Single-reed instrument - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Single-reed_instrument

A single-reed instrument is a woodwind instrument that uses

only one reed to produce sound. The very earliest single-reed
instruments were documented in ancient Egypt, as well as the
Middle East, Greece, and the Roman Empire.[1] The earliest types
of single-reed instruments used idioglottal reeds, where the
vibrating reed is a tongue cut and shaped on the tube of cane.
Much later, single-reed instruments started using heteroglottal
reeds, where a reed is cut and separated from the tube of cane
and attached to a mouthpiece of some sort. By contrast, in a
double reed instrument (such as the oboe and bassoon), there is
no mouthpiece; the two parts of the reed vibrate against one
another. Reeds are traditionally made of cane and produce sound
when air is blown across or through them. The type of
instruments that use a single reed are clarinets and saxophone.
The timbre of a single and double reed instrument is related to
the harmonic series caused by the shape of the corpus. E.g. the
clarinet is only including the odd harmonics due to air column
modes canceling out the even harmonics.[2] This may be
compared to the timbre of a square wave.[3]

Most single-reed instruments are descended from single-reed The reeds of alto (left) and tenor
idioglot instruments called 'memet', found in Egypt as early as saxophones. They are of
2700 BCE.[4] Due to their fragility, no instruments from antiquity comparable dimensions to alto and
were preserved but iconographic evidence is prevalent. During bass clarinet reeds, respectively.
the Old Kingdom in Egypt (2778–2723 BCE), memets were
depicted on the reliefs of seven tombs at Saqqarra, six tombs at
Giza, and the pyramids of Queen Khentkaus.[5] Most memets were double-clarinets, where two reed
tubes were tied or glued together to form one instrument. Multiple pipes were used to reinforce sound
or generate a strong beat-tone with slight variations in tuning among the pipes.[6] One of the tubes
usually functioned as a drone, but the design of these simple instruments varied endlessly.[7] The
entire reed entered the mouth, meaning that the player could not easily articulate so melodies were
defined by quick movement of the fingers on the tone holes.[1] These types of double-clarinets are still
prevalent today, but also developed into simplified single-clarinets and hornpipes. Modern-day
idioglots found in Egypt include the arghul and the zummara.[1]

Examples include clarinets, saxophones, and some bagpipes. See links to other examples below.

Classification
Comparing clarinets and saxophones
List of single-reed instruments

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Single-reed instrument - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-reed_instrument

Modern
Historical
Traditional
Playing a single reed instrument
References

Single reed instruments fall under three Hornbostel–Sachs

classes:

412.13 Free reeds.

422.2 Single reed instruments: The pipe has a single 'reed'
consisting of a percussion lamella. These are the percussion
reeds including clarinets and saxophones.
422.3 Reedpipes with free reeds: The reed vibrates through
[at] a closely fitted frame, and there are fingerholes.
The ligature, mouthpiece, and reed
of a clarinet. These three
components are present in many
modern European Classical single-
The following is a list of clarinets and saxophones, relative to reed instruments and tend to be
their range and key of transposition from the opposite family: aesthetically and mechanically
similar.
Range Clarinet Saxophone

B♭ Soprano Soprano Soprano

E♭ Alto Alto Alto

B♭ Tenor Bass Tenor

E♭ Baritone Contra-alto Baritone

B♭ Bass Contrabass Bass

Note that if one was to compare clarinets to their saxophone counterparts while considering their
approximate lowest (concert) pitch†, the order would shift:

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Lowest Pitch Clarinet Saxophone

~A♭3 E♭ Soprano B♭ Soprano

~D♭3 B♭ Soprano E♭ Alto

~A♭2 E♭ Alto B♭ Tenor

~B♭1 B♭ Bass E♭ Baritone

~A♭1 E♭ Contra-alto B♭ Bass

E♭
~B♭0 B♭ Contrabass
Contrabass

†The lowest possible pitch of each clarinet and saxophone is dependent on its manufacturer
and model (the pitches used are typical of professional instruments).

Modern
Aulochrome
Clarinet
Heckel-clarina
Heckelphone-clarinet
Octavin
Saxophone
Tárogató
Xaphoon
Bass Clarinet

Historical
Mock Trumpet
Chalumeau

Traditional

European

Alboka Chalumeau
Birbynė
Chalumeau
Diplica

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Ganurags
Traditional
Hornpipe
Launeddas
Mock trumpet
Pibgorn
Pku
Sipsi
Treble/soprano birbynė
Stock-and-horn
Zhaleika
Bamboo sipsi
Middle Eastern

Arghul
Double clarinet
Mijwiz
Sipsi Zhaleika

Southeast Asian
Egyptian mijwiz
Pey pok
Sarune Etek
Sneng Sardinian Launeddas
Toleat

Although the clarinet and saxophone both have a single reed attached to their mouthpiece, the playing
technique or embouchure is distinct from each other.

The standard embouchures for single reed woodwinds like the clarinet and saxophone are variants of
the single lip embouchure, formed by resting the reed upon the bottom lip, which rests on the teeth
and is supported by the chin muscles and the buccinator muscles on the sides of the mouth. The top
teeth rest on top of the mouthpiece. The manner in which the lower lip rests against the teeth differs
between clarinet and saxophone embouchures. In clarinet playing, the lower lip is rolled over the
teeth and corners of the mouth are drawn back, which has the effect of drawing the upper lip around
the mouthpiece to create a seal due to the angle at which the mouthpiece rests in the mouth. With the
saxophone embouchure, the lower lip rests against, but not over, the teeth as in pronouncing the
letter "V" and the corners of the lip are drawn in (similar to a drawstring bag). With the less common
double-lip embouchure, the top lip is placed under (around) the top teeth. In both instances, the
position of the tongue in the mouth plays a vital role in focusing and accelerating the air stream blown
by the player. This results in a more mature and full sound, rich in overtones.

1. Hoeprich, E (2008). The Clarinet. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
2. Donald Murray Campbell, Arnold Myers; et. al. (2004). Musical Instruments: History, Technology,

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Single-reed instrument - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-reed_instrument

and Performance of Instruments of Western Music (https://www.google.com/books/edition/Musical

_Instruments/D_15UtgRVJsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22double%20reed%22), p.53-5. Oxford.
ISBN 9780198165040.
3. Foster, Caxton C. and Soloway, Elliott (1981). Real Time Programming (https://www.google.com/b
ooks/edition/Real_Time_Programming/0swmAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=double+reed+squ
are+wave&dq=double+reed+square+wave&printsec=frontcover), p.165. Addison-Wesley.
ISBN 9780201019377. "One will play a square wave and sound rather like a bagpipe or other
double-reed instrument."
4. Midgley, R, ed. (1976). Musical Instruments of the World. United States: Diagram Visual
Information Ltd.
5. Rice, A.R. (1992). The Baroque Clarinet. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
6. Rendall, G.F. (1971). The Clarinet: Some notes upon its history and construction. New York, NY:
W.W. Norton and Company.
7. Kroll, O (1968). The Clarinet. New York, NY: Taplinger Publishing Company.

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