Instruments of the Orchestra-WOODWINDS
Summary
TLDRThis educational video script delves into the classification of woodwind instruments within an orchestra. It explains how woodwinds produce sound through blowing air and categorizes them into standard and non-standard instruments. The script further divides them into non-reed, single-reed, and double-reed groups, providing examples like the flute, piccolo, clarinet, and bassoon. It also touches on the unique characteristics and sounds of each instrument, aiming to demystify orchestral music and encourage a deeper appreciation for these versatile woodwinds.
Takeaways
- 🎷 Woodwinds produce sound by blowing air into the instrument, unlike brass instruments which rely on buzzing lips.
- 🎶 The flute is the only standard non-reed woodwind instrument, producing sound through air column vibrations within the pipe.
- 🔑 Modern flutes are typically made of metal for better tuning and uniformity, diverging from the traditional wooden material.
- 👂 The piccolo, being the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the orchestra, is not standard but is often played by flute players.
- 🎷 Clarinets are single-reed instruments with a distinctive dark, woody sound, and professional players often maintain their reeds' moisture by licking them.
- 🎺 The bass clarinet, while not as common in orchestras, is valued for its deep, resonant tones and is played by clarinetists.
- 🎷 Saxophones, invented by Adolphe Sax, are more prevalent in jazz music due to their late adoption and are played with single, thicker reeds.
- 🎷 The oboe, with its double-reed, is known for its nasal tone and is easily distinguished by its straw-like mouthpiece.
- 🎷 The bassoon, a standard double-reed instrument, is known for its unique appearance and is capable of producing a wide range of expressive sounds.
- 🎷 The contrabassoon, the lowest-pitched instrument in the orchestra, is rarely used but provides the deepest notes, often played by bassoonists.
Q & A
How do woodwind instruments produce sound?
-Woodwind instruments produce sound by blowing air into the instrument, causing a column of air to vibrate.
What is the difference between woodwind and brass instruments in terms of sound production?
-Woodwinds produce sound through the vibration of air, while brass instruments use the vibration of the player's lips.
Why are woodwinds called 'woodwinds' even though many are made of metal?
-They are called 'woodwinds' because traditionally they were made out of wood, although modern flutes are often made of metal for better tuning and uniformity.
What is the role of the extender keys on a flute?
-Extender keys on a flute help the player to play more in tune, especially in the upper and lower registers of the instrument.
What is the highest pitched instrument in the orchestra?
-The piccolo is the highest pitched instrument in the orchestra.
How is a single reed different from a double reed in woodwind instruments?
-A single reed has one piece of material that vibrates, while a double reed consists of two pieces of material that are bound together and vibrate against each other.
What is the difference between a clarinet and an oboe?
-Clarinets have a single reed attached to a clamp and a flared bell at the end, while oboes have a double reed and do not flare out into a bell shape. Additionally, the oboe has a more nasal sound compared to the darker, woody sound of the clarinet.
Why are saxophones not commonly used in orchestras?
-Saxophones were invented after the orchestra had already expanded significantly and were more readily adopted into jazz and popular music, which is why they are not commonly used in classical orchestras.
What is unique about the bassoon's role in the orchestra?
-The bassoon is unique because it is a standard double-reed instrument in the orchestra and can play the lowest notes of any instrument in the ensemble.
What is the contrabassoon and how does it compare to the bassoon?
-The contrabassoon is the bass version of the oboe family and is larger than the bassoon, with a very long metal crook and it plays even lower notes, being one of the lowest-pitched instruments in the orchestra.
Why are keyboards not typically considered part of the orchestra?
-Keyboards, such as pianos and organs, are mostly considered solo or accompaniment instruments and were not commonly included in the orchestra during the Golden Age of orchestral music from about 1600 to the early 20th century.
Outlines
🎷 Introduction to Woodwind Instruments
This paragraph introduces the woodwind episode of the 'Instruments of the Orchestra' series. It explains the classification of woodwinds based on how they produce sound, which is by blowing wind into the instrument. The presenter distinguishes woodwinds from brass instruments, which use a different technique. The woodwind family is divided into standard and non-standard instruments, with the former being present in almost every orchestra. Non-standard instruments are used in special situations and are often played by the same musicians who play the standard instruments. The woodwinds are further subdivided into non-reed, single-reed, and double-reed instruments. The flute, being the only standard non-reed instrument, is highlighted as an instrument that produces sound by blowing air into a pipe with holes, and modern flutes are typically made of metal for better tuning and uniformity.
🎶 Exploring Reed Instruments and the Clarinet Family
The paragraph delves into reed instruments, starting with the single reed used in clarinets. It describes the physical properties of the reed and how it is attached to the instrument. The clarinet is discussed in detail, including its construction from a dark wood that resonates well and its distinctive sound. The presenter also touches on the maintenance of reeds, emphasizing the need to keep them moisturized. The E-flat clarinet and the bass clarinet, while not standard orchestral instruments, are introduced as smaller and larger versions of the B-flat clarinet, respectively. Their roles in different musical settings, such as bands and ensembles, are mentioned. The unique sound of the bass clarinet is highlighted, and the versatility of clarinet players in handling different sizes of clarinets is noted.
🎷 Diving into the Saxophone Family
This section focuses on the saxophone family, which is primarily associated with jazz rather than classical music. The paragraph explains the invention of the saxophone by Adolphe Sax and its evolution from metal clarinets. It points out the similarities in playing technique across different saxophone ranges, allowing a player to easily transition between them. The soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones are discussed, with emphasis on their unique sounds and typical uses in music. The paragraph also addresses the physical characteristics of saxophones, such as the ligature and mouthpiece, and how they differ from clarinets. Despite their rich sound, saxophones are considered non-standard in orchestras, with the paragraph noting their more prominent role in jazz and rock music.
🎷 Delving into the Double Reed Section: Oboes and Bassoons
The paragraph introduces the double reed section of the woodwind family, starting with the oboe. It describes the construction of the double reed and how it differs from the single reed of the clarinet. The oboe's unique sound, which is more nasal compared to the clarinet, is highlighted. The English horn, a close relative of the oboe, is discussed, noting its longer body and distinct egg-shaped knob at the end. The bassoon, a standard orchestral instrument, is introduced with its unique appearance and sound, which is both animated and low. The contrabassoon, the lowest-pitched instrument in the orchestra, is also mentioned, with its extensive tubing and deep sound. The versatility of musicians who play these instruments is noted, as they can often switch between the oboe and related instruments.
🎼 Conclusion and Preview of Upcoming Orchestral Families
In the concluding paragraph, the presenter summarizes the discussion on the woodwind family, emphasizing the goal of making orchestral music accessible and unintimidating. The desire for listeners to feel comfortable and familiar with the orchestra is compared to learning a foreign language. The presenter previews upcoming videos on the brass, percussion, and keyboard sections, noting that while keyboards are important, they are often not considered part of the orchestra. The aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the orchestra, allowing listeners to engage with the music on a deeper level.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Woodwinds
💡Sound Production
💡Standard Instruments
💡Non-Standard Instruments
💡Reed Instruments
💡Flute
💡Piccolo
💡Clarinet
💡Oboe
💡Bassoon
Highlights
Woodwinds produce sound by blowing wind into the instrument.
Woodwinds are divided into standard and non-standard instruments.
Non-standard woodwinds are often played by standard instrument players.
Most professional orchestral woodwind players can play more than one instrument.
Woodwinds are subdivided into non-reed, single-reed, and double-reed instruments.
The flute is the only standard non-reed instrument in the orchestra.
Modern flutes are made of metal for better tuning and uniformity.
The piccolo is the highest-pitched instrument in the orchestra.
Clarinets are single-reed instruments made of a dark resonant wood.
Clarinet players often lick their reeds to keep them moisturized.
The bass clarinet is an oversized instrument that plays low notes.
Saxophones are more commonly used in jazz than in classical orchestras.
The oboe is a double-reed instrument with a distinct nasal sound.
The English horn is a non-standard instrument with a rustic sound.
The bassoon is a standard double-reed instrument with a unique appearance.
The contrabassoon is the lowest-pitched instrument in the orchestra.
Woodwind players can be agile in their playing due to the use of holes and keys.
The next series of videos will cover brass, percussion, and keyboards.
Transcripts
okay and welcome to the woodwind episode
on the instruments of the orchestra
we're gonna be looking at how we
classify woodwinds first of all we
classify instruments if you recall from
previous episodes on how they produce
sound so the question we must ask is how
to woodwinds produce sound and they
produce sound by blowing wind into the
instrument I know it looks like when a
trumpet player or trombone players
playing their instrument it looks like
they're just blowing air but we're going
to learn that they actually do something
different so that's why we put them in a
different family now we're going to be
dividing the woodwinds like we did
strings we're gonna have the standard
instruments that you can expect there to
be in almost every Orchestra all the
time
and then we're gonna have the
non-standard instruments which are only
going to be used in special situations
and what the woodwinds you usually find
that the non-standard instruments are
often played by the standard players
they don't have to like call someone up
new to play the piccolo they just get
one of the flute players to sub out on
it so most professional orchestral
woodwind players can play more than one
instrument but for the most part we're
gonna stick to those standard ones we're
gonna look at a few of the non-standard
ones and then we're gonna subdivide the
woodwinds into three more groups there's
the non reed instruments that don't
incorporate a reed into the instrument
and then we're gonna look at single
reeds and that when we get to single
reeds I'll explain what a reed is and
how it operates and stuff and then we
also have double reeds which have
actually two reeds in attached to their
instrument so let's look at the non
reeds the flute is obviously the most
obvious example there it's the only
standard non reed in the orchestra they
produce sound by blowing air or a column
of air into this pipe and then they have
a series of holes cut into the pipe
along the length of it and then they use
their fingers to open and close these
holes modern-day flutes have extender
keys which are these additional keys you
see
and they operate those via a series of
levers and extensions that go out and
that helps them play more in tune
especially enough upper and the lower
register of the instrument but basically
all woodwinds used to one time be made
out of wood which is why we call them
wood wins but the flute is one of the
instances where most modern-day flutes
are made out of metal that helps make
their shape a little more uniform and
keeps them in tune better with each
other so here's what a flute sounds like
in case you never heard one before if
you ever like bone into a coke bottle
and gotten that kind of whoo kind of
sound and that's basically the same
principle air itself is used to vibrate
and produce the sound in the flute which
is why of course it has a very breathy
sound and as you could see she didn't
have to move her hands up and down the
length of the instrument she can open
and close all the various holes using
this hand position here and that means
that they can be very agile in their
playing all right now we do have the
piccolo which is the sister instrument
it's the little sister of the flute and
Piccolo's are really small as a matter
of fact they're the highest pitched
instrument in the entire Orchestra
woodwinds are unique in that even though
they're they're relatively small section
of the orchestra if you recall our
seating chart here you can see woodwinds
make up a very small portion of the
orchestra but they can brag about two
things first thing is hey we got the
highest pitch instrument in the whole
Orchestra and in a minute we're gonna be
seeing the contra bassoon which is
actually the lowest pitched instrument
in the entire Orchestra it can play
notes even lower than that big double
bass violin that we saw so the piccolo
can play really high but it's not
standard you don't see it in most
orchestral pieces and
even when you do see it again it's the
same lady playing that this that played
the flute you just switch out on one of
your flute players here's what it sounds
like yeah and that's not even as high up
as it can get it can get right up there
in the upper echelon of our range of
hearing and can get quite piercing and
start making dogs bark and stuff so
we're gonna move on now to as promised a
reed instrument and we're going to just
do a little google search here for
clarinet reed and we're gonna see what a
single reed looks like feel free to of
course in your own study anytime you
come across something that you're
curious about and you should have good
good curiosity as a college student
anytime you're curious about something
you know look it up online you live in a
day and age where you have a virtual
library at your the world's largest
library at your fingertips this is what
a reed looks like Reed plants you know
usually grow near bodies of water
they're then cut down and dried out and
it's a very spongy kind of wood like
material and the tip of it here is
shaved down to on this the you know
really thin and this is the part that
actually vibrates up here it's attached
to the clarinet via a clamp called a
ligature and I'm not sure what an image
didn't pop up here this is what a
clarinet Reed looks like you can see you
attach it there to this clamp and then
the performer blows air and it causes
that reed to vibrate and then you put it
into the instrument and that's where you
get the resonance that changes that Reed
squeaky sound that it sounds like if you
ever hear one just play in the
mouthpiece it then sounds much more
pleasant once you put it in the actual
instrument now clarinets are made out of
a very dark wood it's not a Bini I'd
forget the name of the wood but it's a
naturally dark wood that happens to
resonate sound very well you will see
cheap plastic
one's from time to time but most
professionals prefer the wood and oboes
also look very similar but as we're
gonna see here in a minute there's gonna
be two things to look for that will
easily identify whether or not it's
clarinet or oboe the first one is
there's our mouthpiece that we saw if
you see that clamp and you see this
pyramid-shaped mouthpiece then you know
that's clarinet also look at the bottom
it's hard to see because he's wearing
black pants but you'll see in the video
this flares out into a bell and the oboe
doesn't really do that oboe just kind of
gets longer as you get or gets wider the
longer it gets the sound of a clarinet
is much different from that of the oboe
the oboe you're gonna hear a lot more of
a nasal sound the clarinet is more of a
dark woody sound but here's what it
sounds like oh and by the way did you
notice he just licked the reed their
most reed players have to keep their
reeds fairly moisturized because if they
dry out they crack and split and then
you you're not gonna get a good sound
out of the instrument if it does that so
here's what it sounds like
okay so there is a little sister of the
clarinet and that is called the e-flat
clarinet the one that we just saw is the
b-flat clarinet and that has to do deal
with the natural tuning of the
instrument that doesn't mean it can only
play in those keys but it means that
that's the basic pitch register it's
tuned to so again we see the same
performer here professionally trained
clarinet players usually can play the E
flat as well you notice it's just a
smaller version of the b-flat and
therefore it makes it easier for them to
play in the upper register the e-flat
clarinet is not really standard it but
again if you need one you can just get
one of your clarinetists to switch out
and here's one of my favorite
instruments it's the bass clarinet it's
not used as much in orchestras as it is
in bands and when ensembles to help fill
out the bass register but you can see
it's an oversized clarinet and it plays
really low notes and when it gets down
to those really low notes that just
sounds absolutely awesome so I do like
it when it is incorporated in the
orchestra but again you'll see it more
with bands and woodwinds same basic
principle single reed attached to a
clamp and same guy playing so if you
ever do need a bass clarinet usually you
don't have to call in you know a
specialty player all right so let's hear
what a bass clarinet sounds like
okay it's a super cool sound an
instrument and I always enjoy hearing it
when it is incorporated into the
orchestra okay so the next single reed
instruments we're gonna look at the
entire subfamily is non-standard you
usually do not see saxophones play with
the orchestra one of the reasons for
that is Adolphe Sax the guy that I
believe he was from Belgium he invented
these in the 1800s and he was basically
experimenting with metal clarinets and
as you can see that's sort of what they
look like especially if you look at the
soprano saxophone
it has a ligature and a mouthpiece very
similar to clarinet the modern-day
saxophones have a little bit thicker and
wider reeds for the most part and when
Adolphe Sax started really perfecting
these instruments again the orchestra
wasn't really in need of any more
woodwinds by that time it had grown so
big but jazz and America was starting to
develop in the late 1800s and they
welcomed the sound of this new
instrument and ever since then you are
going to find saxophones playing more in
the jazz idiom than in classical music
but here's the soprano range and the
cool thing about saxophones by the way
is that for the most part the saxophone
alto tenor baritone bass all the
different ranges that you see at the
saxophone they're all pretty much played
the same way and Adolphe Sax wanted it
that way because he didn't want you to
have to like relearn an entire
instrument just if you wanted to switch
from the soprano range to the bass range
or go from tenor to baritone or
something so you'll notice it's the same
gentleman playing all the different
ranges of saxophones so therefore
usually a professional saxophone player
can play any range saxophone it's pretty
easy to pick up the other ones once you
know one so here's the soprano sax a
very lovely sound an instrument again
the DVDs a little messed up on this clip
so if you hear some popping that's the
DVD with a defect it's not the
instrument doing that
it's a very lovely sound and instrument
and usually is more reserved - more
relaxing passages a lot of soft jazz
artists really prefer that
now the saxophone when most people say
saxophone this is probably the one you
thought of this is the one that most
people start off on it's the alto range
sax and here's what it sounds like
and most of you are probably already
familiar with that one somewhat but now
you know it's called an alto sax now the
tenor saxophone is one that you also
commonly see the alto and tenor the by
far the most commonly played and and
jazz artists particularly preferred a
tenor sax some jazz artists like John
Coltrane and stuff like that are famous
for playing this instrument Lisa Simpson
on The Simpsons is the one this is a one
she plays an hour fact cartoon
characters often play unique instruments
Jake on adventure time plays the viola
that we saw in a previous video so here
is the same guy notice he's already
played two ranges of the saxophone
family and here he is on the tenor and
both alto and tenor are often used if a
rock man has like a horn section they're
often used in that as well or back in
the swing period the 1930s and 40s
they often incorporated saxophones than
that and you do have a baritone range
often called the bari sax and you see
it's starting to get pretty big there
are bass and Contra bass versions but
they're rather uncommon
so that does it for all the single reads
again they use a single read it should
be pretty easy to figure those out now
once we get to the oboe we're now into
the double reed section of woodwinds and
we're gonna pull up an oboe Reed here so
we can see whoa I put one too many E's
in there this is what an oboe Reed looks
like it's hard to tell but there's
actually two Reed's that are slapped
together here and then usually held
together with some twine and then
there's usually a piece of cork at the
bottom here that makes an airtight seal
to put it into the instrument and so
anything in the oboe family such as oboe
or it's bass version the bassoon use a
double reed and like I said earlier
people confuse the clarinet and the oboe
quite a bit so off the start of the
video you can see here a unique
distinction in the oboe this straw-like
mouthpiece that you see here that's a
one easy way to spot the oboe now as the
clip continues to play and the camera
pans back out look at the end of the
instrument remember the clarinet fanned
out into like a bell shape this one
again just gets a little longer excuse
me a little wider the longer it gets the
of course the most obvious way in a way
that you can do even if you're just
listening to an audio recording and not
watching a video is to listen and the
oboe has a very nasal quality to it it's
sound is entirely different than that of
a clarinet and here's what it sounds
like
okay and there's the end of the
instrument it doesn't flare out into a
bell like the clarinet does and you
should look for that straw-like
mouthpiece and also the sound of it what
makes it different and I've got of
course now there is an English horn
which is not a very standard instrument
new Yorkshire it's one of those
specialty instruments that we talked
about it looks very similar to the oboe
but it's a little easier to spot
indifference to say the clarinet first
of all we have this little metal pipe
here that it inserts to read into that's
called a crook and as the camera pans
out you'll notice that the English horn
is much longer significantly longer than
the oboe it also has a little bit more
of a rustic sound so it sounds a little
more like a saxophone that it doesn't
oboe and finally it has an egg-shaped
knob at the end that's very distinct and
that's usually a dead giveaway to most
people but here's what it sounds like
you
and there's that egg-shaped knob we
talked about and as beautiful as they
can sound
not too many composers did compose for
it sometimes it is used in later
compositions but as you saw it's the
same girl playing the oboe most oboe
players can switch out you know in that
so now we're gonna look at a bass oboe
basically which is called the bassoon
the bassoon is a double reed like the
oboe you can see the double reed there
and it has a metal crook a longer one
than the English one the English horn
had but it's attached to instrument that
way and you can see it's very unique
looking it's kind of a different sound
and as animated as this girl gets into
playing her bassoon between that and the
unusual sound of the bassoon you might
chuckle with this clip a couple times
and bassoons are standard in the
orchestra even though they are kind of
strange-looking you will almost always
see them in orchestras so we can't
classify them as a standard double-reed
along with the oboe the contrabassoon
you're gonna see is playing played by
the same young lady here and it is
definitely one of the more unique
looking instruments in the orchestra in
it and like I mentioned before it plays
the lowest notes in the entire Orchestra
so you can hear it really get down there
I'm gonna have her play the scale
actually here instead of an excerpt
because that way you get to hear two
really low notes and the cameras pull
back some more and you can see the whole
instrument it is a double reed that has
a very long metal crook that then goes
out into this and I believe this is 16
feet of tubing if you were to stretch it
all out so it's a very big instrument
but the wonder the wonderful thing about
instruments is that this girl probably
has like a high-pitched voice and she
gets to play this really low sounding
instrument lower than I could even sing
as a grown male so that's cool thing
about instruments you can just you know
play whatever you want so here is the
contra bassoon
so you can hear here how absurd idli
Lihue that instrument is able to get it
isn't very standard though and then when
you do call for it the rare occasions
you do usually just one of the
bassoonist and the orchestra will take
care of that so that pretty much does it
for the woodwind family just a quick
review of what we've gone over in this
first section of the instruments at
Orchestra we talked about the you know
the various aspects of the orchestra in
general we talked about the conductor's
role and in our video video on the
strings dealt with the string family how
they're classified what the standard
non-standard are for that and then we
did the woodwinds and in the next series
of videos we're going to be looking at
the brass then eventually we'll look at
percussion and then and a even though
this says instruments of the orchestra
up here the keyboards are actually not
really part of the orchestra sometimes
they do play with the orchestra but
they're mostly considered solo
instruments or accompaniment instruments
and so we are going to look at those
though they are important instruments
and most of your symphonic composers
like Mozart and Beethoven that wrote you
know grand symphonies that orchestras
play they usually also wrote keyboard
works and sometimes like in a piano
concerto we're going to see Mozart wrote
for the piano to play with the orchestra
but if you're going to go see a symphony
or something you usually don't find the
piano as part of the orchestra some 20th
century composers did experiment
including the piano or organ with the
orchestra but we're going to mainly
stick to what we call the period
era the Golden Age of orchestral music
which is from about 1600 to the 20th
century early 20th century alright so I
hope that that was very informative I
hope that it's brought you a little
closer to being comfortable listening to
orchestral music because just like a
foreign language when someone's speaking
a foreign language around you it can be
kind of uncomfortable because you don't
understand what they're saying but if
you've ever learned a foreign language
when
you hear someone speaking it it becomes
so much better to be able to understand
what you know because you understand the
basics of the language it's not alien to
you anymore and even if you're not a
master of that tongue you can still not
be so scared or intimidated by it so we
don't want orchestral music to
intimidate you in this class we want you
to feel like you are in our family
you're welcome to sit down at the dinner
table of the orchestra and communicate
emotions and thoughts with us and we
don't want there to be any kind of
culture or cultural or social barrier or
something like that
a barrier of misunderstanding so tune in
next time for the brass then we'll go on
to percussion and then keyboards and
then you will be complete with this
section
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