What is the difference between a woodwind instrument and a brass instrument?
Written By: Ginger
Woodwind and Brass Instruments
Woodwind and brass are some of the most popular and largest families of instruments in existence. Woodwind instruments include flutes, bassoons, oboes, clarinets and saxophones to name a few. Brass instruments include french horns, trumpets, tubas, sousaphones and trombones as well as many others. One of the biggest differences between these instruments is the mouthpiece that they use. In this post we will cover a little bit of history while discussing the differences in design that make these instruments some of the most popular throughout history.
Woodwind Instruments
The first record of woodwind instruments dates back tens of thousands of years with flute-like instruments made from bird bones and mammoth ivory. These instruments with finger holes were used for ceremonial purposes confirming the importance of music in early human culture. In the baroque and classical period these instruments became increasingly popular in orchestral compositions. There are two classifications for woodwind instruments; flutes, instruments where air is blown across an edge and reed instruments, using either single or double reed mouthpieces. Flutes, recorders and piccolos to name a few, belong to the flute family all using air blown across an edge to create sound with either finger holes or keys to change pitch. Single reed instruments use only one reed made of cane or synthetic material placed in the mouthpiece to create the vibration needed for that iconic sound, single reed instruments include saxophones and clarinets. Double reed instruments use a reed constructed of two pieces of cane or synthetic materials that vibrate against each other to create sound, these include bassoons and oboes. Woodwind instruments can be made of wood, plastic, metal or brass. Woodwind instruments were made popular by players such as Benny Goodman, Lester Young and Sir James Galway.
Brass Instruments
While the earliest brass-like instruments were made from animal horns and conch shells, they have evolved greatly into the horns we are familiar with today. Brass instruments are characterized by sound being produced when air is blown through them. Early models of brass instruments were recorded in Greek and Roman times. However, during the Renaissance these instruments started to resemble what we classify as brass instruments today. With the introduction of the curved trumpet and the folded or slide trumpets, which would eventually lead to the invention of the trombone. Throughout the baroque and classical periods brass instruments remained valveless which meant limited tonal and pitch control; these instruments were used mostly for ceremonial and military purposes. Although it was during this time that Bach, Handel and Mozart began adding them into orchestral compositions with the improvement of hand stopping which did allow for subtle pitch control. During the 19th century the invention of valves by Heinrich Stölzel and Friedrich Blühmel revolutionized the brass instruments giving us the ability to create the modern designs we see today. Brass instruments use a metal mouthpiece which is the greatest difference between brass and woodwind. This mouthpiece does not use a reed and sound is produced when the players lips are pressed into the cup shaped mouthpiece and air is blown through. The valves and slides of brass instruments control pitch unlike woodwind where the reed or reeds vibrate and then finger keys are pressed in combination to control pitch. Brass mouthpieces come in different sizes designed specifically for each instrument. Brass instruments include, trumpets, trombones, tubas and so many more. Today the brass instruments are some of the most popular for not only orchestral compositions but also big band brass ensembles and they are a popular solo choice. Some brass legends include Louis Armstrong, Bobby Hackett and Fred Wesley.
Two of the most popular musical instrument families
Both the woodwind and brass instruments have gone through significant design changes from their original ancient early models to the modern designs showcasing ingenuity in engineering and artistic expression. Woodwinds can be generally sorted into 12 kinds of instruments while there are many more if you count rare and no longer produced models. Brass can be classified into 10-12 commonly recognized instruments. These instruments make up a large percentage of all instruments used in orchestral and classical music as well as jazz, pop and rock. Their main differences lie in the materials they are made of, the type of mouthpieces they use, and how they control pitch via keys or valves.
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