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Anvil
Tuned anvils C6-C8 by Kolburg Percussion
Percussion instrument
Other namesTuned anvil, tuned anvils
Classification Percussion
Hornbostel–Sachs classificationclassification needed
Playing range
Two octaves C6-C8 is common
Musicians
Emil Richards
Builders
Kolberg Percussion

The anvil, tuned anvil and tuned anvils are closely related percussion instruments.

The anvil as unpitched percussion

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Steel blacksmith's anvils have been used, and continue to be used, as an unpitched percussion instrument, [1] for example in Walton's Belshazzar's Feast (1931) and Josef Strauss' Feuerfest Polka (1869).

For musical purposes, steel anvils are preferred to cast iron, owing to their greater sonority. [2]

The anvil is often played with one or two ball-peen hammers which strike the anvil directly, something a metalworker would never do deliberately, as it risks breaking the hammer head and even damaging the anvil, and transmits greater shock to the hands than hitting the softer work would. Gloves are worn to lessen the shock, and sometimes a matching leather apron which is purely for show. Eye protection is advised.

Tuned anvil

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In the introduction to scene three of Das Rheingold (1869), Wagner scored for eighteen anvils: nine little, six mid-sized, and three large, of specified pitches. [3]

More recently, a hollow bar of steel has been used to give a similar sound [1] [4], sometimes as a more convenient substitute for a tuned blacksmith's anvil, but also as an instrument in its own right.

Tuned anvils

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The tuned anvils is keyboard percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned anvils in the form of hollow steel bars. It is played with specialised hard beaters with bronze heads.

Works

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Blades, James. 2005. Percussion Instruments and Their History, p.392. Westport, Connecticut: The Bold Strummer. ISBN 978-1-871082-36-4
  2. ^ http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/blacksmith/farmshop.html retrieved 5 February 2013
  3. ^ Donington, Robert. 1970. Music and its Instruments. University Paperbacks Third edition. ISBN 978-0416722802 and On Google books
  4. ^ Beck, John. 1995. Encyclopedia of Percussion, p6. New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-8153-2894-X ANVIL, an actual anvil on occasion, but usually metal blocks or plates...
  5. ^ Scott, Derek B. 2008. Sounds of the metropolis: the nineteenth-century popular music revolution in London, New York, Paris, and Vienna, p.139. Oxford University Press, New York. ISBN 978-0-19-530946-1

Further reading

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Category:Struck idiophones

Category:Percussion instruments played with specialised beaters Category:Mallet percussion Category:Keyboard percussion instruments

Category:European percussion instruments Category:Orchestral percussion Category:North American percussion instruments Category:Percussion instruments invented since 1800

Category:Pitched percussion instruments