Single Reed

This refers to a woodwind instrument that uses only one reed to produce sound. Single-reed instruments were in use as far back as ancient Egypt, as well as the Middle East, Greece, and the Roman Empire. The earliest types of single-reed instruments used “idioglottal” reeds, meaning the vibrating reed is a tongue, cut and shaped on the tube of cane. Much later, single-reed instruments started using “heteroglottal” reeds, whereby a reed is cut and separated from the tube of cane and attached to a mouthpiece of some sort. Reeds are traditionally made of cane and produce sound when air is blown across or through them.