A doubled wooden tube that acts eight feet tall
The bassoon—woodwind of tenor and bass, usually maple—stands about 1.34 meters high yet sounds a 2.54-meter conical bore folded back on itself. Players vibrate a double reed of Arundo donax cane through a metal bocal, navigating fingerings complex enough that many carve their own reeds.
Two modern key systems exist: German Heckel and French Buffet. The instrument is non-transposing, written mainly in bass and tenor clefs (sometimes treble), ranging from B-flat 1 up more than three octaves toward G5, though parts seldom exceed C5—Stravinsky's Rite of Spring solo reaches D5, Ravel's Piano Concerto E5. Six main pieces assemble: reed, bocal, wing joint, boot with its U-connector, long joint, and upward bell. Tone holes angled through thick walls bring finger spacing within adult reach; short-reach models help petite players. Student instruments may use polypropylene or ebonite; metal bassoons vanished from major makers after 1889.
Historians usually treat the dulcian as forerunner—double reed on a crook, oblique holes, folded conical bore—available by the mid-sixteenth century in up to eight sizes. The true baroque bassoon was likely a new design, often credited to Martin Hotteterre (d. 1712) in the 1650s: four joints allowing precise boring and two keys extending down to B-flat. A fourth key (G-sharp) around 1700 served Vivaldi, Bach, and Telemann; a fifth (low E-flat) arrived in the first half of the eighteenth century. Dulcians nonetheless lingered into Bach's era.
Reed making—split tube cane, gouge, profile, wire binding, mandrel forming, wrapping, tip bevel—remains a personal craft; commercial reeds almost always need tweaking. Seat straps support sitting players; harnesses allow standing. Orchestras, bands, and chamber groups rely on its color; pop, rock, and jazz appearances are rarer but real.
Bundle of sticks in name (fagotto), orchestra's quiet comedian in role—the bassoon's comedy depends on serious carpentry.
Source: Bassoon
