0 How Do Wind Instruments Produce Sound

General sound produced of wind instruments

Wind instruments are made up a sound production device incorporated into resonating air column, with provision for radiation of sound from the resonating column into the surrounding air.

The basic sound produced element will not usually produce oscillations with a saw-tooth waveform as in a bow stretched string. The tone produced by wind instruments will therefore have very different timbres than that of the bowed string family of musical instruments.

Types of Wind Instruments

Within classification scheme there are several distinct types of musical instruments

• THE AIR REED INSTRUMENTS only the air flowing in the open pipe 
• THE REED INSTRUMENTS which are single reed, where only one reed vibrates against a solid surface, and double reed in which two reeds vibrate against each other.  
• THE LIP REED INSTRUMENTS which the lips are pressed tightly against a mouthpiece leading to a resonating so that the resonating cavity is closed around the sound source and the other end of the cavity is open to let sound radiate into the surrounding air.

Wind Instruments Examples

The air reed instruments –the principles air reed instruments are the whistle, fife, recorder, flageolet, ocarina, flute, piccolo and flute organ pipe.

The reed instruments –the principles reed instruments are oboe, bassoon, English horn, oboe d’amore, clarinet and saxophone.

The lip reed instruments –the principles lip reed instruments are the bugle, the trumpet, the cornet, the French horn, the trombone and the tuba.