The history of origin of any popular musical instrument has a captivating charm. Here is a short synopsis on the evolution of certain popular western musical instruments.

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2. STRING
PERCUSSION
WIND
KEYBOARD
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4. It is the acronym for pianoforte and was invented on the technological
innovation of the bygone age.
Invention of the modern piano dates back to the Renaissance period, when
Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) of Padua was employed by the famous
Medici family of Italy as the Keeper of the musical instruments.
He was expert in making harpsichord – the previous avatar of the piano.
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6. An electronic or a digital keyboard is basically the same instrument
referred to by various names.
The first electric piano was manufactured by Wurlitzer Company, which
was named as the 100. It was in the year 1955.
Gradually, as technology progressed further, musical synthesizers became
into existence in 1964, when Bob Moog introduced his Moog synthesizer.
Thus, gigantic keyboards were suddenly replaced by easily portable
instruments.
Some of the earliest versions of digital keyboards were Opus 3, ARP Omni
and Moog’s Polymoog, etc.
Musical Instrumental Digital Interface (MIDI) was invented as a standard
for digital code transmission, which has subscribed handsomely in
evolution of the latest keyboard technology.
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The other name of this string instrument is Fiddle, which
comes with a set of four strings tuned in perfect fifths.
Bowed instruments are assumed to have originated in
Central Asia, which gradually, spread across a vast region
covering both Asia and Europe.
As such, violin, viola and cello that are seen these days
have bows, which are strung with horsehair. This is the
legacy of the Central Asian nomadic horsemen.
Interestingly, modern violin emerged in the Italian towns
of Venice and Genoa in the early 16th century. Both the
cities maintained strong ties with Central Asia through trade
across the historic silk route.

8. An 18.7 cm long flute having three holes and
made from mammoth task has been discovered in
Ulm, southern Germany. Carbon dating confirms it
is at least 30,000 to 37,000 years old!
A decade back, two more flutes made of swan bone was
excavated from the same region. These date back to 36,000
years ago.
These are recorded as the oldest flutes that
have been unearthed so far.
In fact, scientists are of the opinion that flutes
are the best tool to study the behavioral and
cognitive differences that existed between
Neanderthals and the contemporary human race!
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9. Interestingly, the English word ‘guitar’ is identical to the German word ‘Gitarre’ and the
French ‘Guitare’ are derived from the Spanish ‘Guitara.’
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English guitar
French guitar Spanish guitar

10. The Spanish guitarra in turn comes from the Arabic ‘qitara.’
This is said to have originated from the Latin ‘kithara.’
Invention of the earliest guitar remains confined to the history of medieval Spain.
However, two instruments, the European Lute and the four-stringed Oud are
considered as its influential predecessors.
It was the Moors who introduced the Oud to Iberia in the 8th century.
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11. The Belgian instrument designer
was also a flautist and a clarinetist.
Prior to the invention, Sax
worked in his father’s instrument
shop Brussels.
He already had made several
improvements to the bass clarinet
and invented Ophicleide – which is
a large conical bras instrument in
bass register with keys identical to
woodwind instruments.
These inventions helped
conceiving the design of saxophone.
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12. These are actually percussion instruments.
Drums made of alligator skin have
been unearthed in China that date
back to Neolithic age, circa 5,500 to
2,350 BC.
In traditional cultures, drums play
a significant role and used in religious
ceremonies.
Drums are also used in music
therapies – mostly hand drums.
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