answersLogoWhite

0

A bellows is a device for providing a stream of air. It acts like the lungs, drawing in air when opened and providing that air through a small aperture when compressed.

While bellows are used as the primary mechanism for Accordion- and concertina-family instruments and to drive some types of Bagpipes and were used before motorized air pumps were available on organs, the bellows is not, on its own, a musical instrument.

Instruments which use bellows do fit into the Wind Instrument family, and instruments which, historically, were actuated by bellows are also still considered members of the Wind instruments.

However, in any taxonomy more complicated than the one you're taught in elementary school, instruments like organs can be very difficult to fit into a single category since they have keyboards, can change their tone (timbre), and can be (as in the case of the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organs) fitted with air-actuated percussion instruments and even air-motor actuated strings.

For clarification, "wind instrument" and "air instrument" would be the same thing, with "air instrument" being a term not used at all in any discipline. "Tapping instruments" are percussion instruments, and again, the term "tapping instruments" is not used.

User Avatar

Wiki User

10y ago

What else can I help you with?

Continue Learning about Music & Radio

What woodwind instrument does not use bellows as a source of air?

ocarina


What woodwind instrument doesn't use bellows as a source of air?

saxophone, flute, clarinet


What type of instrument is a concertina?

A concertina is a musical instrument sometimes known as a 'squeeze box'. It consists of a central bellows with keyboards at either end. The buttons of the keyboard are pressed whilst the the bellows are pushed together or pulled apart to generate music.


Name for bagpipe bellows?

Bagpipe bellows are called bellows - all bagpipes have a bag and at least one or more pipes that produce a melody (usually called a chanter) and usually a drone. They can be further classified according to how air is supplied to the bag. "Mouth-blown" (like the most common form of the instrument, the Great Highland Bagpipe of Scotland) means air is supplied to the bag directly from the player's lungs by means of a blow pipe. "Bellows-blown" (like the Irish uillean bagpipes or Scottish small'pipes) means the air is supplied to the bag by means of a bellows (very similar to a fireplace bellows) which the 'piper straps under one elbow- the 'piper pumps air from the intake valve on top of the bellows into the bellows which then pushes it thru a blowpipe on the other side which is attached to the bag by means of a wooden "stock" or connector. The operation of the bellows has nothing to do with the music, it's just like breathing. Whether a bagpipe is mouth-blown or bellows-blown doesn't influence what the instrument sounds like- the dimensions of the chanter and drones, materials used to make the instrument and the strength and design of the reeds determine that.


Which woodwind instrument does not use bellows as a source of air?

The mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument is the part of the instrument which is placed partly in the player's mouth. Single-reed instruments have mouthpieces while exposed double-reed instruments and open flutes do not have mouthpieces. The oboe and the bassoon are two instruments that have a double reed.

Related Questions

Pressure measuring instrument?

bellows, diaphragm, bourden tubes


What woodwind instrument does not use bellows as a source of air?

ocarina


What does a bellows mender do?

A bellows-mender is someone who repairs bellows, the instrument which puffs air into a fire to make it hotter. The bellows consists of two hinged pieces of wood with a leather bag attached to them, and the leather of the hinges and the bag was always wearing out.


Is the accordion a percussion instrument?

No, it's a Keyboard instrument that utilises a bellows to pass air over a reed to make a note.


What is a squeeze box?

A musical instrument that is played by squeezing a bellows, which forces air through the instrument. Simple form of an accordion.


What is the definition of concertina?

A small musical instrument that makes music by opening and closing a bellows.


What woodwind instrument doesn't use bellows as a source of air?

saxophone, flute, clarinet


What type of instrument is a concertina?

A concertina is a musical instrument sometimes known as a 'squeeze box'. It consists of a central bellows with keyboards at either end. The buttons of the keyboard are pressed whilst the the bellows are pushed together or pulled apart to generate music.


What is a Accordion?

The accordion is a musical instrument. It is very portable, you can carry it with you. You have two types of accordion, one with piano keys, and the other with buttons. An accordion is a wind instrument, which means it is driven by air. You pump the air trough the bellows, the middle part, by pressing a button and pushing and pulling the bellows.


Why is a piano accordion a wind instrument?

A piano accordion is considered a wind instrument because it produces sound by vibrating reeds through the passage of air, which is created by the bellows being compressed or expanded. Despite having a piano-style keyboard, the sound generation mechanism classifies it as a wind instrument.


Name for bagpipe bellows?

Bagpipe bellows are called bellows - all bagpipes have a bag and at least one or more pipes that produce a melody (usually called a chanter) and usually a drone. They can be further classified according to how air is supplied to the bag. "Mouth-blown" (like the most common form of the instrument, the Great Highland Bagpipe of Scotland) means air is supplied to the bag directly from the player's lungs by means of a blow pipe. "Bellows-blown" (like the Irish uillean bagpipes or Scottish small'pipes) means the air is supplied to the bag by means of a bellows (very similar to a fireplace bellows) which the 'piper straps under one elbow- the 'piper pumps air from the intake valve on top of the bellows into the bellows which then pushes it thru a blowpipe on the other side which is attached to the bag by means of a wooden "stock" or connector. The operation of the bellows has nothing to do with the music, it's just like breathing. Whether a bagpipe is mouth-blown or bellows-blown doesn't influence what the instrument sounds like- the dimensions of the chanter and drones, materials used to make the instrument and the strength and design of the reeds determine that.


What is an accordion?

An accordion is a portable, keyed wind instrument, whose tones are generated due to wind from squeezed bellows upon metallic reeds.