Almost all orchestras have wind musical instruments. A list of them will be given in this article. It also contains information on the types of wind instruments and the principle of extracting sound from them.
Wind instruments
These are pipes that can be made of wood, metal or any other material. They have a different shape and produce different tones of musical sounds that are extracted through the air stream. The timbre of the “voice” of a wind instrument depends on its size. The larger it is, the more air passes through it, from which its oscillation frequency is less, and the sound produced is low.
There are two ways to change the pitch of a sound produced by an instrument of this type:
- adjustment of the air volume with your fingers, using the wings, valves, valves and so on, depending on the type of instrument;
- increase the force of blowing the air column into the pipe.
The sound is completely dependent on the air flow, hence the name - wind instruments. A list of them will be given below.
Varieties of wind instruments
There are two main types - copper and wooden. Initially, they were classified in this way depending on what material was made. Now, the type of instrument is more dependent on the way in which sound is extracted from it. For example, a flute is considered a woodwind instrument. In this case, it can be made of wood, metal or glass. Saxophone is always available only in metal, but belongs to the class of woodwinds. Copper tools can be made of various metals: copper, silver, brass and so on. There is a special variety - keyboard wind instruments. Their list is not so long. These include harmonium, organ, accordion, melody, button accordion. Air enters them thanks to special bellows.
What instruments are wind instruments?
We list the wind instruments. The list of them is as follows:
- trumpet;
- clarinet;
- trombone;
- accordion;
- the flute;
- saxophone;
- organ;
- zurna;
- oboe;
- harmonium;
- balaban;
- accordion;
- French horn;
- bassoon;
- tuba;
- bagpipes;
- sheng;
- duduk;
- harmonica;
- Macedonian guide;
- shakuhachi;
- ocarina;
- serpent;
- horn;
- helicon;
- didgeridoo;
- Kurai
- trembita.
You can name some other similar tools.
Brass
Brass musical instruments, as mentioned above, are made of various metals, although in the Middle Ages there were also those made of wood. Sound is extracted from them by enhancing or attenuating the air being blown in, and also by changing the position of the lips of the musician. Initially, brass instruments reproduced only a natural scale. In the 30s of the 19th century, gates appeared on them. This allowed such instruments to reproduce chromatic scale. The trombone has a pull-out arm for these purposes.
Brass instruments (list):
- trumpet;
- trombone;
- French horn;
- tuba;
- serpent;
- helicon.
Woodwind
Musical instruments of this type were originally made exclusively from wood. To date, this material is practically not used for their production. The name reflects the principle of sound extraction - there is a wooden cane inside the tube. These musical instruments are provided with openings on the body located at a strictly defined distance from each other. The musician, while playing with his fingers, opens and closes them. Thanks to this, a certain sound is obtained. According to this principle, woodwind sounds. The names (list) included in this group are as follows:
- clarinet;
- zurna;
- oboe;
- balaban;
- the flute;
- bassoon.
Reed musical instruments
There is another type of wind - reed. They sound thanks to a flexible vibrating plate (tongue) located inside. Sound is extracted by exposing it to air, or by pulling and pinching. On this basis, you can create a separate list of tools. Wind reeds are divided into several types. They are classified by the method of sound extraction. It depends on the type of tongue, which can be metallic (for example, as in the pipes of an organ), freely slipping (like in a harp and harmonics), or beating, or reed, as in reed woodwinds.
List of tools of this type:
- harmonica;
- Vargan;
- clarinet;
- accordion;
- baw;
- bassoon;
- saxophone;
- Kalimba;
- harmonic;
- oboe;
- hula.
Wind instruments with a freely slipping tongue include: button accordion, harmonica, accordion. In them, air is forced by blowing the mouth of a musician, or by bellows. The air flow leads to vibrations of the reeds and thus the sound is extracted from the instrument. Vargan also belongs to this type. But his tongue does not oscillate under the influence of an air pillar, but with the help of the musician’s hands, by pinching and pulling him off. Oboe, bassoon, saxophone and clarinet are of another type. In them, the tongue is the striker, and it is called a cane. The musician blows air into the instrument. As a result of this, the tongue oscillates and sound is extracted.
Where are wind instruments used?
Wind instruments, the list of which was presented in this article, are used in various orchestras. For example: military, wind, symphonic, pop, jazz. And also occasionally they can act as part of a chamber ensemble. It is extremely rare that they are soloists.
The flute
This is a woodwind instrument. A list of pipes related to this type was given above.
Flute is one of the oldest musical instruments. It does not use a tongue, as in other woodwinds. Here the air is dissected against the edge of the instrument itself, due to which sound is formed. There are several flutes.
Syringa is a single-barreled or multi-barreled instrument of Ancient Greece. Its name comes from the name of the bird's voice organ. Multi-barrel syringa later became known as Pan's flute. In ancient times, peasants and shepherds played this instrument. In ancient Rome, syringa accompanied the performance on stage.
Recorder - a wooden instrument belonging to the family of whistles. A nozzle, flute and whistle are close to it. Its difference from other woodwinds is that on its back there is an octave valve, that is, an opening for closing with a finger, on which the height of the remaining sounds depends. They are removed by blowing air and closing with the fingers of the musician 7 holes located on the front side. This type of flute was the most popular between the 16th and 18th centuries. Her timbre is soft, melodious, warm, but at the same time its capabilities are limited. Such great composers as Anthony Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel and others used the recorder in many of his works. The sound of this instrument is weak, and gradually its popularity has declined. This happened after the appearance of the transverse flute, which today is the most used. Nowadays, the recorder is mainly used as an educational tool. Beginning flutists master it first, only then move on to the longitudinal one.
Flute piccolo - a variety of transverse. She has the highest timbre of all wind instruments. Her sound is whistling and piercing. Piccolo is half the length of a conventional transverse flute. Its range is from “re” second to “to” fifth.
Other types of flutes: transverse, pan flute, di, Irish, kena, flute, pyzhatka, whistle, ocarina.
Trombone
This is a brass instrument (the list of members of this family was presented in this article above). The word "trombone" is translated from Italian as "big pipe". There is from the 15th century. From the other instruments of this group, the trombone differs in that it has a backstage - a tube with which the musician extracts sounds by changing the volume of the air flow inside the instrument. There are several varieties of trombone: tenor (the most common), bass and alto (less commonly used), double bass and soprano (almost never used).
Hulusi
This is a Chinese reed wind instrument with extra tubes. Its other name is bilandao. In total, he has three or four tubes - one main (melodic) and several bourdon (low-sounding). The sound of this instrument is soft, melodic. Most often, huluses are used to perform solo, very rarely - in an ensemble. Traditionally, men played this instrument, declaring their love to a woman.