What is instrument?

What Does instrument Mean

Originating in the Latin word instrumentum , instrument is a word that describes the element that, when combined with other pieces, serves in the field of crafts or arts for certain purposes. The term can be used as a synonym for tool , machine or utensil. For example: "The hammer is an instrument that allows to place nails in the walls" , "I need an instrument to help me finish this job" , "I cannot achieve the result I am looking for as I do not have the appropriate instruments" .

It is known as a musical instrument , in this framework, the object endowed with one or more resonant structures and with the necessary characteristics that allow it to vibrate, in such a way that it can produce sounds in one or more tones. Although any object capable of emitting sound can function as a musical instrument (such as a bottle or two wooden sticks), the concept is only used to name the pieces that have that specific purpose. The guitar , the piano , the saxophone , the bass and drums are some examples of musical instruments.

A musical instrument not generally included in this group is the human voice . Of course, it is not so strange, considering that singers are often excluded from the category of "musicians." However, the voice should be considered the instrument first , since it did not have to be invented. In addition, it is part of our body, a characteristic that makes it special as well as mysterious.
Today, popular music is very far from its equivalent two or three centuries ago, but there was a time when opera and chamber music were the common currency, different genres that today are erroneously grouped under the label of "classical music". The vocal training required to address them is infinitely greater than the little or no preparation that contemporary popular singers have, for whom a note lasting more than 5 seconds is enough to impress their audience.
Cecilia Bartoli , a wonderful Roman mezzo-soprano of international fame, is the clearest example of how versatile and agile our instrument can be when properly trained. Holding a sound for several seconds is nothing more than using the rudiments of techniquerespiratory system, which forms the basis of singing learning. The real challenges are found in considerable jumps between two very distant notes, in ornaments that involve singing very quickly drawings that are difficult to study, in the changes of intensity of the voice with crystal clarity to express different feelings when there is no a microphone to zoom in and out and maintain the integrity of the voice after decades of career, while gaining new skills.

Like a violin, the voice is not in tune by nature and the process of tuning it is arduous and very long-lasting. It takes years, many more than a decade, to get a moderately important control of our instrument to be able to execute the same piece in the same way every time. And despite all the training that a professional singer may have, he must struggle with the weather, maintain a balanced diet, and avoid all anguish around his performances; even with all this, nothing guarantees vocal stability.
A measuring instrument , on the other hand, is the apparatus that allows physical quantities to be compared by means of a measurement process. These instruments must be accurate and sensitive, such as scales , stopwatches , rulers , thermometers , barometers, and speedometers .
The flight instruments , however, belong to the set of mechanisms and devices that are part of an aircraft and that enable a flight is carried out in conditions safe. The compass , altimeter, and GPS are flight instruments.
Finally, in the field of law , an instrument is all documentation, evidence, material or paper that justifies or proves something.

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