The windwood family

你对乐队里的乐器家族了解多少？管乐队里的吹奏乐器由木管和铜管组成。现在就来认识一下形形色色的木管乐器吧。

　　Flute（长笛）

　　Flute is now a very important part of a band or an orchestra（乐队）。

　　Carved （雕刻） of bone about 30,000 years ago and found in a cave in northern France, the instrument had an unknown number of holes at that time. About 5,000 years ago the first real flute, made out of bone, was made. In China around 3,000 years ago, the first flute that you hold sideways （向侧面地） was created. It is also said that the Egyptians had flutes before that. Flutes were once made of wood. In the 1900's, the first silver flute was made.

　　The flute is a part of a lot of cultures today. In the United States you can see all types of flutes, everything from American Indian to Silver Flutes. Over in England the Irish Flute and the Penny Wistle are played.

　　Piccolo（短笛）

　　There are two basic types of piccolos: metal and wood. Some instruments combine a wood or plastic body with a silver head. Advanced students interested in the piccolo might consider the piccolo which cost about $2000.

　　Wood piccolos are easy to crack （裂开）。 If you have one, never play it when the temperature is below 65° Fahrenheit（华氏）。 Because the holes are small, water blocks them often, which may cause wrong notes （音符）。 Keeping the instrument warm will solve this problem.

　　Never start your day with high C's （高音C） on the piccolo because it's so high that your neighbors will call the police！ If possible, play the flute before you play the piccolo. The flute and the piccolo are similar in a way.

　　Type Cost Main Use Outdoor

　　Plastic Cheapest Nice sound, Mix between Silver and Wood. Band, almost anything

　　Silver Average High pitch（音调）sound. Marching Band, Symphonic Band

　　Wood Expensive Very rich deep sound. Orchestras

　　Clarinet（单簧管）

　　Clarinet is a woodwind musical instrument. It was invented about 1700 by the German flute maker Johann Christoph Denner as an improvement of a reed pipe （簧管）。 It is in fact a pipe sounded by a single reed （簧片） that is connected to a mouthpiece （吹口） set in the upper end of the pipe. The lower end looks like a bell. Modern clarinets usually are made of ebony （乌木的）（sometimes plastic） and have 20 or more side holes to produce different pitches； some are open, to be closed by the player's fingers, and others are covered by keys.

　　Bassoon（低音管）

　　The bassoon is the lowest sounding member of the woodwind family and is perhaps the most versatile （多能的）。 Its double reed gives it a rich quality in the lowest notes and a sweet nasal （鼻音的） sound higher up. Bassoons can be very expressive （有表现力的） as solo instruments and their warm vibrato （颤音） enables them to sound human. They are also great for creating rhythmic lines and as bass instruments they help provide support for the whole orchestra.

　　Because of their versatility, bassoons have been used in orchestras for a very long time. There are also a number of larger and smaller bassoons.

　　Saxphone（萨克斯管）

　　The saxophone is best known for its use in jazz and popular music. It was invented as long ago as 1840. A benefit of its use is that in passages when all the woodwind section is playing together, it adds a little harder and clearer outer shell to the sound.

　　Saxophones come in many shapes and sizes. The saxophone is a wind instrument with a reed and the body is made of brass, and so it forms a bridge between the woodwind and brass sections （铜管乐） of the orchestra. At one time, there were two distinct （明显的） schools of saxophone playing: the classical, and the jazz and the popular. There is less difference between them today and most good sax players are capable of playing in different styles.