Wind instruments

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 and shape of the column of air vibrating within the instrument.

• Brass instruments use a cupped 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, most 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. Frech horns are the most common rotor instruments, although there are rotary valve tubas, trumpets, and trombones.

• 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 employ the force of air against a mouthpiece to create the vibrations necessary for generating the instrument's sound. Generally speaking, one may find three classifications of woodwind instruments.

• Single Reed instruments use a reed -- a thinly sliced piece of cane, (or less frequently, plastic)-- that is held against the aperture of a mouthpiece with a ligature. When air is forced between the reed and the mouthpiece, the vibrations create the sound. Single reed instruments include the clarinet and saxophone family of instruments.

• Double-reed instruments use two precisely cut, small pieces of cane joined together at the base as the mouthpiece. The finished, bound reed is inserted into the top of the instrument and vibrates as air is forced between the two pieces of bound cane. The oboe, cor anglais 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 some instruments in the recorder family (such as the Shakuhachi).

(page originally entered by Fleeb)

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