What are Woodwind Instruments
For centuries, woodwind instruments have been, well, instrumental to the culture and heritage of those who live in Scotland and Ireland. Woodwind instruments have a long history among citizens of these nations. All woodwind instrument make a sound either by blowing through a reed, which is a piece of cane specially shaped to make a sound such as with clarinets, or by splitting the air across a hard edge such as with flutes and recorders. Music from these nations comes in all styles and types, but among some of the most one of a kind melodies are the ones produced by woodwind instruments, as they generate a number of different sounds with tones and textures that are unique to only them. Within the broad category of these instruments there are smaller variations that make them truly special. They are considered among the first musical instruments in the world following percussion instruments.
These instruments were first crude creations fashioned out of hollowed wood or bone, and they were believed to be magic in the way that peoples would use them to communicate with the dead, protect crops or cure illnesses as they believed they would. It is a common misconception because of their names that woodwind instruments are all fashioned out of wood, but this is not true. Some of these instruments can be and are made out of metal and plastics. The name woodwind mainly references the reeds that are used in many of these instruments.
What instruments are used in Scottish music?
Traditional instruments used in Scottish folk music include the fiddle, accordion, wooden flute, Bagpipes, Guitar, Tin whistle, Bodhran. Among the most well-known of instruments are the clàrsach, a wooden lyra harp with a curved top and side, which is thought to be one of Scotland’s oldest instruments.
Reed Woodwind Instruments
Single Reed Instrument
The first kind is one that uses the reed. A reed is a wooden tool that is vibrated by pushing air onto it as it rests in the mouthpiece. They can be divided into two different styles of reed instruments: single reed and double reed. The Single Reed Instruments make their sounds when the reed is placed in the front of a mouthpiece and air is pushed against the reed itself. This makes the air in the woodwind instrument to generate its sound through vibration.
Double Reed Instruments
Double reed instruments differ in the way that they have two different reeds that are bound together at the bottom. The air, instead of vibrating between the mouthpiece and the reed in a single reed instrument, will vibrate between the two different reeds instead to create its sound. Both of these types of reed styles will still create the iconic sounds that woodwind instruments are known for.
It gets even more divided and intricate from there. Within the double reed category, there are capped Double Reed Instruments and exposed double reed instruments. The exposed type is played with the double reed placed right between the lips of the player. With the capped double reed instruments, the reeds are covered by a cap. This way, the player of the bagpipe chanter instrument will push their air through the hole that the cap creates in order to move it through the reeds. Scottish wind instrument that virtually everyone knows.
Bagpipes are unique in the way that they will use two or more single or double reeds depending on the player. Even so, bagpipes will still function similarly to capped double reeds because the reeds even come into contact with the players lips.
Irish Wooden Flutes
The Irish wooden flute is considered the oldest Musical Instrument in the world and have long cemented their place in a variety of different cultures. Irish Flute are unique in that they do not use a reed like the other woodwinds instruments do. instead, they generate melodies by blowing air into the edge of a hole that is found at the end of the flute tube. Within the flute category, there are even more specific sub-families of flutes, including closed and open flutes.
Many of the ancient flutes that produce flute music in Ireland are open flutes.With the flutes, we offer protective cases that will keep your Flutes safe when you travel with them or safe in storage when they are not in use. The closed flute is different in that the flutist blows air into a small duct that brings the air toward a sharp edge where the air is then split off into different directions to produce the sound. Though these instruments have plenty of history, they are still relevant in the modern age, and many of Scottish and Irish descent still play these instruments today.
There is no better time than now to further your connection with your rich heritage, and with the bagpipes and Irish Flute, you can do just that in a way that will offer you a memorable and unique experience. Here at Scottish Kilt, we love connecting our customers with their Celtic heritage, and that means more than just providing you with access to high quality, made-to-measure kilts. It also means that we offer you Flutes For Sale at an affordable price to ensure that everyone can get in touch with their traditional roots.
Bagpipes
We offer bagpipes for sale for those who are interested in learning. Each of our instruments is made from the finest quality material in an effort to ensure their long life and their ability to bring you joy over the years. With the flutes, we offer protective cases that will keep your Flutes safe when you travel with them or safe in storage when they are not in use.
The bagpipes come with everything you need to create the gorgeous sounds you love, and they are easy to assemble for playing right out of the package.
Buy Quality Woodwind Musical Instruments
Take pride in your culture and heritage by learning or furthering your knowledge of Scottish woodwind instruments. Shop our selection of Flutes, Bagpipes and Practice Chanter and get started creating gorgeous traditional tunes.
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People also ask
There is a wide variety of woodwind instruments including flute, clarinet, saxophone, piccolo, bagpipes and many more. Woodwinds are significant in various music genres, notably orchestra and pop, with clarinets, flutes, and saxophones being very popular. However, the most popular of these instruments is the flute.
Woodwinds were given their name on the fact that all instruments in this group were originally made from wood. However, today, they are also made from other materials such as plastic. Besides this common factor, the most common thing in these instruments is that you have to essentially blow air through mouthpiece to play them.
Many historians argue over whether bagpipes originated in Scotland or Ireland and subsequently went to other place through invasion of these lands. On the other hand, a large number of historians believe that Egypt had one of the first bagpipes, way before Scotland or Ireland.
Woodwind instruments are divided into two categories; reed instruments and flutes. The category ‘flute’ not only refers to the instrument flute but its other kinds as well. There is an extensive variety of flutes, generally categorized into open flutes or closed flutes. The basic difference between these two types of flutes is the way the air works to play the instrument.
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