How do wind instruments work?
I’m a music major on oboe…. The oboe and the bassoon are double-reed instruments which produce vibrations when two slender blades of cane pinch together rapidly under breath pressure, thus interrupting the wind stream passing between them into the rest of the instrument. Dry reeds are very stiff and difficult to set vibrating, on a clarinet you have to blow very hard and will make harsh sounds as a result and on an oboe, with two dry reeds next to one another, it would be nearly impossible to make a sound. When wet the reeds soften and become more flexible, they can bend to and fro more easily and so can be made to vibrate under more gentle breath pressure. This allows the oboe player to produce a hauntingly beautiful range of tones.
