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Re: Toneholes

Author: Chris P
Date: 2021-09-17 18:33

Just a few pointers on woodwind terminology:

Toneholes are the holes drilled in the joints through to the bore where notes issue from and are either closed directly by the fingers (and left thumb) or operated by keys and closed by pads which are physically out of reach of the fingers or too large for the fingers to successfully cover.

Pad cups are the cups where the pads are glued into.

Woodwind instruments don't use valves as valves are used for diverting airflow between sections of tubing and are mostly found on brass instruments.

Woodwind keys usually have the following parts - a touchpiece or a ring key which is operated by the fingers, that in turn is connected to an arm connecting it to a key barrel (hollow and mounted on a rod screw) or key rod (solid and mounted between point or pivot screws at either end).

There's some form of springing, either using a needle spring which is normally mounted in a hole drilled through the pillar or by a flat spring screwed to the underside of the key arm (usually on lever keys).

The pad cup is mounted to an arm which is in turn soldered to the key barrel or rod to form a solid and reliable key.

Lever keys have a long arm with a pad cup at one end and a touchpiece at the other and are mounted like a see-saw and usually have a flat spring screwed to the underside to provide the closing or opening force depending how they're sprung.

Open standing keys are where the pads are raised off their toneholes and are closed by the fingers, whereas closed standing keys are sprung to remain closed at all times, until they're opened by the touchpiece on the opposite side of the pad cup.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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