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band
Type of human social organization consisting of a small number of nuclear families or related subgroups who are loosely organized for purposes of subsistence or security. Bands may be integrated into a larger community or tribe. They generally exist in sparsely populated areas and possess relatively simple technologies; their habitats range from the Australian desert (Aborigines) to the African rain forest (Mbuti, Aka) to the N tundra (Kaska Indians). Bands may occasionally coalesce for broader community ceremonies, hunting, or warfare. See also hunting and gathering societies, sociocultural evolution.

Musical ensemble that generally excludes stringed instruments. Ensembles of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments originated in 15th-cent. Germany, taking on particularly a military role; these spread to France, Britain, and eventually the New World. In the 15th-18th cent., many European towns had town musicians, or waits, who performed especially for ceremonial occasions in wind bands often consisting primarily of shawms and sackbuts (trombones). In the 18th-19th cent., the English amateur brass band, largely consisting of the many newly developed brass instruments, took on the important nonmilitary function of representing organizations of all kinds. In America, P. Gilmore's virtuoso band became famous in the mid-19th cent.; his greatest successor, J. P. Sousa, bequeathed a repertory of marches that has remained very popular. The big band, under such leaders as D. Ellington and C. Basie, was central to Amer. popular music in the 1930s and '40s. In the rock band, unlike most other bands, stringed instruments (electric guitars and electric bass) are paramount.

Type of human social organization consisting of a small number of nuclear families or related subgroups who are loosely organized for purposes of subsistence or security. Bands may be integrated into a larger community or tribe. They generally exist in sparsely populated areas and possess relatively simple technologies; their habitats range from the Australian desert (Aborigines) to the African rain forest (Mbuti, Aka) to the N tundra (Kaska Indians). Bands may occasionally coalesce for broader community ceremonies, hunting, or warfare. See also hunting and gathering societies, sociocultural evolution.

Musical ensemble that generally excludes stringed instruments. Ensembles of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments originated in 15th-cent. Germany, taking on particularly a military role; these spread to France, Britain, and eventually the New World. In the 15th-18th cent., many European towns had town musicians, or waits, who performed especially for ceremonial occasions in wind bands often consisting primarily of shawms and sackbuts (trombones). In the 18th-19th cent., the English amateur brass band, largely consisting of the many newly developed brass instruments, took on the important nonmilitary function of representing organizations of all kinds. ...

Top words beginning with J: jissom, juxtapapillary, jct, jacobitism, jincamas, juggle, jives, jots, jampan, jees, jamrosade, japanophobia, jawboner, jackies, jetbeads, jauntiness, jebus, jumamoto, jailed, johansen

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