Double reed

Last updated
Bassoon Reeds.jpg
Bassoon reeds, showing the oval opening (bottom left), which is actually a vesica piscis

A double reed [1] is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. In contrast with a single reed instrument, where the instrument is played by channeling air against one piece of cane which vibrates against the mouthpiece and creates a sound, a double reed features two pieces of cane vibrating against each other. This means, for instruments with the double reed fully exposed, that the air flow can be controlled by the embouchure from the top, bottom and sides of the reed. [2] The term double reeds can also refer collectively to the class of instruments which use double reeds.

Contents

Structure and dimensions

The size and shape of the reed depend on the type of double-reed instrument which is of two groups, conical and cylindrical. [3] Even within families of instruments, for example, the oboe family, the reed for the oboe is quite different from that for the cor anglais (English horn). [4]

Oboe reeds are usually 7 mm (0.3 in) in width, while bassoon reeds are wider, from 13.5 to 15.9 mm (0.53–0.63 in). Since the width of a reed affects its sound and response, reed makers experiment constantly to achieve the results they desire. Reed length, which broadly affects pitch, is much less consistent globally, as different orchestras tune to different frequencies. Auxiliary double reeds such as English horn and contrabassoon have their own sets of measurements, which are subject to the requirements of the player.

Materials

For the reeds of European instruments, cane from Arundo donax , a wetland reed species traditionally from southern France, is commonly used. [5] The reeds of non-European instruments can be made from similar wetland grasses, bamboo or young leaves from toddy palm trees. [4] [5] [6] For example, the reed of Japan's hichiriki can be made from either mountain bitter bamboo [7] or Phragmites australis , the latter is a softer cane than Arundo donax. [8] When soft materials are used, adding layers to the reed can increase the stiffness while also maintain suppleness; for example, Myanmar's hne reed can have up to six layers of leaves from the palmyra palm tree which technically transform the double reed into a sextuple reed. [4] [9] [10]

It is also possible to make reeds from synthetic materials such as polypropylene, [11] which tend to last longer because they are less sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations. However, since the tone quality is dissimilar to that of a cane reed, synthetic reeds are not favoured by professional musicians. [5]

Construction

A variety of tools are used for splitting, chopping, gouging and shaping the cane in the reed-making process. [12]

Example: Bassoon

For bassoon reeds, tubes of cane are first split lengthwise then gouged to a certain thickness using a gouging machine. The chosen piece of cane is then cut to shape using a flat shaper and the centre portion is thinned (profiled) using a profiling machine which could be as simple as a wooden dowel and scraping knife to sophisticated machines with planes on a rod and a barrel to hold the cane that has accuracy down to .001" . The cane is folded end to end to form the two blades of the reed. The unprofiled end of the cane is shaped into a tube with the aid of a mandrel and bound with three (or four in some reed making techniques) strategically placed wires. A turban made out of thread is added on the third wire. It provides a hand hold for the reed that is not a sharp wire. The folded tip is cut off to allow the blades to vibrate and final adjustments to the interior of the reed using a reamer to precisely finish the tube to fit the bocal dimensions, and to the exterior (blade) using a reed-scraping knife or tip profiler, are carried out. The reed is then ready to fit to the bocal of the bassoon. The parts of the bassoon reed starting at the tip are: tip, blade, collar (where the profiled cane ends and throat begins), throat, 1st wire, 2nd wire (where throat ends and tube begins), 3rd wire, and butt (where the tube ends). [13] [14]

Example: Oboe

The construction of double reeds for the oboe family of instruments is similar in principle: like the bassoon's reeds, they consist of two pieces of cane fastened together with an opening at the tip. However, because the oboe does not have a bocal, the cane must be fastened to a metal tube (the staple), the lower half of which is normally surrounded by a piece of cork. The staple is then inserted into the farrow at the upper end of the oboe. [12] [15]

Ready-made reeds

Players can buy reeds either ready-made, or in various stages of formation, such as part-scraped, reed blanks, or buy the staples and cane separately. Cane is sold in several forms: as tubes, gouged, gouged and shaped, or gouged and shaped and profiled. Bassoon cane has the further option of being profiled before purchase. There are also many options with regard to staples and shaping equipment, which all have a subtle effect on the tone quality a reed will produce.

Reed variability

Differences in reed construction that may be visually minor can have a substantial impact on the sound produced by the reed, and as a consequence professional double-reed players must exercise meticulous craftsmanship in creating a suitable-sounding reed for whatever repertoire they are playing, with yet further considerations such as whether the player is principal or sectional, or whether the reed will be suitable for every item on the program. Environmental factors such as humidity and temperature also affect the performance of a double reed. Adjustments to reeds are, consequently, very frequent among double-reed musicians. [16]

The reedmaking culture varies between countries, cities, and individuals, and the reedmaker accepts that the life of each reed is extremely short. [15] [17] Among oboists, there are several distinct schools of reedmaking, notatably the American and European schools. [18] American, or "long scrape" reeds feature two visible "windows" of removed cane separated by a central spine, whereas European or "short scrape" reeds typically feature a more homogenous, tapered thickness across the entire reed. The construction of the American reed can help facilitate a "darker" timbre, whereas European reeds may foster a "brighter" sound. [19]

Playing

The orchestral double reeds all employ a similar embouchure. Players pull their lips over their teeth to protect the reed from their teeth, and then vibrate the blades of the reed by blowing, while controlling the timbre and pitch with constant micromuscular pressure adjustments from the muscles of the mouth and jaw. Articulation is achieved by occluding the mouth of the reed with the tongue and then releasing it, with extended techniques such as double tongue, flutter tongue and growl all possible as on the other woodwind families. [20] [21]

The principal difference between double-reed embouchures – both between and within instrument families – is in the positioning of the rolled-in lips, and the musculature employed to control a sound. Oboe reeds, being much longer relative to their width, require concentrated pressure near the tip with more pressure from the sides of the mouth, whereas bassoon reeds are played with lips slightly more pouted and not necessarily aligned vertically. Similarly, the Armenian duduk does not require rolled-in lips and the control of the air flow is distributed toward the lower half of the cheeks. [22]

All double-reed players employ and develop muscles at the back of the mouth to control their intonation via adjustments to the shape and pressure of the oral cavity surrounding the reed. [16] [23] [24]

Instruments

Period

There are three main groups of instruments based on the methods of playing: blowing directly into the reed, partially blowing into the reed, and not blowing directly into the reed. [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]

Reed fully outsideReed partially enclosed in a pirouette Reed enclosed in a windcap

Orchestral

Bassoon Heckelphone Oboe Sarrusophone

piccolo heckelphone

contrabass sarrusophone

Other

InstrumentRegion(s), best-known for
algaita West Africa
aulos Greece
bagpipes Scotland
balaban Iran
bombard Brittany
bishgüür [6] [31] [32] Mongolia
charumera [33] Japan
cromorne [4] France
duduk Armenia
dulzaina Spain
fadno [4] Sámi
gaita transmontana Portugal
guan China
gralla Spain
gyaling Tibet
hne Myanmar
hichiriki Japan
hojok Korea
kèn (also, kèn bầu)Vietnam
lupophon Germany
mey Turkey
mizmar Egypt
nadaswaram India
pey au Cambodia
piffero or piffaroItaly
pí tơm Vietnam
pi nai Thailand
piri Korea
pommer [34] Germany
rhaita Africa
saronen [35] Indonesia
selompret [36] Indonesia
shehnai India
sralai Cambodia
sopila Croatia
sorna Iran
suona China
surnay Middle East
tangmuri India
tárogató Hungary, Romania
tenora Spain
tible Spain
taepyeongso Korea
tromboon (trombone with reed)United States
zurna Middle East

Double-reed societies

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bassoon</span> Double-reed woodwind instrument

The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity. It is a non-transposing instrument and typically its music is written in the bass and tenor clefs, and sometimes in the treble. There are two forms of modern bassoon: the Buffet and Heckel systems. It is typically played while sitting using a seat strap, but can be played while standing if the player has a harness to hold the instrument. Sound is produced by rolling both lips over the reed and blowing direct air pressure to cause the reed to vibrate. Its fingering system can be quite complex when compared to those of other instruments. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music literature, and is occasionally heard in pop, rock, and jazz settings as well. One who plays a bassoon is called a bassoonist.

The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embouchure</span> Players mouth setup for a wind instrument

Embouchure or lipping is the use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument. This includes shaping the lips to the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument or the mouthpiece of a brass instrument. The word is of French origin and is related to the root bouche, 'mouth'. Proper embouchure allows instrumentalists to play their instrument at its full range with a full, clear tone and without strain or damage to their muscles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oboe</span> Double-reed woodwind instrument

The oboe is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodwind instrument</span> Family of musical wind instruments

Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed instruments. The main distinction between these instruments and other wind instruments is the way in which they produce sound. All woodwinds produce sound by splitting the air blown into them on a sharp edge, such as a reed or a fipple. Despite the name, a woodwind may be made of any material, not just wood. Common examples of other materials include brass, silver, cane, and other metals such as gold and platinum. The saxophone, for example, though made of brass, is considered a woodwind because it requires a reed to produce sound. Occasionally, woodwinds are made of earthen materials, especially ocarinas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reed (mouthpiece)</span> Sound producing part of some musical instruments

A reed is a thin strip of material that vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. Most woodwind instrument reeds are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material. Tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics. Musical instruments are classified according to the type and number of reeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cor anglais</span> Woodwind musical instrument

The cor anglais, or English horn, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto oboe in F.

Hornbostel–Sachs or Sachs–Hornbostel is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie in 1914. An English translation was published in the Galpin Society Journal in 1961. It is the most widely used system for classifying musical instruments by ethnomusicologists and organologists. The system was updated in 2011 as part of the work of the Musical Instrument Museums Online (MIMO) Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerophone</span> Musical instruments that are played by vibration of air

An aerophone is a musical instrument that produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shawm</span> Double-reed woodwind instrument

The shawm is a conical bore, double-reed woodwind instrument made in Europe from the 12th century to the present day. It achieved its peak of popularity during the medieval and Renaissance periods, after which it was gradually eclipsed by the oboe family of descendant instruments in classical music. It is likely to have come to Western Europe from the Eastern Mediterranean around the time of the Crusades. Double-reed instruments similar to the shawm were long present in Southern Europe and the East, for instance the ancient Greek, and later Byzantine aulos, the closely related sorna and zurna, and the Armenian duduk.

The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences.

Overblowing is the manipulation of supplied air through a wind instrument that causes the sounded pitch to jump to a higher one without a fingering change or the operation of a slide. Overblowing may involve a change in the air pressure, in the point at which the air is directed, or in the resonance characteristics of the chamber formed by the mouth and throat of the player.

<i>Hichiriki</i> Musical instrument

The hichiriki (篳篥|筚篥) is a double reed Japanese fue (flute) used as one of two main melodic instruments in gagaku music. It is one of the "sacred" instruments and is often heard at Shinto weddings in Japan. Its sound is often described as haunting.

The bass oboe or baritone oboe is a double reed instrument in the woodwind family. It is essentially twice the size of a regular (soprano) oboe so it sounds an octave lower; it has a deep, full tone somewhat akin to that of its higher-pitched cousin, the English horn. The bass oboe is notated in the treble clef, sounding one octave lower than written. Its lowest sounding note is B2 (in scientific pitch notation), one octave and a semitone below middle C, although an extension with an additional key may be inserted between the lower joint and bell of the instrument in order to produce a low B2. The instrument's bocal or crook first curves away from and then toward the player (unlike the bocal/crook of the English horn and oboe d'amore), looking rather like a flattened metal question mark; another crook design resembles the shape of a bass clarinet neckpiece. The bass oboe uses its own double reed, similar to but larger than that of the English horn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single-reed instrument</span> Class of woodwind instruments

A single-reed instrument is a woodwind instrument that uses only one reed to produce sound. The very earliest single-reed instruments were documented in ancient Egypt, as well as the Middle East, Greece, and the Roman Empire. The earliest types of single-reed instruments used idioglottal reeds, where the vibrating reed is a tongue cut and shaped on the tube of cane. Much later, single-reed instruments started using heteroglottal reeds, where a reed is cut and separated from the tube of cane and attached to a mouthpiece of some sort. By contrast, in a double reed instrument, there is no mouthpiece; the two parts of the reed vibrate against one another. Reeds are traditionally made of cane and produce sound when air is blown across or through them. The type of instruments that use a single reed are clarinets and saxophone. The timbre of a single and double reed instrument is related to the harmonic series caused by the shape of the corpus. E.g. the clarinet is only including the odd harmonics due to air column modes canceling out the even harmonics. This may be compared to the timbre of a square wave.

The guan is a Chinese double reed wind instrument. The northern Chinese version is called guanzi or bili and the Cantonese version is called houguan. It is classified as a bamboo instrument in the Ba Yin system. Unlike other instruments in the double-reed family of woodwinds which mostly have conical bores, such as the Chinese suona or the Western oboe, the guan has a cylindrical bore, giving its distinctive mellow, yet piercing buzz-like timbre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadruple reed</span>

A quadruple reed is a type of reed by means of which the sound is originated in various wind instruments. The term "quadruple reed" comes from the fact that there are four pieces of dried palm leaf vibrating against each other, in pairs. A quadruple reed, such as the Thai pinai, operates in a similar way as the double reed and produces a timbre similar to the oboe. The Arabic pii chawaa is "sometimes described as having a double reed, though this is actually folded yet again, creating four layers of reed and thus requiring considerable lung power to play".

Reed aerophones is one of the categories of musical instruments found in the Hornbostel-Sachs system of musical instrument classification. In order to produce sound with these Aerophones the player's breath is directed against a lamella or pair of lamellae which periodically interrupt the airflow and cause the air to be set in motion.

References

  1. "The structure of the oboe: The double-reed mechanism". Musical Instrument Guide. Yamaha Corporation.
  2. Wolfe, Joe. "Double reed acoustics: oboe, bassoon and others". Music Acoustics. UNSW Sydney, School of Physics. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  3. Jähnichen, Gisa; Yoshitaka, Terada (2019). Double reeds: Along the Great Silk Road. 25th International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) Colloquium, Double-reeds of the Silk Road: The Interaction of Theory and Practice from Antiquity to Contemporary Performance. Berlin, Germany: Logos Verlag Berlin. pp. i–vi. ISBN   9783832548865.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Tsuji, Kinko; Müller, Stefan C (31 May 2021). Physics and music: Essential connections and illuminating excursions. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. pp. 103, 181–182, 185. ISBN   9783030686758.
  5. 1 2 3 Buccur, Vochita (2019). Handbook of materials for wind musical instruments. Springer International Publishing. pp. 187, 255, 574. ISBN   9783030191757.
  6. 1 2 Hartenberger, Aurelia (n.d.). "Mongolia 'Bishgüür'". The Hartenberger World Musical Instrument Collection. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  7. Kapuściński, Jarosław; Rose, François (2020). "Hichiriki". Orchestration in Gagaku music. Ensemble Reigakusha. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  8. Jeltsch, Jean; Howell, Robin; Brown, Barnaby (2018). "Hichiriki reeds". The workshop of Dionysus. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  9. "Hnè, late 19th century, Burmese". The MET (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). 1 January 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  10. "Wind instrument 'Hne'". Linden-Museum Stuttgart / Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  11. Légère, Guy; Kortschot, Mark (2022). "Need to know: Why they work". Légère Reeds. Ontario Canada. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Guide to oboe reed making" (PDF). Concordia University Irvine, Music Department. California, United States: Lyon Oboe Studio. 2021.
  13. Schlesinger, Kathleen (1911). "Reed Instruments"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 974.
  14. Schillinger, Christin (14 December 2015). Bassoon reed making: A pedagogic history. Bloomington, Indiana, United States: Indiana University Press. ISBN   978-0253018151.
  15. 1 2 Rothwell, Evelyn (2018). Guide to oboe reed making. Evelyn Rothwell's Guide to Oboe Reed Making. Vol. III. London: Howarth of London. pp. 1, 5–8, 45.
  16. 1 2 Fiala, Michele; Schuring, Martin (27 November 2020). Great oboists on music and musicianship. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0190915100.
  17. Chloe Veltman (20 April 2020). "Oboe reeds". BBC Radio 4 (Podcast). The Boring Talks. Publisher. 51. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  18. Ledet, David (2009). Oboe Reed Styles, Theory and Practice. Indiana University Press. ISBN   9780253213921.
  19. Evans, Nicole. "A Comparison of Traditional American, German and French Oboe Reeds". Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts via The University of Montana.
  20. Griswold, Harold G (2015). Teaching woodwinds. Taylor & Francis. pp. 22–23. ISBN   9781317343707.
  21. Millican, Si (2012). Starting out right: Beginning band pedagogy. Scarecrow Press. pp. 59–60. ISBN   9780810883024.
  22. Nercessian, Andy (2001). The duduk and national identity in Armenia. Scarecrow Press. pp. 115–117. ISBN   9781461672722.
  23. "Oboe: Two worlds of sound". Vienna Symphonic Library. Vienna, Austria. 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  24. Pagliaro, Michael J (2012). The musical instrument desk reference: A guide to how band and orchestral instruments work. Scarecrow Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN   9780810882713.
  25. Hartenberger, Aurelia (n.d.). "Double reed". The Hartenberger World Musical Instrument Collection. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  26. Carroll, Paul (2017). Baroque woodwind instruments: A guide to their history, repertoire and basic technique. Taylor & Francis. pp. 88–91.
  27. Rech, Adelheid (2021). "Music in the daily life of Vermeer: The shawm (2)". Essential Vermeer 3.0. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  28. Szwajgier, Agnieszka (2019). "Renaissance wind instruments with a double reed, part 1". Notes Muzyczny. 2 (12): 9–32. doi:10.5604/01.3001.0013.7164. S2CID   212926747 . Retrieved 6 October 2022.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  29. Szwajgier, Agnieszka (2020). "Renaissance wind instruments with a double reed, part 2". Notes Muzyczny. 1 (13): 9–27. doi:10.5604/01.3001.0013.7164. S2CID   212926747 . Retrieved 6 October 2022.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  30. Burgess, Geoffrey; Haynes, Bruce (2004). The oboe. Yale University Press. pp. 24, 256. ISBN   9780300093179.
  31. "Bishgüür, 1987, Ulan Baran, Mongolian". The MET (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). 1 January 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  32. Provine, Robert C; Tokumaru, Yoshihiko; Lawrence Witzleben, John, eds. (22 November 2017). The Garland Encyclopedia of world music: East Asia: China, Japan, and Korea. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9781351544290.
  33. "Charumera". Catalog I. Tokyo, Japan: Music Department, Tokyo National University of the Arts. 2014. 591. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  34. Haynes, Bruce (2001). The eloquent oboe: A history of the hautboy 1640-1760. Oxford University Press. p. 24. ISBN   9780198166467.
  35. Keen, Palmer (2018). "Ramé reeds: Madura's sound of saronen". Aural archipelago: Field recordings from around Indonesia. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  36. Sutton, Anderson (1986). The crystallization of a marginal tradition: Music in Banyumas, West Central Java. Yearbook for Traditional Music. Vol. 18. Cambridge University Press. pp. 115–132. doi:10.2307/768524. JSTOR   768524. S2CID   193009606.