| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alboka |  | Basque Country | The alboka is a double hornpipe or clarinet native to the Basque Country. It’s built out of cane, wood or animal horn. One end contains a mouthpiece made of horn with a holder for the two reeds. The other end is made of a larger horn, which acts as a resonator. |
| Alphorn |  | Switzerland | The alphorn or alpenhorn is a wind instrument, consisting of a natural wooden horn of conical bore, having a cup-shaped mouthpiece, used by mountain dwellers in Switzerland and elsewhere. Similar wooden horns were used in most mountainous regions of Europe, from Sweden to the Romanian Carpathians. |
| Atenteben |  | Ghana | The atenteben is a bamboo flute from Ghana. It is played vertically, like the European recorder, and, like the recorder, can be played diatonically as well as chromatically. Although originally used as a traditional instrument (most often in funeral processions), beginning in the 20th century it has also been used in contemporary and classical music. Several players have attained high levels of virtuosity and are able to play Western as well as African music on the instrument. The instrument originated with the Akan ethnic group of south-central Ghana, particularly in the region of the Kwahu Plateau. |
| Aulochrome |  | Belgium | The aulochrome is a new woodwind instrument invented by Belgian François Louis in 2001. It consists of two soprano saxophones that can be played either separately or together. The name comes from Greek aulos (name of the most important ancient Greek instrument) and chrome (for chromatic and colored.) |
| Aulos |  | Greece | The aulos (Greek αυλός, plural αυλόι, auloi) or tibia (Latin) was an ancient Greek musical instrument. Different kinds of instruments bore the name, including a single pipe without a reed called the monaulos (μόναυλος, from μόνος "single"),and a single pipe held horizontally, as the modern flute, called the plagiaulos (πλαγίαυλος, from πλᾰγιος "sideways"), but the most common variety must have been a reed instrument. Archeological finds and other evidence indicate that it was usually double-reeded, like an oboe, although simple variants with a single clarinet reed cannot be ruled out. |
| Bansuri |  | India | The bansuri (Hindi: बांसुरी) is a transverse alto flute of India, made of a single length of bamboo with six or seven open finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is depicted in Buddhist paintings from around 100 AD. |
| Baritone Horn |  | United Kingdom | The baritone horn, or simply baritone, is a tenor saxhorn in B-flat, one octave below the B-flat trumpet. In the UK the baritone is found almost exclusively in brass bands. The baritone horn is also a common instrument in high school and college bands, as older baritones are often in the inventory of middle schools and high schools. |
| Baritone Saxophone |  | Belgium | The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" (to avoid confusion with the baritone horn, which is often referred to simply as "baritone"), is one of the larger and lower pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece; this helps to keep the instrument at a practical height (the rarer bass saxophone has a similar, but larger loop). The baritone saxophone is used in classical music (particularly as a member of a saxophone quartet), but composers have rarely called for it in orchestral music. |
| Bass Oboe |  | England | The bass oboe or baritone oboe is a double reed instrument in the woodwind family. It is about twice the size of a regular (soprano) oboe. The bass oboe is notated in the treble clef, sounding one octave lower than written. Its lowest note is B2 (in scientific pitch notation), one octave and a semitone below middle C, although an extension may be inserted between the lower joint and bell of the instrument in order to produce a low B-flat2. The instrument's bocal or crook first curves away and then toward the player, unlike the bocal/crook of the cor anglais (English Horn) and oboe d'amore, and looks rather like a flattened metal question mark. In Holst's "The Planets" the instrument is used to great effect, providing a unique tone of which no other instrument is capable. |
| Bass Saxophone |  | United States | The bass saxophone is the second largest existing member of the saxophone family (not counting the subcontrabass tubax). It is similar in design to a baritone saxophone, but it is larger, with a longer loop near the mouthpiece. Unlike the baritone, the bass saxophone is not commonly used. The bass saxophone enjoyed some measure of popularity in jazz combos between World War I and World War II, with the bass saxophone used primarily to provide bass lines. |
| Bassoon |  | Germany | The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. It is called das Fagott in German, il fagotto in Italian, and le basson in French. Appearing in its modern form in the 1800s, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music literature. The instrument is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, variety of character, and agility. Its warm, dark, reedy timbre has often been compared to that of a male baritone voice. |
| Bawu |  | China | The bawu (巴烏) is a Chinese wind instrument. Although shaped like a flute, it is actually a free reed instrument, with a single metal reed. It is played in a transverse (horizontal) manner. It has a pure, clarinet-like timbre and its playing technique incorporates the use of much ornamentation, particularly bending tones. |
| Bombarde |  | Brittany | The bombarde, or bombard (in Breton) is a folk musical instrument from Brittany and Cornwall that is a cross between an oboe and a conical-bored pipe chanter (the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody). The bombarde is blown by the mouth; the reed is held between the lips. Typically pitched in B flat, it plays a diatonic scale over two octaves. |
| Buccina |  | Greece | The Buccina (also Bucina, bukanē) is a brass curved-trumpet used in the ancient Greek army. It was originally designed as a tube measuring some 11 to 12 feet in length, of narrow cylindrical bore, and played by means of a cup-shaped mouthpiece. The tube is bent round upon itself from the mouthpiece to the bell in the shape of a broad C and is strengthened by means of a bar across the curve, which the performer grasps while playing to steady the instrument. The bell curves over his head or shoulder. |
| Bugle |  | Germany | The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments; it is essentially a small natural horn with no valves. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure, since the bugle has no other mechanism for controlling pitch. Consequently, the bugle is limited to notes within the harmonic series. |
| Catalan Shawm |  | Spain | A catalan shawm is one of two varieties of shawm (an oboe-like woodwind instrument) used in Catalonia in northern Spain. The types of shawm commonly used in Catalonia are the tible (Catalan for "treble") and the tenora (Catalan for "tenor"). The tenora is pitched about a fifth lower than the tible. These shawms are usually used with other instruments to accompany the traditional Catalan circle dance, the Sardana. The image shows a Sardana band palying catalan shawms. |
| Chalumeau |  | France | The chalumeau (plural chalumeaux; from Greek: κάλαμος, kalamos, meaning "reed") is a woodwind instrument of the late baroque and early classical era. It has an approximately cylindrical bore and a mouthpiece with a single reed. The clarinet was developed from the chalumeau. The word "chalumeau" was in use in French from the twelfth century to refer to various sorts of pipes, some of which were made of cane and featured a single "reed" cut into the side of the cane itself. |
| Cimbasso |  | Italy | The Cimbasso is a brass instrument in the trombone family, with a sound ranging from warm and mellow to bright and menacing. It has three to five piston or rotary valves, a highly cylindrical bore, and is usually pitched in F or Bb. It is in the same range as a tuba or a contrabass trombone. |
| Clarinet |  | Germany | The clarinet is a family of woodwind musical instruments. It has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed. It was developed from the chalumeau. Clarinet family: Piccolo clarinet - Very rare. Also known as octave clarinet or sopranino clarinet. Soprano clarinet - B♭ clarinet is the most common one. Basset clarinet - A soprano clarinet with a range extension to low C (written) Basset horn - Alto-to-tenor range instrument with (usually) a smaller bore than the alto clarinet, and a range extended to low (written) C Alto clarinet - About half an octave lower than the B♭clarinet Bass clarinet - An octave below the B♭ clarinet often with an extended low range Contra-alto clarinet - An octave below the alto clarinet Contrabass clarinet — An octave below the bass clarinet |
| Conch |  | India | A Sankh shell (the shell of a Turbinella species in the gastropod family Turbinellidae) is often referred to in the West as a conch shell, or a chank shell. This is a major Hindu article of prayer. It is used as a trumpet. The god of Preservation, Vishnu, is said to hold a special conch, Panchajanya, that represents life, as it has come out of life-giving waters. In the story of Dhruva the divine conch plays a special part. The warriors of ancient India would blow conch shells to announce battle, such as is described in the beginning of the war of Kurukshetra, in the Mahabharata, the famous Hindu epic. The conch shell is a deep part of Hindu symbolic and religious tradition. |
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