Meet the Instruments

Loren Toplitz has been a trumpet player with the Akron Symphony Orchestra for 20 years. In this video, he talks about the role the trumpet plays as a member of the orchestra’s brass family, which includes horns, trumpets, trombones and tuba.

The trumpet is the highest sounding member of the brass family. The brilliant tone of the trumpet travels through several feet of tubing into an oblong shape. The player presses the three valves in various combinations with the fingers of the right hand to obtain various pitches.

You may be familiar with some of the most famous pieces of classical music that feature the trumpet, such as Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Sibelius’ Karelia Suite, and Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty.

Terry Orcutt is the principal oboe with the Akron Symphony Orchestra. He has been a member of the orchestra since 2006. In this video, he talks about the role the oboe plays as a member of the orchestra’s woodwind family, which includes the flute, clarinet, bassoon, piccolo, English horn, bass clarinet and contrabassoon. 

The oboe is similar to the clarinet in many ways. Both are made from wood and have metal keys that can produce many notes rapidly. Unlike the clarinet, the oboe does not have a mouthpiece but has two reeds tied together. By placing them between one’s lips and blowing air through them, the reeds vibrate and produce a sound.

Several famous composers wrote concertos for the oboe, including Bach, Mozart, Handel and Vivaldi.

Brian Del Bianco has been a bass player with the Akron Symphony Orchestra since 2001. In this video, he talks about the role the double bass plays as a member of the orchestra’s string family, which includes violin, viola and cello. The sound of the string instruments is made when the player moves the bow over the strings of plucks the strings (called pizzicato).

The double bass, or string bass, is the largest and lowest instrument of the string family. The double bass has sloping shoulders, instead of rounded shoulders like the other string instruments. This allows the player to have more room to move his or her arms, hands, and fingers in front of the instrument. Because of its size, the player stands or sits on a high stool to play the double bass.

Some of the more well-known pieces of music that feature the double bass are Carnival of the Animals by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and the third movement of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.

Caleb Cox is the principal viola player with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and has been with the orchestra since 2018. In this video, he talks about the role the viola plays as a member of the orchestra’s string family, which includes the violin, viola, cello, double bass and harp.

The viola is the alto voice in the string family. Like the violin, it is held under the chin, resting on the shoulder. Unlike the violin, the viola is slightly larger and is tuned five notes lower. It has a darker and warmer tone quality than the violin, but is not as brilliant.

Many famous composers played the viola, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Antonin Dvorák, Felix Mendelssohn, Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Jenny Robinson is a flute and piccolo player with the Akron Symphony Orchestra. She has been a member of the orchestra since 2015. In this video, she talks about the role the flute and piccolo play as members of the orchestra’s woodwind family, which includes the flute, clarinet, bassoon, piccolo, English horn, bass clarinet, contrabassoon and saxophone. 

Originally made of wood, the flute is now made from silver or gold and is about 2 feet in length. It looks like a narrow tube with a row of holes covered by keys along one side. The player blows air across the small hole in the mouthpiece to produce a sound that can be either soft and mellow or high and piercing.

The piccolo is exactly like the flute except that it is much smaller and is usually made of silver or wood. The pitch of the piccolo is higher than that of a flute.

Mark DeMio is a bassoon/contrabassoon player with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and has been with the Orchestra since 1983. In this video, he talks about the role the bassoon and contrabasson play as a member of the orchestra’s woodwind family, which includes flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, piccolo, English horn, bass clarinet, and contrabassoon.

The bassoon is a large double reed instrument with a lower sound than the other woodwind instruments. Its double reed is attached to a small curved tube called a bocal, which fits into the bassoon. When the player blows air between the reeds, the vibrating column of air inside the instrument travels over nine feet to the bottom of the instrument, then up to the top where the sound comes out.