As Threatened:
Rambling Around the Ranges
(Most of the below is also distilled from various Wikipedia articles and/or my fevered brain):
Vocal Ranges
The human voice is generally split into the following (C4 = "middle C"):
Female voices:
Coloratura Soprano: literally, "soprano with color" or "lively soprano". This is a soprano voice that has a very high range, typically to F6, but maybe as high as A6.
Soprano: general range is B3 to D6.
Mezzo-Soprano: literally, "middle soprano". The idea is a "mellower soprano voice". Range is A3 to A5.
Alto: literally, "high". Range is G3 to F5.
Contralto: "Contra" in Latin means "against". When it's prefixed to another word, it generally means "lower", so "contralto" translates as "lower alto" or, transliterated, "lower female voice". Range is F3 to F5.
Male voices:
Countertenor: "Counter" also means "against", but in music, "counter" as a prefix, means "higher". So, a countertenor is a really high male voice. There is some debate as to whether a countertenor has the right vocal quality to substitute for castrati (which were Renaissance-era singers that had a few body parts lopped off before puberty), but a countertenor is generally the only subsitute for one. Range is D3 to F5 (there are sub-classifications of countertenor based on tone color and overall range).
Tenor: The name comes from Latin and means "to hold". The idea is that a tenor has a lot of parts that have long notes and/or the tenor has a huge lung capacity. Range is C3 to C5 (there are sub-classifications of tenor based on tone color and overall range).
Baritone: From one of a variety of different languages, but it's generally translated "deep". In practice, it's the middle male voice. Range is C2 to C4 (there are sub-classifications of baritone based on tone color and overall range).
Bass: From the Latin meaning "low". Lowest vocal range, from E2 to G4 (there are sub-classifications of bass based on tone color and overall range).
(My vocal range is C2 to Bb4, although a comfortable range is G2 to G4. I'm considered a bass.)
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Instrumental Ranges
Rather than writing out their approximate ranges, take a look at
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/dc26f08d2b4ace7e67c063c94a514d49.png.
String Family (those still in common use):
Violin: Soprano/melody.
Viola: Alto.
Cello: Tenor.
Double-Bass: Bass.
Brass Family:
Trumpet: The standard melody/soprano instrument.
Eb Alto Horn/French Horn: Alto voice.
Bb Baritone Horn/Trombone: Tenor voice and a bit lower.
Bass Trombone: Really a baritone voice.
Tuba/Sousaphone: Bass voice. ("Tuba" is a Latin word meaning "horn", btb.)
Saxophone Family:
Bb Soprillo (sopranissimo): The "Soprillo" name is a product of Mr. Benedikt Eppelsheim. There are other Bb sopranissimos -- and "sopranissimo" just means "highest (available) soprano".
Eb Sopranino: "Sopranino" means "high soprano".
Bb/C Soprano: Your standard high melody instrument.
F/G Mezzo Soprano: Middle sopranos.
Eb/F Alto: Alto range, although a lot of melody sits here.
Bb/C Tenor: Ah, the tenor range.
Eb Baritone: Classically, this is really a tenor voice, as it parallels the Cello.
Bb/C Bass: This also isn't a "true" bass, as it's more in a Cello range, but goes slightly lower.
Eb Contrabass: A true bass voice and then some.
Tubax is a brand name for an instrument made by Benedikt Eppelsheim.
C Contrabass: A true bass voice and then some.
Clarinet Family:
A/Ab/G/Bb/C "Piccolo" Clarinets: These are sopranissimo clarinets, although they're occasionally called "sopraninos".
The word "piccolo" means "small flute". It has been extended, correctly or not, to cover all really small instruments. Just remember that "piccolo" refers to size, not range.
Eb/D/C/Bb/A/G Soprano Clarinets: Soprano/melody instruments.
Basset Clarinet/Basset Horn/Eb or F Alto Clarinet: Alto range, roughly.
A/Bb/C Bass Clarinet: Tenor range, mostly.
Eb Contrabass (Contralto) Clarinet, Contrabasset Horns in G/F/Eb: Baritone range.
Bb/C Contrabass Clarinet: True bass range.
Eb Octacontralto Clarinet: An octave below alto clarinet. True bass range and a bit lower.
Bb Octocontrabass Clarinet: Lowest wind instrument. Ranges to below standard bass line.
Double-Reed Family (mostly copied from
http://baroque-music.com/wc/info/oboe.shtml):
Oboe (hautboy, derived from French hautbois --'loud wood'). The oboe is a woodwind instrument blown through a double reed and with a compass from the Bb below middle C upwards for over 2 1/2 octaves. Standard orchestra instrument, also in chamber music and military bands. It is the note A sounded on the oboe to which the rest of the orchestra tune their instruments. Many concertos have been written for its solo use, e.g. by Vivaldi, Albinoni, R. Strauss, Vaughan Williams, Martinau, etc. Derives from the shawm and the curtal. Known in France and England in the 17th century as hautbois and hautboy. This would be the soprano/melody instrument.
Oboe d'amore (lit. "oboe of love"): pitched a minor 3rd below normal oboe. Has pear-shaped bell, which gives it its mellow and individual tone-colour, and is midway in size between oboe and cor anglais. Was favoured by Bach, but subsequently neglected. In 20th century, has been used by R. Strauss in Symphonia Domestica, Holst in Somerset Rhapsody, Ravel in Bolero, Janacek in several works, including operas, and John McCabe has written a concerto for it (1972). This is a mezzo-soprano-ish instrument.
Cor Anglais/English horn. Neither English, nor a horn, but an alto oboe. pitched a 5th below oboe. Name possibly a corruption of cor angle. A transposing instrument, being written a 5th higher than it sounds. Compass from E upwards for about 2 1/2 octaves. The reed is inserted in a metal tube which is bent back. Invented by Ferlandis of Bergamo in 1760. Not much used before 19th century Romantic composers, but there are several famous solos for it, e.g. Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Act III; in slow movement of Franck's Symphony, and in Sibelius's The Swan of Tuonela.
Bassoon (It. fagotto -- which means "bundle of sticks"). Bass member of the double reed family, pitched in C, with a range from Bb upwards for about 3 1/2 octaves. Made of wood and with a conical bore. Dates from 1660s. Came to prominence as solo instrument in 18th century. Vivaldi composed 39 concerti for it. Others to use it as solo instrument include J. C. Bach, Telemann, and Boismortier. In 1774, Mozart wrote his concerto (K. 191). Modern instruments made by Heckel (Ger.), Buffet-Crampon (Fr.), and Fox (Amer.). Often used for comic effect but its capacity for melancholy has not been overlooked by composers. Here's your tenor.
Contrabassoon (double-bassoon; Fr. 'Contrebasson'; Ger. 'Kontrafagott'). Wind instrument an octave deeper than bassoon and notated an octave higher than it sounds, though Wagner and Debussy sometimes wrote for it at pitch. Some Baroque examples were made but standard modern design is Heckel's (1876). Conical bore tube is 18' long, with 5 parallel sections connected by 5 U-bends. Crook fits into metal tube. Brahms scored for it in his 1st Symphony. In Strauss's Salome there is a long solo for the instrument when Jokanaan descends into his cell. Here's your bass.
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So, why is, say a bass clarinet called a bass clarinet and not a tenor clarinet? Well, that might be why A. Sax introduced a "tenor sax" and a "baritone sax".
A lot of the names are given in such a way to a) approximate the human voice range and b) approximate the name of other instruments. If you look at the brasswinds, for instance, you've got a "baritone" horn and an "alto" horn. The baritone is definitely the middle of the range of brasses and does approximate a baritone singing voice. The alto horn is a high horn that's not a trumpet and is slightly lower than a trumpet, thus it's an alto.
ALL of the ranges seem to have some cross-over, even for vocals. For instance, my voice extends from bass to baritone to tenor to low countertenor, contralto, alto and even soprano. However, the tone color of my voice means that you
might not mind me singing tenor (which I have), but you don't want me singing anything higher, because it doesn't sound "right".