Supplementary InstrumentsĮach of the four main woodwinds has a set of related instruments which extend the pitch range and provide additional tonal colour. On a more serious note, its deep pitch and full, steadfast tone provides a great foundation for woodwind chords, and it can also deliver a poignant melody line in the higher register. While that’s going a bit too far, the bassoon is often used for comedic purposes. The bassoon sounds plaintive, dignified and somewhat reflective, but also has a droll, humorous side described by composer Rimsky-Korsakov as “an atmosphere of senile mockery”. Its distinguishing visual features are a long, doubled-up pipe and curved metal ‘crook’ tube which holds the reed. Since woodwind pitch is affected by room temperature, some orchestras now opt to use an electronic tuner instead - however, according to one source, it’s the oboist’s job to turn the device on and off!Ĭompleting the quartet of principal woodwinds is the bassoon, a magnificently idiosyncratic double-reed instrument. Its assertive tone has also earned the instrument the responsibility of sounding the ‘A’ note that orchestras tune up to. While its clear, penetrating timbre sometimes makes it hard to blend with other instruments, the oboe comes into its own in soloistic lines. In a radical contrast to the mellifluous flutes and clarinets, oboes sound angular, biting, exotic, and if played loudly in their lowest octave, almost ‘quacky’. Such tonal versatility marks it out as a popular all-round woodwind which works particularly well for expressive melodies. (I presume that’s enough time for notoriously conservative classical audiences to have accepted this upstart newcomer.) Blessed with a beautifully smooth, rounded tone and a huge dynamic range, the clarinet sounds dark, mellow and somewhat menacing in its low notes and brilliantly incisive in the upper register. This lends a vulnerable, voice-like quality to quiet, intimate and lyrical melody lines, but when played loudly in the higher register the instrument takes on a bright cutting edge, enabling it to deliver clearly-defined rhythmic phrases.Ĭlarinets are the most recent addition to the woodwind family, having been integrated into the orchestra in the second half of the 18th Century. Each has its own distinctive tone: the flute has a sweet, clear, pure and simple sound with a hint of breathiness in the low register. Though woodwinds come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes, novice arrangers would do well to focus on four main instruments - flute, clarinet, oboe and bassoon. (Details of this rare instrument appear below.) Main Instruments For a self-taught musician like myself, the latter development has proved invaluable: due to my sheltered upbringing I’ve never encountered a heckelphone in real life, but having acquainted myself with a good sampled version, I now feel confident to use it in a score when the occasion demands it. Due to the digital revolution, woodwinds can be seen in action in countless instructive online clips, and if you want hands-on access to their performances, today’s high-quality sample libraries provide it. Happily, this knowledge is no longer the exclusive preserve of the classical music world. Unlike the strings and brass, a woodwind section’s sound is not homogenous its principal instruments sound very different from each other, so in order to write effective woodwind parts, composers need to develop an understanding of their particular tonal qualities. That said, this particular family doesn’t rub along together quite as smoothly as others. It would be a great pity if woodwinds were to vanish altogether from sample-based orchestrations, since they can produce a wonderful range of timbres. Despite being a long-established orchestral fixture, the woodwind family is often overlooked in contemporary scores, probably because its instruments tend to be quieter and more subtle (and therefore less able to compete with histrionic voice-overs and explosive sound effects) than other, more iconoclastic and attention-grabbing sonorities. It’s a much remarked fact that most of today’s trailer music and ‘epic’ arrangements are dominated by an identical menu of pounding percussion, blasting brass, soaring strings and cataclysmic choirs. This often-overlooked orchestral family holds the key to a wide range of exciting tonal colours.