high and low winds
| o | 1 | high wind – a very strong wind; “rain and high winds covered the region”air current, current of air, wind – air moving (sometimes with considerable force) froman area of high pressure to an area of low pressure; “trees bent under the fierce winds”;”when there is no wind, row”; “the radioactivity was being swept upwards by the air currentand out into the atmosphere” |
All instruments in the woodwind family used to be made of wood, giving them their name. Today, they are made of wood, metal, plastic or some combination.
They are basically narrow conical, cylinders or pipes, with holes, an opening at the bottom end and a mouthpiece at the top. Wind instruments are played by blowing air through a mouthpiece (that’s the “wind” in “woodwind”) and opening or closing the holes with fingers to change the pitch. Metal caps called keys cover the holes of most woodwind instruments.
The mouthpieces for most woodwinds, including the clarinet, oboe and bassoon, use a thin piece of wood called a reed, which vibrates when you blow into it. The clarinet uses a single reed made of one piece of wood, while the oboe and bassoon use a double reed made of two pieces joined together. Just as with the stringed instruments, the smaller woodwinds play higher pitches while the longer and larger instruments play lower notes.
The woodwind family of instruments includes, from the highest sounding instruments to the lowest, the piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute, musette (piccolo oboe) oboe, oboe d’amore, English horn, bass oboe, Eb soprano clarinet, Bb soprano clarinet, Eb Alto clarinet, Bb bass clarinet, bassoon and contrabassoon. A saxophone is also included in the woodwind instrument family though it is made of brass metal.
