What Is a Woodwind Instrument?
Woodwinds are a class of musical instruments that belong to the wind instrument family. Wind instruments use air that travels through enclosed columns to create sounds. Woodwinds include the flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone and bassoon--all instruments you can find in an orchestra or band--as well as whistles, recorders and ocarinas. Woodwinds come in three types: single-reed, double-reed and flute.
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Flutes
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Transverse and end-blown flute types produce sound when air is blown across the edge of a hole. They are members of the open flute family. Transverse flutes are held to the side, as players do with the flute and piccolo. End-blown flutes are held in front of the player's body, and include traditional instruments such as the Japanese shakuhachi. Recorders are members of the closed flute family. To play a closed flute, a player blows into the instrument, which channels the air across the edge of a hole. Whistles also belong to the closed flute family.
Oboes
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Oboes are exposed double-reed instruments. These types of instruments have two joined pieces of cane as a mouthpiece through which a player blows. The oboe has the range of a soprano. The instrument was once known as the hautbois. The English horn is another member of the oboe family. Because it is tuned a fifth lower than the oboe, the English horn is also known as an alto oboe.
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Bassoons
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The bassoon is an exposed double-reed instrument that can play in the bass and tenor range, similar to a baritone. It has a four-octave range. The instrument is made principally of wood or sometimes plastic. The reed of a bassoon is fitted on to a crook that is somewhat perpendicular to the bassoon's body as the player holds it diagonally in front of their body. The contrabassoon has a deeper pitch--an octave lower--than the bassoon. Because it is so large, it doubles back on itself in terms of shape, and needs an endpin for support when played, due to its weight and size.
Clarinets
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Clarinets are single-reed instruments.These types of instruments use a small strip of cane that rests against the mouthpiece. When a player blows into the mouthpiece, the air passes between the mouthpiece and the reed, and vibrates to create sound. The clarinet commonly heard in Western music is the B-flat soprano clarinet. Both the B-flat clarinet and the A clarinet are often used by orchestra clarinetists.
Saxophone
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Saxophones are single-reed instruments. Most have a mouthpiece that comes out at a roughly perpendicular angle from the body, which travels downward, then curves back up. The most common saxophones are the soprano sax, the alto sax and the tenor sax. They all have about a two and a half octave range. Saxophones were invented in 1844 by Adolph Sax, a Belgian instrument maker.
Other Wind Instruments
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Another category of double-reed instruments besides the exposed type are the capped double-reed instruments. Capped double-reed instruments have a cap sitting atop a reed through which the player blows. Instruments in this category include the cornamuse and the crumhorn--both instruments from the Renaissance--and, usually, bagpipes. The ocarina is a woodwind dating back to prehistoric times, used especially in Asian and New World cultures.
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