How Do Reed Instruments Work

reed instrument, in music, any of several wind instruments (aerophones) that sound when the player’s breath or air from a wind chamber causes a reed (a thin blade of cane or metal) to vibrate, thereby setting up a sound wave in an enclosed air column (in reed pipes) or in the open air (usually free reeds).

What instruments use reeds to make music?

Making sound by vibrating the reed The sound of a saxophone is generated by vibrating the reed attached to the mouthpiece, which the player puts in his mouth. Instruments that make sound in this way are called reed instruments. The oboe and clarinet are also members of the reed instrument family.

How do wind instruments work physics?

Physics of sound production. Sound production in all wind instruments depends on the entry of air into a flow-control valve attached to a resonant chamber (resonator). … Reed instruments such as the clarinet or oboe have a flexible reed or reeds at the mouthpiece, forming a pressure-controlled valve.