The Complete Handbook of Bassoons

Chapter 1: Understanding Bassoons

A bassoon is a conical-bore woodwind instrument that sounds an octave lower than its written pitch, and its physical design represents a series of compromises between acoustical theory, mechanical engineering, and the limits of what a person can comfortably hold and reach. The entire air column, if straightened out, would be about 2.54 meters long, and it is folded back on itself inside a compact wooden body, with the metal bocal adding an additional curve at the top. That folding is not a stylistic choice - a straight tube of that length would be unplayable and unholdable. But the folding creates the instrument's distinctive character: the bore is continuous, and the air column behaves as if it were straight, while the key work has to accommodate the tight turns and the close spacing of tone holes that this folding requires.

The sound is produced by a double reed - two precisely shaped pieces of Arundo donax cane bound together around a small steel tube. When you blow, the two blades vibrate against each other, chopping the airstream into a series of pulses. That pulse rate is what determines the starting pitch of the note. The reed itself is not tuned to a specific note on the bassoon; it is a relatively free-blowing oscillator with a natural frequency high above the instrument's playing range. The air column of the bassoon is what locks the reed into synchrony. When you finger a note, you open specific tone holes