Concept in Definition ABC

Instruments that produce sound through the vibration of the air column in its tube

Aerophones, also known and designated as wind instruments belong to a family of musical instruments that are characterized by producing sound through the vibration of the column of air that is inside it, that is, inside the tube, without the need for intervention strings or membranes and without even the instrument vibrating by itself, that is, they only require the use of wind to be interpreted in a compliant way and for that matter is that they are also called as wind instruments.

How do these wind instruments work?

Wind instruments can consist of one or more tubes. Inside the tube is where the column of air will be formed, which the musician will vibrate by blowing through a mouthpiece or reed that is at the end of the mentioned tube.. Although there are exceptions, such as the accordion and harmonium, in which the breathing of the interpreter is replaced by different types of bellows.

The kinds of sound they are capable of producing based on their length, pressure, and diameter

In aerophones, the pitch or height of the note will be determined by the length of the tube, which will ultimately determine the length of the vibrating air column.

Thus the greater the length of the tube, the more serious the sound that comes out of it will be and the shorter we will find a sharper sound. Also the bigger the diameter of the tube will affect the greater gravity of the sound and on the contrary, if the diameter is smaller, the sound that emanates will be sharper.
And if the air pressure is important, the sound will be really sharp while it will be more serious if there is not so much pressure.

The scale Note can be obtained by shortening the sound length of the tube by means of open holes arranged along it. It is worth clarifying that in this situation what is cut is the effective length of the tube, not the real one, the best example of this is the flute or other types of wooden instruments similar to it.

Another way is to shorten or lengthen the sound length by valves or pistons that connect additional segments or handles, for example, the horn.

This can also be achieved by lengthening the tube by means of a sliding mechanism, this would be the case with the rod trombone.

From there, very far back in time, they have been practicing the making of a series of holes in the tubes to modify their length and in this way achieve a greater sound variety and do it with higher simplicity. Now, with the passage of time, systems such as those indicated were created to be able to lengthen or shorten tubes and then they combined with the pressure exerted by the fingers achieve all the sounds of a instrument.

Classification of aerophones

There are two classifications of aerophones, one more informal and the other much more formal, coined in 1914.

The first one talks about metals (they are made of metal), woods (made of wood) and organs (In this the organ, organ and the like are inscribed).

But how is it classification so simple and concise it can lead to confusion, since there are some wooden instruments that are currently made of metal, it is appropriate to refer to the other classification ...bevel (includes all flutes, traversa, dulce, de pico) single reed (clarinets, saxophones and their variants), double reed (oboes and bassoons), embouchure (is category includes brass, trombone, horn, trumpet, euphonium, tuba, among others), with air tanks (with pipes, the pipe organ or without pipes, accordion).

The trumpet and the saxophone, the most popular representatives of this group

Now, among this enormous variety that we mention, we must highlight the relevance and popularity of two of them, the trumpet and the saxophone, both instruments that have known distinguish themselves within the species by the sound imprint they produce in their interpretation and we cannot ignore the great interpreters they have had throughout the story.
The saxophone has been closely linked to jazz, which has earned it great recognition and predilection. And for its part, the trumpet has a clear association with the interpretation of pieces in the military plane.

Topics in Aerophones