Wind Instruments

As the name suggests, wind instruments use air as a medium to produce

sounds of different pitches and intensities. These instruments work on the
principles of waves and other useful concepts of applied physics.
In this type of musical instrument, all you need to do is blow into the musical
instrument by following a defined order to produce a particular kind of sound.
These instruments essentially work on the principles of sound waves,
resonance, and harmonics. We can control the frequencies, and acoustics can
be set and altered by changing how we blow into the instrument and what
order we follow.
The length of the air column through which the sound waves are produced
determines the pitch of the sound that is formed when the musician blows
into the instrument.
In some wind instruments, the sound is also produced when the musician
blows through a reed. Many wind instruments also require buzzing into a tiny
mouthpiece. This mouthpiece is generally made of metal.
Some wind instruments also have little holes at the edges. When the musician
blows into these holes, it splits the column of air inside the instrument to
create a unique sound. We can produce different sounds by using different
columns, one for a given tone.
We can also change the vibrating column of air in some wind instruments by
changing the tube length. However, we can also produce different sounds by
making the air column vibrate to varying harmonics without altering the air
column’s sufficient length.
There is a wide variety of wind instruments that can be seen around the
world. Some of the highly renowned wind instruments are the flute, piccolo,
oboe, harmonica, English horn, bagpipe, shehnai, saxophone, shakuhachi,
clarinet, and bassoon.
Flute
The flute has been a part of the musical world for ages and was used as a
means to produce high-pitched sounds. It was initially made out of wood
and hollow reeds like bamboo, stone, or clay. However, flutes of today’s day
and age are made out of materials like silver, gold, and platinum.
The flute can be played by holding it sideways, using both hands, while
simultaneously blowing across the holes in the mouthpiece. Your fingers,
which play quite an important role, are used to open and close the keys,
which results in the alteration of the pitch.
There are numerous techniques by which a flute player may blow air into
the instrument to produce different sounds. Two of these techniques are
diaphragmatic breathing and circular breathing.
In diaphragmatic breathing, the musician can optimize his or her air intake by
minimizing the number of times he/she breathes while playing the instrument.
In circular breathing, musicians breathe in through the nose and breathe out
through the mouth. This enables them to produce a long and continuous
sound.