Interesting Facts About Wind Instruments
Wind instruments along with string, keyboard and percussion instruments form one of the major musical instrument "families." From the smallest (piccolo flute) to the largest (sousaphone), wind instruments all work on the same basic principle: the sound that vibrating air makes when it passes through a column.
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Identification
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A wind instrument is any musical instrument which requires air to be blown through it in order to operate. This is achieved either mechanically (for example, the pipe organ), or manually (for example the bagpipes). Most wind instruments have a some kind of mouthpiece, which must have air blown through it by the operator to produce a sound, and keys or valves which are pressed to alter the pitch of the note produced.
History
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Wind instruments date back to far antiquity. In 2009 researchers in Germany published details of three flutes found in southwest Germany thought to be 35,000 years old. Professor Chris Stringer, from the Natural History Museum, UK, said, "These flutes provide yet more evidence of the sophistication of the people that lived at that time." What is thought to be the oldest pipe instrument was unearthed in Mesopotamia, dating from about 2800 BC.
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Types
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Wind instruments fall into two broad categories: woodwind and brass wind. Woodwind instruments also fall into two broad categories: reed and non-reed. The most common Western reed instruments include the clarinet, saxophone (single-reed instruments), oboe and bassoon (double-reed instruments) . The most common Western non-reed instruments include the flute and recorder. Although most reed instruments have either a single or a double reed, there is a family of quadruple reed instruments including the Pi (Thailand), Shehnai (India) and Sralai (Cambodia). Brass instruments have a conical mouthpiece and are made of metal (traditionally brass).
Operation
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At their most basic, all wind instrument comprise a column of air, through which vibrations (sound waves) travel to produce a note. The longer the column is, the longer it takes for the sound wave to travel its length, and the so the lower the frequency of the note. In wind instruments, the column of air is shortened by opening holes along the length of the air column; the shorter the column of air, the higher the note. How the column of air is set vibrating varies from instrument to instrument. A single-reed woodwind instrument creates waves through the vibrating of its reed against a metal or plastic mouthpiece. A double-reed instrument creates those waves through the vibrating of two reeds against each other. In a brass instrument the player sets the air vibrating herself by her lips, and the length of the air column is controlled by either a slide (e.g., trombone) or valve (e.g., trumpet) mechanism.
Function
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Wind instruments are used in all kinds of musical contexts. They have always been featured in an orchestral context along with string and percussion instruments. Because of their comparatively greater durability and louder sound compared to string instruments, they form the backbone of marching bands. In the modern era, wind instruments such as the trumpet, trombone and saxophone have led the way in jazz music.
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References
- Photo Credit Musik image by RoWe from Fotolia.com
