Aerophones are a group of musical instruments in which the sound is generated by a vibrating air mass. The group includes the woodwind and brass instruments. Research Aerophone
A clarinet (clarionet) is a single-reed woodwind musical instrument of the reed kind invented by Johann Denner in Nuremberg around 1690, and perfected and installed within the symphonyorchestra during the late 18th century by the work of Ludwig van Beethoven. The clarinet is comprised of five parts making up a cylindrical tube which ends in a flared bell at the lower part, and at the upper part terminates in a cone-shaped, tapering mouthpiece, which is bevelled to a thin edge on one side, and has a flattened longitudinal portion on the other, upon which the reed is laid and kept in position by a ligature containing two screws. Clarinets are made in various ranges including the small soprano clarinet, the bass clarinet and the largest, rare, contrabass clarinet. Research Clarinet
The flute is a tubular or sometimes globular musical instrument enclosing air that is set in vibration when the player's breath is directed against the sharp edge of the hole. Usually additional holes in the flute wall can be opened or closed to produce different pitches. In transverse, or horizontally, held flutes, such as the Western orchestral flute and the Chinese di, the mouth hole, or embouchure, is cut into the side of the tube. In end-blown, or vertically held, flutes the hole may be at the end of the tube (for example, the Arabic nay). In duct flutes, such as the end-blown penny whistle and the recorder and the police whistle and ocarina, a mouthpiece channels the breath against the edge of a sound hole.
The transverse flute, the typical flute of Western music, was known in China by about 900 BC. By about ad 1100 it reached Europe, where it became a military flute in German-speaking areas-hence its old name of German flute. Families of flutes from soprano to bass were played in 16th and 17th-century chamber music. Made in one piece, these flutes had a cylindrical bore and six fingerholes. The flute was redesigned in the late 1600s by the Hotteterre family of French woodwind makers. They built it in three sections, or joints, with one key and a conical bore tapering away from the player. This flute displaced the recorder as the typical orchestral flute in the late 1700s. Gradually, more keys were added to improve the intonation of certain tones; by about 1800 a four-keyed flute was common, and eight-keyed flutes were developed in the 19th century. In 1832 the German flute maker Theobald Boehm created an improved conical-bore flute, and in 1847 he patented his cylindrical-bore flute, which is the model in widest use now. The cylindrical Boehm flute is made of metal or wood and has thirteen or more tone holes controlled by a system of padded keys. Its range extends three octaves, from middle C upward. Other orchestral flutes include the piccolo and the alto and bass flutes. Research Flute
The hautboy is a woodwind instrument consisting of a conical tube, with side holes, as in the clarinet and the flute. It is played vertically with a double reed, and it first 'overblows' at the octave. Research Hautboy
The oboe is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. It is a double-reed wind instrument with a wood body and narrow conical bore invented by the French musicians Jean Hotteterre and Michel Philidor, who modified the louder shawm (the prevailing double-reed instrument) for indoor use. Their oboe, called hautbois, as was the shawm, had a narrower bore than the shawm' s, a body in three sections instead of one, and a smaller reed grasped near its tip by the player's lips (on a shawm the mouth encloses the entirereed, the lips resting on a wooden disk at the base of the reed) . By 1700 most orchestras included a pair of oboes. Early oboes had seven finger holes and two keys; by the 1700s, four-keyed models were also in use. In the 1800s additional keys were added, reaching fifteen or more, and the bore and sound holes were redesigned.
Oboes of the French school (played in most countries today) have a very narrow bore and a penetrating, focused sound. Those of the German school (also played in Vienna and Vienna-influenced countries) have a wider bore and a more easily blending sound. The range of the modern oboe extends two and one-half octaves upward from the B below middle C. Composers of solo works for the oboe include George Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, and Carl Nielsen. Research Oboe
The piccolo is a small woodwind instrument of the flute family. It is played from the trebleclef, but its music is usually written an octave lower than the pitch of the sounds produced. Research Piccolo
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument. It is an end-blown flute with a fipple mouth-piece and eight finger holes, producing a soft mellow tone. Recorders are produced in various sizes - sopranino, descant or soprano, treble or alto, tenor, bass great-bass and contra-bass being the most common - the most popular size being the soprano or descant recorder frequently learned by school children, though the most useful in terms of flexibility is the treble or alto recorder (the next size up from the descant recorder).
Recorders were historically produced in a fingering system now known as historical, later in the 20th century a new fingering system known as modern was developed in England which involved making the fifth hole on the recorder somewhat larger and/or higher. From being developed in England this system received its alternative name of the English system, and confusingly was also called the baroque system (the true baroque system was applied to recorders of the 17th and 18th centuries). At the same time in Germany a rivalfingering system, known as the German system was developed. Most modern recorders utilise the Modern (English, pseudo-baroque) fingering system.
Recorders are produced in either wood or plastic. Low cost or student recorders are typically made from plastic, and while fairly resistant to errors in breathing technique, are also prone to squeak and lack quality of sound. Wooden recorders are more expensive, require firmer blowing by the player and produce a more mellow, higher quality tone. Harder, more dense woods produce recorders more capable of expressing the individuality of the player, with the down side of being less tolerant to breathing errors and more difficult to play. The typical woods used to make recorders, from the cheapest, softest woods to the more expensive, harder, better qualities are maple, pear, plum, olive, boxwood, rosewood and ebony. Wooden recorders, by the very nature of the material, change their characteristics over time. A new wooden recorder needs to be broken in, or warmed up, by short regular playing of a few minutes each day for a few weeks to allow the wood to react to the moisture in the player's breath. Research Recorder
The saxophone is a metal musical instrument of the woodwind family, invented by Adolphe Sax and containing a reed, and partaking of the qualities both of a brass instrument and of a clarinet. It consists of a conical brass tube, curved forwards and upwards at the bottom, and having a short section bent backwards at the top, upon which a mouthpiece and reed resembling those of the clarinet are fitted. The instrument contains twenty lateral holes, which are covered by keys and studs, and manipulated by the first three fingers of each hand of the player.
Saxophones, like saxhorns, are made in a variety of keys and sizes, but all are fingered in a similar manner. Research Saxophone
Abbreviations
Research Aerophone
