Instrument Design - Introduction

Throughout their history musical instruments have combined their role of sound-producing tools with symbolic and decorative functions, both social and religious. Precious materials, elaborate shapes and decorations have been used in all cultures at different times to confer special nobility on to individual instruments, to make them attractive to collectors or travellers, or sometimes to demonstrate the outstanding skills of the maker while not necessarily serving any specific musical purpose.

The use of ivory and elaborate adornments on instruments in Asia and Africa, for example, has been confirmed since at least the late 15th century. Around the same time, the spread of the first collections of musical instruments in Italy gave a fresh impetus to experimentation with materials and elaborate decorations, as well as unusual shapes and designs that made some instruments unique: organs with spirally-arranged pipes and wind instruments in the shape of animals and monsters. Moreover, the use of precious stones and materials such as ivory, ebony, silver and gold, combined with carvings and paintings, created instruments that became seen as works of art in their own right.