How a Bassoon is Constructed

The following information is derived from Wikipedia:

The bassoon disassembles into six main pieces, including the reed. The bell (6), extending upward; the long (or bass) joint (5), connecting the bell and the boot; the boot (or butt) (4), at the bottom of the instrument and folding over on itself; the wing (or tenor) joint (3), which extends from boot to bocal; and the bocal (or crook) (2), a crooked metal tube which attaches the wing joint to the reed, which is held in the mouth. (1) (listen (help·info)).

The modern bassoon is generally made of maple, with medium-hardness types such as sycamore maple and sugar maple being preferred. Less-expensive models are also made out of materials such as polypropylene and ebonite, primarily for student and outdoor use; metal bassoons were made in the past but have not been in production by any major manufacturer since 1889. The bore of the instrument is conical, like that of the oboe and the saxophone, and the bottom of the instrument connects the bore in the middle with a u-shaped metal connector. Both bore and holes are precision-machined, and each instrument is finished by hand for proper tuning. The walls of the instrument are sufficiently thick that the finger holes are drilled obliquely to aid in fingering, and wooden instruments are lined with a hard rubber lining along the interior of the wing and boot joints to prevent damage from moisture with extensive playing; wooden instruments are also stained and varnished. The top of the bell is frequently completed with a ring, often of plastic or ivory. The separate joints, where they connect, are wrapped in either cork or string, to aid sealing against air leaks. The bocal, which is inserted into the top of the wing joint and has one end wrapped in cork for sealing, may come in many different lengths, depending on the desired tuning.

Folded upon itself, the bassoon stands 134 cm (4.4 feet) tall, but the total length is 254 cm (roughly 8.3 feet). Playing is facilitated by doubling the tube back on itself and by closing the distance between the widely-spaced holes with a complex system of keywork, which extends throughout nearly the entire length of the instrument. There are also short-reach bassoons made for the benefit of young or petite players.

Bassoon players must learn three different clefs: Bass (first and foremost), Tenor, and Treble. The range of the bassoon begins at B-flat₁ (the first one below the bass staff) and extends upward over three octaves. Higher notes are possible but difficult to produce and rarely called for; orchestral parts rarely go higher than the C or D, with even Stravinsky's famously difficult opening solo in The Rite of Spring only ascending to the D. The low A at the bottom of the range first appeared in Wagner’s Tristan (1865) and is only possible with a special extension to the instrument. This extension can take the form of an extra, longer replacement bell (with additional keywork on the long joint) or a paper tube, English horn bell, or similar extension placed in the bassoon's Bb bell. Wagner frequently used low A in his operas and encouraged Heckel to construct instruments with low A capability and the A bell still exists as an option. While the extra bell preserves chromatic possibilities, the simpler alternatives make the bottom B-flat impossible to play and affect the intonation of the lower notes. The last chord of the 1922 Quintet for Winds by Carl Nielsen includes an optional low A and Gustav Mahler occasionally uses it in his symphonies.