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handy dandy information about woodwinds

Suite Sounds

The holidays come with an over abundance of sweet treats. You may also be treated to a variety of concert suites for winds, strings, or other ensembles. Feast your eyes and ears on our selection of woodwind sheet music to begin the New Year right and start or add to your current repertoire.

Winter Winds and Weather

All instruments are built to be pulled out (otherwise you can’t tune in colder atmosphere), therefore, in normal weather conditions
All aerophones should be pulled out to be at B flat = 466 cps (cycles per second)
All wind instruments can lip pitches up by tightening the embouchure and lip pitches down by loosening.
All wind instruments can lip notes down to a greater degree than they can lip notes up (less taxing on embouchure.)
Ideal air temperature = 68 degrees. Air from lungs = 98.6 degrees. Freezing is 32 degrees, note differences.
Instruments are designed to reach its true pitch after warming up for at least 5 minutes.
The more metal an instrument has, the longer it takes to warm-up.
Lip muscles also have to be warmed-up and stretched out, otherwise the muscles will be tight, causing sharpness.
All wind instruments* are pulled out to lower pitch and pushed in to raise pitch.
*EXCEPTION – Oboists scrape reeds to play / crow a “C” and all tuning is with embouchure, angle of the oboe or through the intensity of air the air.

HEAD the right way

The other week, a flute arrived and it needed a new headjoint cork. Wow, what a difference it makes in the tone and playability when the cork is not floating around. After the cork was replaced, the flute played easily in the full range of the instrument.

Spring into action this Fall

This lovely Larilee oboe needed “minor surgery.” The Ab/G# key lost all it’s motion. Four keys and a side rocker key had to be removed to reach the area needing assistance. The replacement with a new shiny spring — sure did the trick. She “sprung” back in action right away. Such a tiny thing can make repertoire difficult to play in either Band or Orchestra — Bb, Eb, A, E. Traditional folk music would be the only option — in the key of G or D without a functioning Ab/G# key.

Reed and Embouchure Strength

The harder the reed the sharper it is and conversely the softer the reed the flatter it is.
A reed placed too high will lean sharp and too low will lean flat.
Reed charts – are considered a general guideline because of the perception of reed strength.
Mouth pieces and embouchure strength will also affect perception of reed strength.