Product Description
This superior study by a leading authority on woodwind instruments is considered the definitive work on the subject, combining a history of woodwinds with detailed descriptions and photographs of the various instruments in use today. Foreword by Sir Adrian Boult. "This excellent book ought to be in every library"—Musical Times. Glossary. Appendixes. 34 halftones. 41 line illustrations. 25 musical examples. 16 fingering charts.
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Customer Reviews (2)

Woodwinds Explained
"Woodwind Instruments And Their History" was chosen to be recorded for the blind and dyslexic by RFB&D.The book was written in the 1950s but apart from some British usages which may be strange to American readers, the book remains fresh and informative.The author's "voice" is often quite funny, deliberately so for the most part which is a refreshing change in what is essentially a textbook.As recommended by another reviewer, it is an excellent book for musicians.At the same time, anyone interested in the history of music can enjoy and learn from what is written.I am not musical, but I was delighted to learn while helping to record it.

Wonderful book over all types of wind instruments!
This is one of the best books that I have ever seen written on this subject.It was this book that got me really hooked on the possibilities that exist within the woodwind section.I particularly enjoy some of thetime spent on the more obscure members (e.g. sarrusophone).The only thingthat one may say it lacks is a more comprehensive section on the saxophonewhich is grouped as an exotic form of the clarinet.All in all this is agreat book and a must have for all musicians. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Woodwind Wisdom
I have been playing flute for many years, and, being a practical person,I love to know how something works, and how to fix it when that is necessary. I have recently got into servicing and repairing flutes and other woodwinds, and have found Ronald Saska's book, A Guide To Repairing Woodwinds an excellent resource. The thing I like about it is that he imparts his wisdom from experience, and that comes through in his detailed instructions about the various aspects of repair. The illustrations in the book are very helpful, too. I recommend it as a great resource for woodwind players and those who repair woodwinds.

In looking for a good resource, I searched the internet and found that this book was generally advertised at much higher prices than at Amazon, even in secondhand bookstores. Needless to say, I bought from Amazon.com, and found that the book arrived in Australia quickly, and in first rate condition. I was very happy with the service.

Guide to Repairing Woodwinds - Saska



An excellent book for a beginning repair person. Similar info to the Erick Brand text. Includes a few newer methods, especially in the crack repair section. A worthwhile addition to your repair library, or a good first text that is relatively comprehensive.

Woodwind Repair
I bought this book as an assist to my first complete overhaul of a tenor sax.I found the information extremely helpful, and its use would allow someone with even a moderate amount of mechanical ability to perform routine repairs and adjustments of their own instruments.

Don't Buy this book
I bought this book to learn how to repair my instruments.This book has a lot of information, but it doesn't teach well.There's plenty of text (273 pgs full of them), but no pictures (i mean there's not enough...it needs more pictures!!!) to complement.I wish there were pictures of the tools so I can visually see through the lengthy text.Most of the visual aids are drawn like 2d cartoon.Don't waste your money like me on buying this book.I wish I can return the book because I don't have the patience to learn instrument repair from this book. I hope this helps your decision for purchasing this book.

Good overview of woodwind repair.
Bought this mostly for the saxophone section.Provides a good overview of the basic techniques for woodwind maintenance and repair.Uses the clarinet as an example for basic techniques (so don't skip it), then explains specifics for other instruments.Clear and informative, if a little expensive. But it's a specialty book, so that's expected.Recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
A practical and comprehensive text on instrument repairs that commonly challenge the music teacher. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Buying after borrowing
I'm buying a copy of this book after returning the library copy.The writing is clear and easy to understand.Common problems (example:middle valve sticking on a trumpet) are identifiedand covered, simplifying diagnosis.

You must know your instrunment parts
Not being a music teacher, I don't really know the names of each instrument parts. Reading through this book I noticed that one must know the technical names of all the musical instrument parts.
More illustrations would have been very useful, whether they are pictures or drawings.
Conclusion: if you can find online instrument part schematics, it would greatly help.

OK--but limited
Practical suggestions for the school music teacher.The limited information about the saxophone is, I think, the weakest aspect of the text.

An excellent introduction to band instrument repair.
This little book provides a very helpful overview of many aspects of brass and woodwind repair.There are chapters dealing with clarinets, flutes, trumpets and trombones, as well as references to many other instruments.This book obviously can't cover every aspect of instrument repair, but it does an excellent job of providing useful information and describing, in detail, practical repair techniques for the areas it does cover.The author knows how to write well, also. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Very pleasing

Tony 'Baldrick' Robinson's 'Amateur Wind Instrument Maker' is an excellent guide to the craft of instrument building. As a semi-professional Pan-pipe player, I have often been disappointed with the timbre of mass-produced instruments. To achieve results here one requires a good degree of competence in various skills, but they are worth the effort. Doreen assures me that my rendition of 'Apache' now comes across far more effectively than on any factory-made instrument. This is a marvellous pre-cursor to his later book 'Amateur Grand Piano Maker'.

A great book, but with some details lacking.
I would recomend this book to anyone that is seriously considering the crafting of woodwind instruments.The book provides basic plans for an eclectic mix of instruments and helped point out some of the problems that I was having in my own wood working adventures.
However, there were many areas that I felt were incomplete. The book had brief descriptions of techniques that I felt should have been expanded further and some of the plans should have had views from different aspects and in higher detail.
What I appreciate about this books the techniques for making your own tapered reamers and links to organizations that will help me to further and expand my knowledge on instrument craft.

wind maker
this book did not cover what i had hoped that it would so was a waste of effort

It's woth it for the plans.
Any where you go the price of even a poorly made fife is around 40$ Then you have things like crumhorns and racketts. Racketts list from 250 on up and good luck even finding a Tenor recorder for less than 300 (U.S.) So just on a plansbasis the book is a good investment.
It's not a shop how-to manual. The book assumes you allready have and know how to use your tools. The author provides the needed information to make simple (Renassance-ish time period) wood wind instruments. It's exactly what it says is, an amature guide and from the stand point, it's an excellant book and an excellant buy

The best reference on the subject
I purchased this volume about two years ago and finally had the chance to make some instruments based upon it. Overall the book is extremely good and it appears to be the only reference of its sort. I enjoy broswing the bookand reading Robinson's informative essays on each instrument. It is anenjoyable book even if you never actually make any of the instruments init.

I have looked for other references, but this seems to be the only oneof its kind. Although there is a need for a more detailedconstruction-oriented manual of this type, I was able to make a quitesatisfactory tenor cornamuse and a slightly less satisfactory tenor racketfrom Robinson's instructions.

If you intend to make instruments I wouldrecommend that you find examples of the instrument you wish to make sincethere are many details that no description could adequately deal with.

Mytwo major complaints are as follows. First, the instrument dimensions aregiven in metric units but the grid upon which the drawings are placed is ininches. A consistent use of one system or the other would make the drawingsmuch easier to follow. Second, the drawings are vary highly in theirquality. The baroque rackett, for example, is very clean and easy tofollow, but the oboe and shawm drawings are of much lower quality.

Thebest thing would be a second, expanded edition of the book with betterdrawings.

(As one last note, if you are trying to find the "shellauger" mentioned in the book you will need to search for it from awood turning catalogue as a "lamp auger") ... Read more

Product Description
Wind Talk for Woodwinds provides instrumental music teachers, practitioners, and students with a handy, easy-to-use pedagogical resource for woodwind instruments found in school instrumental programs. With thorough coverage of the most common woodwind instruments - flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon - the book offers the most topical and information necessary for effective teaching. This includes terminology, topics, and concepts associated with each specific instrument, along with teaching suggestions that can be applied in the classroom. Be sure to look to the back of the book for a "Practical Tips" section, which discusses common technical faults and corrections, common problems with sound (as well as their causes and solutions to them), fingering charts, literature lists (study materials, method books, and solos), as well as a list of additional resources relevant to teaching woodwind instruments (articles, websites, audio recordings). Without question, Wind Talk for Woodwinds stands alone as an invaluable resource for woodwinds! ... Read more

Product Description
These books will provide a music resource that classifies musical instruments according to traditional groupings of the orchestra. Each title focuses on one instrument to show the characteristics of a group and presents the music in a modern multi-cultural and technological context. Each book includes: - artwork to show how different sounds are made - glossary and index ... Read more

Product Description
This follow-up edition presents a continuation and expansion of the techniques presented in Scale Studies, with a special emphasis on chordal concepts. It includes innovative exercises and solos that will help sax players learn melody, harmony, rhythm and improvisation techniques. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Technique of the Saxophone-Volume 2 REVIEW
This book was okay and it did provide the information that I was looking for. The only problem was that it was not as basic as I needed and it took for granted that a lot of information was already known which it was not.

Buy all three!
Technique of Saxophone: Chord Studies is the second volume of three for the saxophone. I have all three, the first being Scale Studies, and the third forcusing on Rhythm Studies. I have enjoyed using all three books and have found them to be extremely helpful. I have noticed an improvement in my reading skills as well as my improvisation technique which I have struggled with for years. I highly recommend all three volumes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The one woodwind physics book you will ever need
For whatever reasons, I had thought of attempting a numerical analysis of bagpipe physics. Mostly because nobody has done it in a serious way: preferring to focus on obnoxiously snooty woodwinds like the Clarinet or the Oboe. In any case, the bagpipe is quite amenable to numerical simulation due to the relative simplicity of its construction, and the sophistication of the models for the Clarinet and Oboe. This book is certainly the right one to use, and I have ahalf dozen ideas based on it, which I eventually need to turn into numeric code. It is vastly better than the other standard references; Benade is oft cited as the "authority." Perhaps he is, but Benade certainly can't communicate his findings as well as Nederveen has in this book (and in fact, to my befuddlement, Benade *doesn't* communicate some more important facts in his book, despite having himself written some of the important journal articles that Nederveen cites in this book).

Need to learn about pipe organs, oboes, clarinets or other woodwinds? This is the book to start your research with. Remarkably for the content, it's relatively inexpensive and a very well made softcover book.

Technical review
This book has all the information needed to understand and design a woodwind instrument, at least flutes, which I am involved with.It is written clearly, explicitly, and distantly, in all detail, yet with no wasted words or tangential discussions. It is well organized clear and definitive.One can use it to design, flutes with small holes and no keys as were used in the 18th century; wooden classical flutes of the 19 century with or without keys; or modern flutes of the late 19th and 20th century.Design of key works is not included, just acoustical design.Tables are few but with today's calculators, tables are almost obsolete.

The previous reviewer said that a Ph. D. in physics is needed to use the book because of the mathematical sophistication.More accurate, would be, an M.S. degree in high frequency electrical engineering, transmission lines and microwave cavity design.The mathematics and physical concepts used in woodwind design were barrowed from electrical transmission and antenna design;concepts like characteristic admittance, standing wave ratios, and impedance matching.However, if one is a physicist or advanced engineer in any field, one can obtain these basic concepts from transmission line theory books with little difficulty, assuming you are at home with basic differential and integral calculus and complex variables.

I see no flaws in this book and highly recommend it with 5 stars.

Nelson McAvoy

Tantalizing acoustic secrets revealed.... partially.
First off, this is a physicist's book. It is worth bearing in mind that this book is a PhD thesis, and has that format: there are lots of equations, with a few charts on almost every page. That will probably put a lot of people off. Still, if you really want to understand, in a quantitative way, the acoustics of woodwinds, I haven't found another book that approaches it as directly as this one (Fletcher and Rossing's book is encyclopedic in its coverage of instruments, and therefore necessarily thin on specifics of particular instruments). You probably don't need a PhD to read it, but certainly a master's degree to get much out of it.

First, the bad news: I think the layout could be improved: the sections are numbered in order from the start of the book right through to the end, rather than in a chapter-by-chapter way. This makes it difficult to find section 27 (for example), because there's no way to narrow down where it might be. The notes added for this edition could have been integrated into the main text, rather than being appended. Still, I suppose the readership may not be large enough to warrant such a thorough overhauling.

The good news: This book lays it all out for you, if in a rather terse way. It's broken down into four chapters, roughly corresponding to introduction, bore, toneholes, applications. The math is heavy at times, and is not helped by the choice to print in two columns on each page, thereby causing a lot of equations to be broken over two lines. Also the choice of variable names is not particularly mnemonic, so I found myself constantly referring back a few pages, to remind myself of their meaning. Still, it starts off generically, develops general models, then applies them to each of the classical instruments: flute, sax, clarinet, oboe, bassoon.

My greatest wish for future editions of the book would be to augment how much is left unsaid. Each chapter concludes with a half-page summary. More than once, I found myself reading something in the summary that I couldn't recall from the text. But by studying the charts and equations closely, and doing a few back-of-the-envelope calculations, I found that it really was there. (An example would be at the end of Ch.2, where there's a mention of how conical-bore instruments can be overblown in the octave until the truncation ratio reaches about 0.2. It's not explicitly stated in the main text, but you can see it, with a little thought, from the charts on the facing page.) So I feel that the book could really be enhanced with some more textual analysis.

I hope the author has a chance to re-work this book - there's clearly so much between the lines. ... Read more

Product Description
The Boosey Woodwind and Brass Method is designed to be used in lessons and when you play your instrument between lessons. The CD will help you between lessons - it contains performances and backing tracks of most of the pieces in the book, as well as listening activities. ... Read more

Product Description
Simple flutes of bamboo, wood, metal, plastic, or clay can be a joy to play and make. This book gives you the basics of simple flute playing, then offers guidelines for making flutes of your own from a variety of materials. It even includes a handy chart for "where to put the holes." This book is a must for simple flute players and makers! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Simple Book...
Too simple....I almost returned it, but didn't think it was worth the effort.
This is a PAMPHLET, not a book....there are pages with only one centered paragraph on the whole page, saying, basically, "you too can play a flute."Then on to the next chapter!

It has some worthwhile information, so I kept it.The title is longer than the book....maybe he should have put the title inside to make it longer.

Basic info book for transverse flute
If you have a desire to learn how to build a transverse, or side blown flute, this is a start.Transverse or side blown, is only one of many types of flutes.If you have an interest in Chinese flutes, Bolivian Flutes, pan flutes, or Native American type flutes,do your research on the internet and find the book related to the type. Each of these other flutes are shaped, made, and played differently.
Simple flutes will teach you the basics and theory of the construction of the classic side blown flute. It is worth the money just to have it as a reference book.

It's alright but more how to would be nice
Personally, I liked the book, but perhaps some more pictures on how to do things would be nice.For example, on how to make a wood flute it says a shell auger can be used to make a flute.Some step by step directions would be nice.

wonderful
this is a great book to give the BASICS of creating simple instruments such as flutes.its very short and gives some great base ideas for begainers.i do wish it was more detailed however it will have you making flutes quickly

Review of Simple Flutes by Mark Shepard
My interest in flutes began years ago by making several pan flutes from Bamboo and acrylic tubing. After a trip to Peru in 2004 I became interested in quenas...end blown Andean flutes. My ambitions then carried through to wanting to make transverse flutes. I have found the book Simple Flutes perfect for my initial foray into trans-flute making. I am impressed with the economy of words that conveyed much information. It is a good doorway to other references. The G flute described in this book was easy to build and works very well. More detailed data for other sizes would have been welcome. However, more ponderous book might discourage the neophyte into not carrying through with making one's first flute. Mark's book and instructions made it easy to be successful, which then whets the appetite to get more involved with flutes in other keys.
A great, simple to read handbook for someone starting in this fascinating hobby.
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Product Description
Guide to Teaching Woodwings is written primarily for the college student who is preparing for instrumental teaching, although the woodwind teacher or player will find it useful also. At a time when teacher education programs allow only a minimal amount of time for the specialized study of instrumental teaching, a text that not only provides the basics but includes essential details for future reference is essential. This text attempts to meet that need. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Very Informational!
I love this book and have found it VERY helpful in many ways! My only issue is that the photos in the text are outdated and kept from previous editions.

Disappointed
I was really disappointed when I got this book.I mean, it was a good price, but it's in really bad condition.The back cover was ripped off and it's just not good.I would just be careful buying from this dealer again.

Save
Classic text with not many changes over the years.

Newest edition (5th) is 1989. The second newest is the 4th edition of 1985.

I have even looked at 2nd Edition of 1974! I haven't done a page-by-page comparison, but it looks very much the same as well.

Ok, so maybe you don't need an appendix with "Phonograph Recordings" (!)

what a deal
I was able to use this for my woodwind studies, and at a fraction of the cost! ... Read more

Product Description
This far-reaching and absorbing book is designed to help identify and value woodwind instruments made in Europe and the United States during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Drawing upon the author's many years of research in the field, the book includes a brief history of European woodwind instruments made during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; biographies of important makers; a glossary of terms that will be a welcome help for the novice; a list of key systems; resources for obtaining further information from books, museums, societies, and online; and most importantly, information and nearly 300 images taken from over 20 trade catalogs printed between 1880 and 1930 in Europe and the United States. Featured among these is a complete translation of William Heckel's rare, circa 1930 catalog. This comprehensive volume is an outstanding resource for beginning and advanced collectors of musical instruments as well as for museum curators. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A sadly deficient book--Stay Away!
I have 25 years' experience in buying and selling antique woodwinds, so this book was of very great interest.It claims to be a buyers'/collectors' guide to antique woodwinds.It fails miserably.

It takes illustrations from Young's 4900 Woodwind Instruments without attribution.It gives lists of original prices for 19th century woodwinds without any indication of current values; some of the listings are not even in English!Pictures are poorly reproduced and often wrongly described; for example, Boehm and Albert and Oehler clarinets are misidentified. Commonly encountered makers (Loree, Triebert, Gautrot) are absent.Also, the "rare" 1930 catalogue from Wilhelm Heckel (NOT "William Heckel"), to which the book's descriptor refers, is not rare; I have seen three copies in the last year and it is in several library collections. This, the Heckel centenary catalogue, was ORIGINALLY printed in three languages side by side, German, English and French, so the descriptor's claim of having newly translated the text is false.

As if this were not enough, auction house prices are given as the sellers' estimates, not as actual sales prices, and thus do not give the actual values.

The author has failed to do his homework, his research is sloppy and often misleading, and the printing is of poor quality.This book fails to provide any useful information.Shame on Schiffer Publishing for publishing this book, it is worse than useless.A potential buyer or seller will find no value in this book.

ON FURTHER REFLECTION, several days later, what I wrote above is entirely true and perhaps too diplomatic. ... Read more

Product Description
The author has played principal flute for more thantwenty years in three professional orchestras andsince 1997, he has been conducting professionally.During this time discrepancies of intonation werenoticed in all orchestras, mainly in the woodwindsections.The author has gathered in one book all thenecessary information regarding the intonation ofwoodwind instruments. After describing eachinstrument?s history and pitch particularities,practical methods and advice to improve theintonation are offered. This book should help to bring clarity on thephenomenon of woodwind instruments? intonation, andshould be useful to professionals in the art ofmusic - conductors, producers, sound engineers,orchestral and chamber music players or anyone elsewho may be interested in ensemble playing. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes nineteen wind instruments from around the world including the oboe, didjeridu, bassoon, and accordion. ... Read more

Product Description
A brief introduction to the musical instruments of the woodwind family. ... Read more

Product Description
Brief introduction to various types of woodwind instruments, what they are made of, what they sound like, and how they are played. ... Read more

Product Description
Including a wide range of musical instruments from all around the world, this book on woodwind and brass instruments shows illustrations of 19 instruments, such as the trumpet, saxophone, pungi from India and Sheng from China, with key parts labelled. Alongside each is a short, simple description of the instrument and its history or cultural origin. Photographs are used throughout to demonstrate how the instrument is played and how it reflects the culture or the origins of some of the instruments. ... Read more