Together with the flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and contrabassoon, it covers the role of the bass and tenor instrument of the orchestra. Bassoon history The 16th century ancestor of the bassoon was given many names: fagot for the French, dulcian for the Germans, bajon for the Spanish, curtal for the English, and fagotto for the Italians. Air flow through reeds is generated by expansion and compression of the accordions bellows. A keyboard or a set of buttons handles which reeds will accept air flow which produces the tones. The pressing of buttons causes valves or pallets to open and lets air flow across the reeds which will vibrate. Voice of the oboe Compared to other contemporary woodwind musical instrument, this instrument has a lucid and piercing voice. It is described as stately and majestical by an instruction book entitle The Sprightly Companion. The timbre comes from the conical bore which is in contrast to the cylindrical bore of clarinets and flutes. Types of bagpipes The most well-known bagpipe, Great Highland Bagpipe, overshadows many other types of bagpipes. There are bagpipes widely spread throughout Middle East and Europe. Even though there was a drastic decline of the other kinds, there was a revival in more recent times. For example, the Irish piping declined in the mid 1900 s but came back and is still alive today. In Italy, harpsichord makers made lightweight versions with little string tension but the harpsichords were made with a heavier construction by the Ruckers family in the late 1500's. This creates a more unique and powerful tone. Flemish instruments were the basis of the harpsichord in the 18th century. The difference is that the strings of the lyre stem from a somewhat common area of the soundboard while the strings of the zither are spread across most of the soundboard. To understand this better, picture out the violin which is sometimes regarded as a fingerboard lyre compared to the piano which is a keyed zither.