Play Cello online
A large, low-pitched four-string bowed instrument held between the knees and resting on the floor on a spike at its end; its full name in Turkish is viyolonsel.
Dizi
On a keyboard, the keys A S D F G H J K play the eight pitches of the scale.
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Turn your phone sideways or switch to full screen to see the instrument larger.
Keyboard keys
Add it to your home screen as a separate app: opens with one tap and works offline too. Free.
Keyboard: the up and down arrows select a course, Space or Enter plays it, plus and minus move the selected course's mandal by one comma.
Tap or swipe on the right side; tap the labels on the left to select a course. No sound on iPhone? Turn off silent mode.
Mandals
Lower or raise each pitch one comma at a time with the mandal levers. The setting applies to every course that has no setting of its own.
Course mandal
Tune a single course separately from the pitch setting. Courses you don't adjust follow the pitch setting.
About the Cello
In brief
- Family: Bowed string instrument (bass voice of the violin family)
- Origin: Northern Italy, 16th century
- Body and materials: Spruce top, maple back; body about 75 cm, with an endpin resting on the floor
- Strings: 4; C–G–D–A, an octave lower than the viola
- Frets: Fretless; comma intervals are stopped by finger placement
- Playing: Held seated between the knees; bowed or plucked (pizzicato)
- In Turkish music: Entered ensembles in the early 20th century; Mesud Cemil is a major performer[1, 2]
Getting started: types, sizes, tuning
History
The cello, which came from Western music, entered Turkish music ensembles in the early 20th century. Mesud Cemil, son of Tanbûrî Cemil Bey, played it masterfully in makam music and helped the instrument gain acceptance in this field.
Construction
It is the large, low-pitched relative of the violin: an arched wooden body, two f-shaped sound holes, a long fretless fingerboard, a pegbox and an endpin that rests the body on the floor. Its four strings are tuned an octave and a fifth below the violin.
How it's played
It is played seated, held between the knees, with a bow; the fingers of the left hand press the string directly onto the fingerboard. Plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) is also common.
Useful while you practice
Project notes
- Pitch system: Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek pitches are shown on a scale dividing the octave into 53 equal parts (the Holder comma, ≈22.6 cents), a close approximation of the theory's Pythagorean-ratio pitches. Each pitch is computed as its letter position plus the mandal shift; reference A4 = 440 Hz.
- Interval abbreviations: B = bakiye (4), S = küçük mücenneb (5), K = büyük mücenneb (8), T = tanini (9), A = augmented second (12–13 commas).
- Sound: real kanun recordings, retuned to comma precision for each pitch. With the synthesis option, each course is generated as three slightly detuned strings.
- Mandals: per-pitch tuning is the default; any course can also be tuned separately. Makam presets are per pitch.
- Known limitations: pitch names are referenced to Rast (G); makam presets are awaiting expert review.
Frequently asked questions about the Cello
How do I play the virtual cello?
In the realistic view, the cello's fingerboard appears on the screen and the pitches are marked as finger positions on the strings. You play by tapping, clicking or sliding your finger; on the keyboard, A–K plays the first octave and Q–U the second. On a phone, turning the screen sideways or going full screen makes the instrument bigger; from the “View” menu you can also switch to simple keys.
How are makam pitches played on the virtual cello?
Choose a makam from the makam strip: its scale is laid out with comma values for two octaves starting from its tonic. The low range lets you hear the tonic and dominant of the makams with a deep timbre. The in-between pitches found with the finger on a real cello, the virtual cello gives directly; the tonic and dominant are marked in color.
Where do the virtual cello's recordings come from?
The sounds are cello recordings from the Musical Instrument Samples archive of the University of Iowa Electronic Music Studios (Lawrence Fritts; unrestricted use permitted). Each pitch is tuned with comma precision from the nearest note recording. Until the recordings load, synthesized sound plays; with the “Synthesis” option you can also switch to generated sound.
How do I practice a piece with the virtual cello?
On a piece page, choose the cello in the “Play it yourself” step of the “Learn this piece” section and tap “Start”; the virtual cello opens with the piece's makam. Trying to follow the melody an octave lower is a good way to get to know the role the cello takes on in an ensemble.
Sources
- Wikipedia
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi