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Alto and tenor saxophone reeds

A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing against an edge or by a vibrating with air a thin piece of wood known as a reed. Most of these instruments were originally made of wood, but some such as the saxophone and some flutes are now made of other materials such as metal or plastic resin.

Main article: List of woodwind instruments

• Single-reed instruments use a reed, which is a thinly cut piece of cane or plastic that is held against the aperture of a mouthpiece with a ligature. When air is forced between the reed and the mouthpiece, the reed vibrates, creating the sound. Single reed instruments include the clarinet and saxophone families of instruments.
• Double-reed instruments, which use two precisely cut, small pieces of cane joined together at the base. The finished, bound reed is inserted into the top of the instrument and vibrates as air is forced between the two pieces of bound cane. There are two sub-families:
  • Exposed double reed instruments, where the reed goes between the player's lips. The oboe, cor anglais (also called the English horn) and bassoon make up the more popular instruments within this family.
  • Capped double reed instruments, where there is a cap covering up the reed with a hole in that the player just blows through. This family includes most bagpipes, the crumhorn, and the shawm.
• Flutes produce sound when air is blown across an edge. There are two sub-families:
  • Open flute family, where the player's lips form a stream of air which goes directly from the players lips to the edge, such as transverse flutes and end-blown flutes. Modern concert flutes are usually made of pure metal or a combination of metals including nickel, silver, and gold.
  • Closed flute family, where the instrument forms and directs the air stream over the edge. This family includes fipple based flutes like whistles and the recorder family.

One important difference between woodwind and brass instruments is that woodwind instruments are non-directional. This means that the sound produced propagates in all directions with approximately equal volume. Brass instruments, on the other hand, are highly directional, with most of the sound produced traveling straight outward from the bell. It also plays a major role in some performance situations, such as in marching bands. In the latter case, brass instruments will be the dominant sound in the ensemble as they are able to project their sound into the stands, while the woodwind sound will be retained primarily to the field.

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