The Woodwinds

Woodwinds are named as such because they were originally made out of wood. However, woodwinds also encompass the brass instruments, which were never made of wood. Woodwinds also include the flutes and reeds, along with the separate class of organs. Woodwind

woodwind instruments - The Bagpipe - The Bassoon - The Clarinet - The Flute - The Oboe - The Piccolo - The Recorder

instruments produce sound by vibrating the air throughout the length of the wood or metal. The air can be sent through a single reed, as with a clarinet, or through a double reed as with the oboe and bassoon. It can be directed into a curved piece of metal held to the lower lip (as with the flute and piccolo) or into a beaklike mouthpiece (as with the recorder). Or it can originate in the vibrations of a player's lips in a metal mouthpiece (as with the trumpet or trombone). The organ operates through a mechanism that is controlled electrically. When a note is pressed, a valve is opened which blows air in a similar manner as that of a brass or woodwind blows into their instruments.