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Flute
Although originally made of wood, most flutes are now made of metal. The flute is the only orchestral woodwind instrument not to use a reed to produce its sound. Air is blown across a small hole near the top of the instrument, and as the air hits the edge of the hole it begins to vibrate. The flute has a mellow sound in its lower register and is vibrant in the higher register. It can play very fast music and is often given solos in the orchestra.
The oboe uses a double reed to produce the sound. Two pieces of cane tied to a small tube are scraped very thin and vibrate together. The reed is inserted into the instrument and the player controls the reed by folding both lips over their teeth to form a 'cushion' to control the vibration. The oboe is very expressive and is often used to play slow sad tunes in the orchestra, although it is also capable of making a very jaunty staccato sound.
The clarinet produces a sound using a single reed. The reed is held against the top of the instrument and vibrates against the mouthpiece to produce the sound. It has a large bore and therefore has a big range of notes, mellow and rich in the bottom register and vibrant in the higher register. As well as playing orchestral music it is often used in jazz music as well.
Being the largest member of the family, the bassoon produces the lowest notes. Like the oboe it uses a double reed to make it's sound. Although used predominantly as an accompanying instrument in the orchestra it has a wonderful tone which can vary from comical, to haunting in the upper register.
Like the clarinet, the saxophone uses a single reed to produce a sound. The instrument is made of metal and has a distinctive sound which is used mainly in jazz and pop rather than orchestral music.
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the pitch of a note, the player presses their finger onto a key which increases or decreases the length of the tube. The longer the tube, the lower the pitch.