One might generally classify wind
instruments by the kind of vibration used to generate the instrument's tone. In all cases, pitch is determined by the length of the column of air vibrating within the instrument
- Brass instruments use a mouthpiece shaped in such a way that human lips may vibrate to generate the instrument's sound. Brass instruments generally come in one of three families.
- Valved brass instruments use a kind of piston that changes the set of tubes the tone generated from the mouthpiece vibrates through. Trumpets, tubas, and valve trombones fall into this family.
- Rotor brass instruments use a rotating tube to change the set of tubes the tone generated from the mouthpiece vibrates through. French horns tend to fall into this family.
- Slide instruments use a slide to change the length of tubing, although many slide instruments may also have rotors. Trombones fall into this family of instruments.
- Woodwind instruments use a mouthpiece where wind blows across the mouthpiece to create a vibration necessary for generating the instrument's sound. Generally speaking, one may find three classifications of woodwind instruments.
- Reed instruments use a single thinly sliced piece of plant or plastic that vibrates in the mouthpiece when air is forced between it. Reed instruments include the clarinet and saxophone family of instruments.
- Double-reed instruments use two thinly sliced pieces of plant or plastic as the full mouthpiece, that vibrate as air is forced between them. The oboe, English horn, and bassoon make up the more popular instruments within this family.
- Transverse woodwind instruments use a property of physics where blowing across an open hole in a tube causes air to vibrate, generating a sound. Instruments in this family include the flute and recorder families.
(page originally entered by Fleeb)
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