The F below the bass clef is the true lowest note, the other seven
semitones descending to the B flat being obtained by holes and keys in
the long joint and bell. These extra notes are not overblown. The
fundamental notes are extended as in the oboes and flutes by
overflowing to another octave, and afterward to the twelfth. In modern
instruments yet higher notes, by the contrivance of small harmonic
holes and cross fingerings, can be secured. Long notes, scales,
arpeggios, are all practicable on this serviceable instrument, and in
full harmony with clarinets, or oboes and horns, it forms part of a
rich and beautiful combination. There is a very telling quality in the
upper notes of the bassoon of which composers have made use.
Structurally, a bassoon consists of several pieces, the wing, butt,
long joints, and bell, and when fitted together, they form a hollow
cone of about eight feet long, the air column tapering in diameter
from three-sixteenths of an inch at the reed to one and three-quarter
inches at the bell end.
The bending back at the butt joint is pierced in one piece of wood,
and the prolongation of the double tube is usually stopped by a
flattened oval cork, but in some modern bassoons this is replaced by a
properly curved tube.
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