Woodwinds

Woodwinds are a family of musical instruments that ceate sound vibrations when air is directed across a sharp edge or a reed.

The flute is an example of an instrument that creats sound using a sharp edge (the edge of the embouchure hole), while the oboe and saxophone are examples of reed instruments (the oboe uses a double reed configuration while the saxophone uses a single reed attached to a mouthpiece).

Although not often thought of as woodwinds, harmonicas, accordions, and bag pipes are all categorized in this family because they are all reed instruments.

The woodwind family can be broken down into five sub-categories: flutes, single-reeds, double-reeds, capped-reeds, and free-reed aerophones.

Flutes
Piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute, recorder, flutophone, panpipes, and ocarina. Fun fact: organ pipes are types of flutes, but we categorize organs in their own, special category because they are way too cool for school. When you consider that entire buildings are often designed and built around the pipe organs they house, it's fitting that these unique treasures get their own space, uh-hum, litteraly.

Single-Reeds
Piccolo clarinet, soprinino clarinet, soprano clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, basset-clarinet, basset-horn, contraalto clarinet, contrabass clarinet, sopranissimo saxophone, sopranino saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxopone, bass saxophone, and contrabass saxophone. Clainets can be further broken down by how they are keyed. For example, soprano clarinets can be found in A, B-flat or C, with B-flat (Bb) soprano clarinets being by far the most widely known and played version.

Double-Reeds
Oboe, English horn (cor anglais), and bassoon. Fun fact: The lesser-known heckelphone is also a double-reed instrument but only around 150 were ever made, with only around 100 still in existance.

Capped-Reeds
Bagpipes, cornamuse, and crumhorn. Capped reed instruments contain reeds that never come into contact with the player's lips. The player blows into a mouthpiece or "cap" that directs the air to the reeds.

Free-Reed Aerophones
Harmonica, accordion, concertina, and melodica. Free-reed aerophones contain small, tuned reeds set in a row arranged by pitch which are activated when air flows across them. The air can come from bellows (accordion) or from the player's mouth (harmonica). 

While the name implies that these instruments are wooden, mast are not. Materials used in woodwind instruments are wide ranging and are sought out mainly for their tonal qualities, but sometimes for appearance and longevity. Student clarinets, for example, are made out of thick, hard plastic because it is cheaper and doesn't require the same level of care and maintenance as wood. A plastic clarinet is better capable of withstanding the abuse a young student may put it through than wood. The trade-off in tonal quality is offset by the fact that most beginners are incapable of achieving the sound quality a wood instrument would offer a more advanced player.

Professional clarinets, oboes, English horns, and bassoons are usually made from select, high-grade wood, most often grenadilla or maple, while student instruments are usually made from plastic, ABS resin, vulcanized rubber, or some other composite material.

Flutes can be made of wood, metal, glass, ceramics, or plastic. Modern open flutes that you find in bands and orchestras around the world are usually made of metal. Professional flutes usually contain precious metals like silver and gold, while student instruments tend to be made of nickel-silver, a type of brass containing no actual silver.

Saxophones are specifically made of brass and have metal or plastic mouthpieces. This was the intent of the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax, who was interested in creating a horn with the projection of a brass instrument and the control and agility of a woodwind. Some manufacturers have built plastic saxophones with limited success. Wood and acrylic saxophones are also available but are not common.

The first woodwind instruments were all made of wood, but as time progressed, manufacturing techniques and materials changed.

Today the classification of musical instruments has more to do with the physics of sound production than the materials from which they are constructed. 

All sound is vibration; an audible wave of pressure transmitted through matter, either solid, liquid, or gas. Sound produced by a woodwind instrument is no different.

When players blow into reed instruments or activate the bellows, they cause air movement across a single reed, double reed, or set of reeds, which in turn vibrate and produce sound waves. These sound waves are then manipulated within the instrument to oscillate at varying frequencies, effectively changing the pitch you hear. Learn more about how woodwinds produce different pitches in the next topic.

Flutes create sound by sending an airstream accross a sharp edge, forcing it down into the instrument where it vibrates against the air already inside. As is the case with reed instruments, the frequency of the vibration is changed within the instrument in order to change the pitch you hear.

In order to change the pitch (the note) we hear, we must change the frequency of the sound wave. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz), with 1 Hz equal to one cycle per second. In music, we use 440 hertz to indicate A above middle C on a piano. This is the standard reference tuning pitch in music and it is referred to as A440 (A-four-fourty). Lower pitched notes have a lower frequency, and therefore a lower hertz measurement. The opposite is true for notes with a higher pitch.

Flutes, single reed, double reed, and capped reed instruments are basically long tubes, either curved or straight, with holes in them called tone holes. The player changes the frequency of the sound wave by opening and closing these tone holes, either by activating keys on the instrument or by covering and uncovering the holes with their fingers. Since frequency is inversely related to wavelength (frequency = wave speed / wavelength), changing the distance the wave has to travel by opening and closing tone holes changes the frequency. At A440, or 440 hertz, the sound wave in the instrument would be oscillating 440 times per second between the source of the vibration point and the open tone hole. When more tone holes are left open, the tube is shorter, the air column inside the tube and the sound wave being carried through this air is shorter, making the frequency and the pitch heard higher.

Free-reed aerophones like accordion and harmonica contain pre-tuned reeds that vibrate at a set frequency when air passes over them. Each button or key on an accordion opens a baffle (the pallet) that lets air into a chamber containing the pre-tuned reeds you want activated. Many of these instruments sound one note when air is pushed into the instrument and a different note when air is pulled out through the same hole. This happens because the direction of airflow often determines which reed or set of reeds gets activated, allowing for a logical positioning of the specific notes of a given scale or chord.

Fun Fact: even though A440 is the standard tuning pitch, most wind instruments in a band tune to B-flat (Bb) because of the trombone section. When their main slide is completely in (position 1), they should be playing Bb, and since the other slide positions are variable, position 1 is the only possible position to reference. This is similar to the reason orchestras use A440. String instruments in the orchestra all have an A string (a string that should sound A when activated without pressing on the fingerboard), making it the ideal note to tune to since any other note would require some instruments to use a finger position on the string that is not exact.