Instruments

I just got "Instruments" today, and couldn't help but boast about it. I just can't stop diving deeper into this program. It's like the most wonderful interactive musical encyclopedia you could possibly imagine. Nothing comes close to this if you want a one-stop way to learn EVERYTHING about instruments, ensembles, etc., including HOW THEY SOUND!!
Every musician (from beginners to pros) should have this program. I imagine it would be a very popular learning tool in schools. I wish this was around when I went through music training! Funny thing is, it's a bit humbling because you're likely to LEARN something from it, no matter how educated you are. :-)


A must-have Resource for Music Educators   January 13, 2004
Dennis Mauricio (Chula Vista, CA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Instruments by Sibelius is a must-have software for every music educator. Musicians who have an interest in band and orchestra instruments will also find this interactive, multimedia guide to be a valuable resource. Installation is very simple, even for the novice.

Instruments provides a fairly comprehensive presentation of the instruments, including notated and sound examples, playing techniques, listening lists, pitch ranges, and writing for the instrument family.

Of special interest to the music educator are the student assignments, lesson plans, and a quiz. The student assignments are designed to help students understand the evolution of the orchestra, bands, and other ensembles. Permission to photocopy any of the assignment pages is given to schools and colleges that own Instruments-a big plus. The lesson plans are particularly effective if you have a computer projector to use as a teaching tool. The quiz is designed in a multiple-choice format to test knowledge about the instruments, ensembles, and playing techniques as described in the software.

I highly recommend Sibeluis Instruments to all enthusiasts of band and orchestra instruments, but especially to teachers of music education.


Everything you wanted to know about instruments!   July 21, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I'm a composer here in the West Midlands, and I also teach in various schools in the area. I bought this software for my students recently, but after using it for a while and realising just how useful it is I've now bought my own copy for when composing at home.

Basically it's got comprehensive information about almost every orchestral/band instrument you can think of (and a few you won't even have heard of) - but presented in a very useful & interesting way. There are pictures, orchestral & band layouts, instrumental ranges, notated examples from well-known pieces, historical context, plus (most importantly of all) hundreds of excellent audio recordings.

What's more there's complete information about every technique in the orchestration books, from bowing to multiphonics to percussion mallets, again all with recordings. This is completely invaluable stuff, even for a professional composer. Where else (in one place) can you actually *hear* the difference between jete and spiccato, or a cup mute and a Harmon mute? (Or a fingered trill and a lip-trill!) The orchestration books naturally *mention* all these things, but don't of course come with recordings.

There's also a quiz, intended for students I suppose, to test what they've learnt - I tried it out (at the advanced level) and I confess not even I got full marks! (Some of those questions are really tricky...)

Overall, I'd say this is invaluable both as an approachable introduction to instruments for students (even beginners), and as excellent reference material for professionals.

(Disclaimer: I do already use their Sibelius 2 notation software, of which I'm a big fan, so I'm already a bit of a convert.)