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Reedless wind instrument

 

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Reedless wind instrument



 
 
Reedless wind instruments are wind instruments
Wind instrument

A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator....
 that do not have moving parts in their mouthpieces.

Wind instruments are often characterized by their number of reeds
Reed (instrument)

A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of woodwind instruments are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material; tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics....
, which is typically zero, one, or two. Reedless wind instruments typically have no moving parts other than the wind (air) itself. Examples include the flute
Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike other woodwind instruments, a flute is a reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air against an edge....
, ocarina
Ocarina

The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. While several variations exist, an ocarina is typified by an oval-shaped enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouth tube projecting out from the body....
, recorder
Recorder

The recorder is a woodwind instrument musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes — whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle and ocarina....
, tin whistle
Tin whistle

The tin whistle, also called the tinwhistle, whistle, pennywhistle or Irish whistler, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument....
, and calliope
Calliope

File:Calliope.jpgIn Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of heroic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Iliad and the Odyssey....
 (steam whistles).


r the Hornbostel-Sachs
Hornbostel-Sachs

Hornbostel-Sachs is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift f?r Ethnologie in 1914....
 classification system, reedless wind instruments are aerophones in the most pure sense that there are no moving parts other than the air itself, and thus the attribution of the sound source is wholly the air.






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Encyclopedia


Reedless wind instruments are wind instruments
Wind instrument

A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator....
 that do not have moving parts in their mouthpieces.

Wind instruments are often characterized by their number of reeds
Reed (instrument)

A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of woodwind instruments are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material; tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics....
, which is typically zero, one, or two. Reedless wind instruments typically have no moving parts other than the wind (air) itself. Examples include the flute
Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike other woodwind instruments, a flute is a reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air against an edge....
, ocarina
Ocarina

The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. While several variations exist, an ocarina is typified by an oval-shaped enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouth tube projecting out from the body....
, recorder
Recorder

The recorder is a woodwind instrument musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes — whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle and ocarina....
, tin whistle
Tin whistle

The tin whistle, also called the tinwhistle, whistle, pennywhistle or Irish whistler, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument....
, and calliope
Calliope

File:Calliope.jpgIn Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of heroic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Iliad and the Odyssey....
 (steam whistles).

Categorization by number of reeds

  • 0 reeds: Instruments such as the flute, or whistles, that have zero reeds typically have a fipple mechanism, or some similar sharp edge against which air is blown;
  • 1 reeds: Instruments such as the clarinet
    Clarinet

    The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
     that have one reed;
  • 2 reeds: Instruments such as the oboe
    Oboe

    The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy"....
     that have two reeds that beat against each other, rather than a single reed that beats against a mouthpiece.


Purest form of wind instrument

Under the Hornbostel-Sachs
Hornbostel-Sachs

Hornbostel-Sachs is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift f?r Ethnologie in 1914....
 classification system, reedless wind instruments are aerophones in the most pure sense that there are no moving parts other than the air itself, and thus the attribution of the sound source is wholly the air. Whereas a clarinet functions mostly as a wind instrument (aerophone), some percentage of the sound production may be attributed to the beating of the reed, which, although not considered an idiophone, does contribute, to a slight degree, non-aerophonic components to the initial sound production.

In reedless wind instruments the solid matter from which the instrument's body is made takes on the role only of containing the fluid (air) that makes the sound.

Reedless water instrument

Whereas wind instruments use compressible fluid (air), a new category of instruments, called hydraulophone
Hydraulophone

A hydraulophone is a unique type of tonal acoustic musical instrument that is played by direct physical contact with hydraulic fluid in which sound is generated or affected hydraulically....
s, use less-compressible fluid (water). Hydraulophones in their most pure form, are reedless. These are called waterflutes. Other hydraulophones have one or more reeds, which vibrate in a stream of water.

See also

Reedless instrument
Hydraulophone
Hydraulophone

A hydraulophone is a unique type of tonal acoustic musical instrument that is played by direct physical contact with hydraulic fluid in which sound is generated or affected hydraulically....