Why was the bassoon created?
Their primary use in the late 16th to mid 17th century was to double the bass line of choral pieces. Interestingly, the bassoon got a popularity boost in 1644 when church reformists banned the use of the wind organ in church, ushering in a time when small groups of instruments provided music for services.
When did the bassoon originate?
The musical instruments that could be described as ancestors of the bassoon were developed in the 16th century, and include the shawm, the rankett, and the dulcian (or curtal). All of these are low-pitched instruments that use a double reed.
What was the bassoon originally made of?
Early bassoons were made out of harder woods, but the modern instrument is typically made of maple. One of the precursors to the bassoon, the dulcian, was made out of a single piece of wood. A double reed is used to play the bassoon, which is made out of a cane called an arundo donax.
How did the bassoon evolve?
The bassoon evolved from the 1713 3-key model played during the time when Mozart was alive, to 6-keys during Hayden’s time, to the present 17 to 24 key versions which we see today. Each had it own solutions to tone production, fingering and intonation.
Who invented bassoon?
Martin Hotteterre
The man most likely responsible for developing the true bassoon was Martin Hotteterre (d. 1712), who may also have invented the three-piece flûte traversière (transverse flute) and the hautbois (baroque oboe).
Where was the first bassoon created?
The bassoon is a 17th-century development of the earlier sordone, fagotto, or dulzian, known in England as the curtal. It was first mentioned about 1540 in Italy as an instrument with both ascending and descending bores contained in a single piece of maple or pear wood.
Who invented the first bassoon?
What is the oldest horn?
conch shell horn
A conch shell found in a cave used by the Magdalenian people of the late Upper Palaeolithic was originally thought to be a cup, but a new analysis suggests they used it as a kind of horn. That would make it the earliest known conch shell horn.