| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recorder |  | Germany | The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes — whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle and ocarina. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple. It is distinguished from other members of the family by having holes for seven fingers and one for the thumb of the uppermost hand. Purcell, Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi used the recorder to suggest shepherds and birds, and the pattern continued into the 20th century. The sound of the recorder is remarkably clear and sweet, partly because of the lack of upper harmonics and predominance of odd harmonics in the sound. There are recorder orchestras in Germany, Holland, Japan, the United States, Canada, the UK and several other countries. |
| Rhaita |  | Morocco | The rhaita or ghaita (Arabic: غيطه) is a double reed instrument from Northern Africa. It is one of the primary instruments used by the Master Musicians of Jajouka and Master Musicians of Joujouka, two traditional music ensembles from Morocco. The rhaita was also featured in the three Lord of the Rings soundtracks by Howard Shore, specifically in the Mordor theme. American composer John Corigliano calls one of the movements of his 1975 Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra "Rhaita Dance," asking the oboist to imitate a rhaita by pushing the reed further into his or her mouth. |
| Rih |  | Ukraine | The rih (Ukrainian: Ріг) (Rizhok, Lihava, Cossack Horn, Hornpipe) was a popular instrument in Eastern Ukraine, with between three and six fingerholes, or sometimes none. Usually they were made from a cylindrical reed with a cow's horn to form the bell. The mouthpiece usually has a single reed although occasionally double reed instruments can be found. |
| Roman Tuba |  | Italy | The Roman tuba is an ancient musical instrument, different from the modern tuba. Tuba (from tubus, Latin for tube) was produced around 500 BC, and like the Cornu (a similar instrument), was used as a military signal trumpet. The origin is Etruscan and has many similarities with the Greek Salpinx. It was a straight instrument, usually of bronze, about four feet long, and played with a detachable bone mouthpiece. This instrument, although disputed, could be the ancestor and the source of the name for the modern tuba. |
| Rondador |  | Ecuador | The rondador is a set of chorded bamboo panpipes that produces two tones simultaneously by blowing air across the top of two adjacent pipes simultaneously. It consists of pieces of cane, placed side by side in order by size and closed at one end. The rondador is considered the national instrument of Ecuador. Ecuadorian San Juanito is the most well known rhythm associated with this instrument. |
| Ryuteki |  | Japan | The ryūteki (龍笛; literally "dragon flute") is a Japanese transverse flute made of bamboo. It is used in gagaku, the Shinto classical music associated with Japan's imperial court. The sound of the ryūteki is said to represent the dragons which ascend the skies between the heavenly lights (represented by the shō) and the people of the earth (represented by the hichiriki). The ryūteki is held horizontally, has seven holes, and has a length of 40 centimeters and an inner diameter of 1.3 centimeters. Unlike the western flute, the holes are not covered by the finger tips, rather, the fleshy part of the finger is used. This allows for better control of "half-holing" techniques and chromatic notes, by simply raising the finger slightly above the holes. |
| Sackbut |  | Europe | The Sackbut (var. Sacbutt; Sackbutt; Sagbutt;), a brass instrument from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras, is the ancestor of the modern trombone. The term sackbut is usually used to differentiate the historic instrument from its modern counterpart. Increasing interest in authentic performance in recent years has brought many trombonists to the sackbut. There are two theories for the source of the name: it is either derived from the Middle French sacquer (to push) and bouter (to pull) or from the Spanish sacar (to draw or pull) and bucha (a tube or pipe). The term survives in numerous English spelling variations including sacbut, sagbut, shagbolt and shakbusshe. In France, the instrument was called sacqueboute; in Germany, Posaune, in Spain, sacabuche, and in Italy, trombone. |
| Saenghwang |  | Korea | The saenghwang is a Korean wind instrument. It is a free reed mouth organ derived from (and quite similar to) the Chinese sheng, though the tuning is different. It is constructed from 17 bamboo pipes, each with a metal free reed, mounted in a metal windchest (the windchest was formerly made from a dried gourd). In contrast to other Korean traditional instruments, it is little used today and very few musicians are able to play it. The image shows a gisaeng playing a saenghwang. The painting is from the Hyewon pungsokdo (an album of the genre paintings drawn by the Korean painter Shin Yunbok during the late Joseon dynasty). |
| Saluang |  | Indonesia | The saluang is a traditional musical instrument of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is similar to the flute in general and made of bamboo. It is related to the suling of other parts of Indonesia. |
| Sarrusophone |  | France | The sarrusophone is a family of transposing musical instruments patented and placed into production by Pierre-Louis Gautrot in 1856. It was named after the French bandmaster Pierre-Auguste Sarrus (1813-1876) who is credited with the concept of the instrument and its intended use was to serve as a replacement for the oboe and bassoon in bands, the tones of which lack the carrying power needed for the outdoor band music of that era. All members of the sarrusophone family are made of metal, with a conical bore, and the larger members of the family resemble the ophicleide in shape. Like the oboe and bassoon, all sizes of sarrusophone were originally designed to be played with a double reed. Later, single reed mouthpieces were developed which resemble alto or soprano saxophone mouthpieces. |
| Saxhorn |  | Europe | The saxhorn is a valved brass instrument with a tapered bore and deep cup-shaped mouthpiece. The sound has a characteristic mellow quality, and blends well with other brass. The saxhorns form a family of seven instruments (although at one point ten different sizes seem to have existed). Designed for band use, they are pitched alternately in E-flat and B-flat, like the saxophone group. There was a parallel family built in F and C for orchestral use, but this seems to have died out. |
| Saxophone |  | Belgium | The saxophone (colloquially referred to as sax) is a conical-bored musical instrument usually considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in the early 1840s, and patented in 1846 in two groups of seven instruments each. Within each group the instruments formed a logical series in alternating transposition. The series pitched in B♭ and E♭, designed for military bands, has proved extremely popular and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. While proving very popular in its intended niche of military band music, the saxophone is most commonly associated with popular music, big band music, blues, and particularly jazz. The image shows an E♭ alto saxophone (left), a curved B♭ soprano saxophone, and a B♭ tenor saxophone(right.) |
| Serpent |  | France | A serpent is a bass wind instrument, descended from the cornett, and a distant ancestor of the tuba, with a mouthpiece like a brass instrument but side holes like a woodwind. It is usually a long cone bent into a snakelike shape, hence the name. The serpent is closely related to the cornett, although it is not part of the cornett family, due to the absence of a thumb hole. It is generally made out of wood, with walnut being a particularly popular choice. The outside is covered with dark brown or black leather. Despite wooden construction and the fact that it has fingerholes rather than valves, it is usually classed as a brass, with the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification placing it alongside trumpets. |
| Shakuhachi |  | Japan | The shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown flute which is held vertically like a recorder, instead of transversely like the Western transverse flute. Its name means "1.8 foot", its size. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in wood and plastic. It was used by the monks of the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism in the practice of suizen (blowing meditation). Its soulful sound made it popular in 1980s Western pop music. |
| Shawm |  | Europe | The shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the late 13th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood, and terminated in a flared bell somewhat like that of a trumpet. The bassoon-like double reed, made from the same Arundo donax cane used for oboes and bassoons, was inserted directly into a socket at the top of the instrument, or in the larger types, on the end of a metal tube called the bocal. The pirouette, a small cylindrical piece of wood with a hole in the middle resembling a thimble, was placed over the reed. |
| Shehnai |  | India | The shehnai is an aerophonic instrument which is thought to bring good luck, and as a result, is widely used in North India for marriages and processions. This tube-like instrument gradually widens towards the lower end. It usually has between six and nine holes. It employs two sets of double reeds, making it a quadruple reed woodwind. By controlling the breath, various tunes can be played on it. |
| Sheng |  | China | The sheng (Chinese: 笙) is a mouth-blown free reed instrument from China. . It is commonly called as the "Chinese mouth organ" by western people. Sheng is one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments. It consists of 13-17 bamboo pipes with different lengths that are mounted together onto a gourd-shaped base. Each bamboo pipe has a free reed made of brass. Traditionally, the sheng has been used as an accompaniment instrument for solo suona or dizi performances. In the modern symphonic Chinese orchestra, it is used for both melody and accompaniment. |
| Shinobue |  | Japan | The shinobue (kanji: 篠笛; also called takebue) is a Japanese transverse flute that has a high-pitched sound. It is found in hayashi and nagauta ensembles, and plays important roles in noh and kabuki theatre music. It is heard in Shinto music such as kagura-den, as well as in traditional Japanese folk songs. The image shows three types of Uta-you shinobue: (1) in Bb, top binding (2) in B, black painted (3) in C, without binding |
| shō |  | Japan | The shō (笙) is a Japanese free reed musical instrument that was introduced from China during the Nara period. It consists of 17 slender bamboo pipes, each of which is fitted in its base with a metal free reed. The instrument's sound is said to imitate the call of a phoenix. The pipes are tuned carefully with a drop of wax. As moisture collected in the shō's pipes prevents it from sounding, performers can be seen warming the instrument over a small charcoal brazier when they are not playing. The shō is one of the three primary woodwind instruments used in gagaku, Japan's imperial court music. The image shows a Chinese sheng (left) and a Japanese shō (right.) |
| Shofar |  | Israel | A shofar (Hebrew: שופר) is a musical instrument used for religious/non-religious purposes. Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar is sometimes used in Western classical music. In pop music, the shofar is used by the Israeli Oriental metal band Salem in their adaptation of "Al Taster" psalm. Trumpeter Lester Bowie plays a shofar with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In Joey Arkenstat's album Bane, the former bassist for Phish is credited for playing the shofar. The image shows a shofar made from the horn of a kudu. |
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