Tag Archives: woodwinds

High Winds

high and low winds

Double Reeds: Contrabassoon, bassoon, english horn, oboe

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.

flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, contrabassoon

Cold Corks

Here in the Northeast, we have been experiencing mixed weather, as usual. We can go from 60 degrees to 20 degrees Fahrenheit in one day. This weekend we were down in temperature to single digit. These extreme low temperatures are detrimental to woodwind instruments.

oboe reed staples with cork

In a small way, the cork which is inserted into the instrument to hold the reeds OR to hold the instruments together securely are adversely affected by extreme temperatures.

Clarinet Tenon Corks

A compounded problem occurs when saxophonists and clarinetists with too much cork grease or loose corks shorten their instrument due to playing and handling which makes the pitch rise even more.

Saxophone Neck Cork

Also, if brass players only tune their main tuning slide (usually pulled out, unless cold), then the sharp fingering combinations (all 2 and 3 valve combinations) become even sharper. This, of course, overtaxes the embouchure from continuous liping down which makes the tone quality sound more and more spread and unfocused.

Trumpet Water Key Cork

Bassoon Bocal with Cork

Winter Winds and Weather

All instruments are built to be pulled out (otherwise you can’t tune in colder atmosphere), therefore, in normal weather conditions
All aerophones should be pulled out to be at B flat = 466 cps (cycles per second)
All wind instruments can lip pitches up by tightening the embouchure and lip pitches down by loosening.
All wind instruments can lip notes down to a greater degree than they can lip notes up (less taxing on embouchure.)
Ideal air temperature = 68 degrees. Air from lungs = 98.6 degrees. Freezing is 32 degrees, note differences.
Instruments are designed to reach its true pitch after warming up for at least 5 minutes.
The more metal an instrument has, the longer it takes to warm-up.
Lip muscles also have to be warmed-up and stretched out, otherwise the muscles will be tight, causing sharpness.
All wind instruments* are pulled out to lower pitch and pushed in to raise pitch.
*EXCEPTION – Oboists scrape reeds to play / crow a “C” and all tuning is with embouchure, angle of the oboe or through the intensity of air the air.

Waiting for Winds

We provide affordable instruments to aspiring musicians and we need YOUR help. If you have a flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone stashed away on a shelf or shoved in the back of a closet, you can aide and assist in the creative process. Ship your unused woodwind to us. We will get the instrument in playing condition and offer it for sale on our establish website. You can either donate the instrument or send it on consignment.