Green-ebony is an olive-green coloured wood obtained from the South American tree Jacaranda ovalifolia, of the natural order Bignoniaceae. It is used for round rulers, turnery, marquetry work, etc, and was also formerly much used for dyeing, yielding olive-green, brown, and yellow colours. Research Green-Ebony
The date-plum or persimmon is the name given to several mostly tropical trees of the Ebony family (Diospyros) bearing edible fruit. The American date-plum (Diospyros virginiana) is a medium sized tree, often fifteen metres or more in height. Its fruit is much like a reddish-yellow plum, containing eight or ten seeds. Research Date-plum
Diospyros is a large genus of trees and shrubs of the family Ebenacea, from which ebony is obtained. They are natives of the warmer regions of the world. That ebony from Sri Lanka is the wood of Diospyros Ebenum; from India, of Diospyros melanoxylon and Diospyros Ebenaster; and that from Maurirituis Diospyros reticulata. The Diospyros Lotos is the Indian date-plum. It is by some supposed to have been the lotus-tree of the ancients, whose fruit was said to produce oblivion. Research Diospyros
Ebenaceae is a family of trees and shrubs many of which have economic importance by virtue of their hard, very dark coloured wood - such as Ebony, They mainly occur in tropical and subtropical countries and include the genera Diospyros, Euclaea and Tetraclis. The leaves are alternate, and generally coriaceous and shining; calyx monosepalous and persistent, with three or six equal divisions; corolla monopetalous, with imbricated divisions. The fruit is a globular berry containing a small number of compressed seeds. Research Ebenaceae
Ebony is the popular name of various plants of different genera, agreeing in having wood of a dark colour. The best-known ebony is derived from plants of the genusDiospyros, of the natural order Ebenaceae.
The most valuable is the heart-wood of Diospyros Ebenus, which grows in great abundance in the flat parts of Sri Lanka, and is of such size that logs of its heart-wood 60 cm in diameter and from 3 to 4.5 metres long are easily procured. Other varieties of valuable ebony are obtained from Diospyros Ebenaster of the East Indies and Diospyros melanoxylon of Coromandel. Ebony is hard, heavy, and durable, and admits of a fine polish or gloss. The most usual colour is black, red, or green. The best is jet black, free from veins, very heavy, astringent, and of an acrid pungent taste. On burning coals it yields an agreeable perfume, and when green it readily takes fire from its abundance of fat. It is wrought into toys, and used for mosaic and inlaid work, but is most familiar as the black keys on a piano keyboard. Research Ebony
Ebony is the heart-wood of various species of Diospyros, trees of the order Ebenaceae. It is a heavy, deep black wood used in piano keys and inlaying. Research Ebony
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument. It is an end-blown flute with a fipple mouth-piece and eight finger holes, producing a soft mellow tone. Recorders are produced in various sizes - sopranino, descant or soprano, treble or alto, tenor, bass great-bass and contra-bass being the most common - the most popular size being the soprano or descant recorder frequently learned by school children, though the most useful in terms of flexibility is the treble or alto recorder (the next size up from the descant recorder).
Recorders were historically produced in a fingering system now known as historical, later in the 20th century a new fingering system known as modern was developed in England which involved making the fifth hole on the recorder somewhat larger and/or higher. From being developed in England this system received its alternative name of the English system, and confusingly was also called the baroque system (the true baroque system was applied to recorders of the 17th and 18th centuries). At the same time in Germany a rivalfingering system, known as the German system was developed. Most modern recorders utilise the Modern (English, pseudo-baroque) fingering system.
Recorders are produced in either wood or plastic. Low cost or student recorders are typically made from plastic, and while fairly resistant to errors in breathing technique, are also prone to squeak and lack quality of sound. Wooden recorders are more expensive, require firmer blowing by the player and produce a more mellow, higher quality tone. Harder, more dense woods produce recorders more capable of expressing the individuality of the player, with the down side of being less tolerant to breathing errors and more difficult to play. The typical woods used to make recorders, from the cheapest, softest woods to the more expensive, harder, better qualities are maple, pear, plum, olive, boxwood, rosewood and ebony. Wooden recorders, by the very nature of the material, change their characteristics over time. A new wooden recorder needs to be broken in, or warmed up, by short regular playing of a few minutes each day for a few weeks to allow the wood to react to the moisture in the player's breath. Research Recorder
In music, a tailpiece is a piece of ebony or other material attached to the lower end of a violin or similar instrument, to which the strings are fastened. Research Tailpiece
Abbreviations
Research Green-Ebony
