reed instrument, in music, an instrument whose sound-producing agent is a thin strip of cane, wood, plastic, or metal that vibrates as air is passed over it. The predecessor of these instruments is the Chinese sheng. Single-reed instruments have one reed that is either free or beating. Free reeds, such as those in the reed organ reed organ, an organ in which air is forced over free reeds by means of bellows, usually worked by pedals. It is played by the use of one or more keyboards. Variations in tone are produced by stops that control different sets of reeds or vary the manner in which the
..... Click the link for more information. , accordion accordion, musical instrument consisting of a rectangular bellows expanded and contracted between the hands. Buttons or keys operated by the player open valves, allowing air to enter or to escape. The air sets in motion free reeds, frequently made of metal.
..... Click the link for more information. , concertina concertina (kŏnsûrtē`nə), musical instrument whose tone is produced by free reeds.
..... Click the link for more information. , and harmonica harmonica.

1 The simplest of the musical instruments employing free reeds, known also as the mouth organ or French harp. It was probably invented in 1829 by Friedrich Buschmann of Berlin, who called his instrument the Mundäoline.
..... Click the link for more information. , do not overlap the air passage; they are generally of metal. Beating reeds, such as those used in organ organ, a musical wind instrument in which sound is produced by one or more sets of pipes controlled by a keyboard, each pipe producing only one pitch by means of a mechanically produced or electrically controlled wind supply.
..... Click the link for more information. pipes and in the clarinet clarinet, musical wind instrument of cylindrical bore employing a single reed. The clarinet family comprises all single-reed instruments, including the saxophone. The predecessor of the modern clarinet was the simpler chalumeau, which J. C.
..... Click the link for more information. , strike the edges of the aperture while vibrating. Double-reed instruments, such as the shawm shawm (shôm), double-reed woodwind instrument used in Europe from the 13th through the 17th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. , oboe oboe (ō`bō, ō`boi) [Ital., from Fr.
..... Click the link for more information. , bassoon bassoon (băs
..... Click the link for more information. , and English horn English horn, musical instrument, the alto of the oboe family, pitched a fifth lower than the oboe and treated as a transposing instrument . It has a pear-shaped bell, giving it a soft, melancholy tone.
..... Click the link for more information. , have two reeds facing each other, between which air is forced into the instrument; thus the reeds are set vibrating.

reed instrument

Any musical wind instrument that sounds when the player's breath or air from a wind chamber causes a reed (a thin blade of cane or metal) to vibrate, thereby setting up a sound wave in an enclosed air column or in the open air. Reed pipes have single or double reeds. A double reed, as in the oboe or bassoon, consists of two cane blades tied together that beat against each other. A single reed may hit against a frame (beating reeds), as in the clarinet or saxophone, or it may vibrate freely through a closely fitting frame (free reeds), as in a harmonica or accordion. Beating reeds in woodwind instruments depend on the pipe's sounding length (as determined by the fingering) to determine the pitch. Free reeds have their own single pitch, determined by their thickness and length. See also English horn; shawm.