
>centuries later, to Europe.

A wonderfully Sino-centric view.  The free-reed appears in most
East-Asian societies.  China has the most thoroughly studied and longest
documented history and thus it is logical that the first mention appears
in Chinese texts.  However this should not lead to the assumption that
the free-reed was invented in China, just that it first appears in the
historic record in China--a big difference.  Moreover, this traditional
model of free-reed history ignores the significant difference in
construction between European free-reeds and Asian ones.  There is a
good amount of evidence that the European heteroglottal free-reed
developed from the guimbarde (Jew's Harp, jaw harp, etc...) due to
similarities in construction as well as the timing of the appearance of
the free-reed in European instruments.

Simply put, we don't know where the free-reed originated nor exactly why
the European heteroglottal free-reed became so widespread at the end of
the 18th century (the Asian free-reed had been known in Europe for at
least a century prior to the explosion of the free-reed in Europe).  The
idioglottal free-reed has been known in East Asia for thousands of
years, however it's relation to the heteroglottal free-reed of
harmonicas and most Western free-reed instruments remains a mystery.
Moreover, where the idioglottal free-reed developed is also unknown and
a Chinese origin should not be assumed simply for a lack of extensive
written history in many of the other areas where free-reeds are found.




 oo    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()()   & Snuffy, too:)
`--'