The evolution of musical instruments

The first musical instruments probably arose by chance because of the observed acoustic properties of materials, tools and weapons. Subsequent human generations have then refined their design to produce the broad array of instruments we know today. Percussion instruments based upon simple wooden slats evolved into marimbas, metal shields evolved into gongs and bells, the taut string of a military bow became a guitar and so on, while in the wind-instrument domain the uniform tubes of bamboo or animal leg bones became flutes, organs, or reed instruments. Hydraulic mechanisms, then electrical motors, developed to power instruments such as pipe organs, while the feed-back oscillations of electric amplifiers gave rise to electronic instruments. It is not possible to cover all aspects of this evolution in a short presentation, but some interesting examples, particularly for wind instruments, will be examined in more detail. It will be seen that this evolution is not a terminated process but is still continuing today under influences very much like those of Darwinian natural selection.