Bassoon
woodwind instrument / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The bassoon is the lowest of the four main instruments of the woodwind family. Like the oboe, it has a double reed. The reed is attached to a curved metal mouthpiece called a "crook" or "bocal" which is joined to the main part of the instrument. Unlike the oboe, this consists of two parts called ‘bass joint’ and ‘wing joint’ (or ‘tenor joint’). These two are joined at the bottom by a U-shaped piece called the ‘boot’. At the top of the instrument is the ‘bell joint’. The instrument is quite heavy. Some players have a neckstrap around their neck to support the weight, but usually they use a seat strap that connects at the bottom of the boot and goes across the floor. The bassoonist, a person who plays a bassoon, then sits on that strap. The bassoon is held to the right side of the bassoonist and the top of the boot joint is usually level with the players hip. The bassoon, when played right, can sound very beautiful. The bassoon has one of the largest note ranges, going from low B flat to a high F on the top line of the treble clef. The bassoon can also play in tenor clef, but usually plays bass clef.
Some bassoons have a white, ivory ring round the top of the bell joint. These are German bassoons (called ‘Heckel’). French bassoons (called ‘Buffet’) do not have this ring, and also sound quite different to German bassoons. Bassoons have keys to help the player to cover all the holes, but these keys do not use the Boehm fingering system like the other woodwind instruments. German bassoons use a system called the Heckel system, and French bassoons use the Buffet system.
The Bassoon is usually seen as a comical instrument, however it provides a very important role in the orchestra. In fact, the Saxophone was invented to replace the Bassoon and Oboe, however, was rejected because it didn't sound the same in the orchestra.