A serpent is a bass wind instrument with a mouthpiece like a brass instrument but side holes like a woodwind instrument. It is a long cone bent into a snakelike shape, hence the name. The serpent is closely related to the cornett, although it is not part of the cornett family, due to the absence if a thumb hole. It is generally made out of wood, with walnut being a particularly popular choice. The outside is covered with dark brown or black leather. Despite wooden construction and the fact that it has fingerholes rather than valves, it is usually classed as a brass, rather than a woodwind, instrument. The Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification places it alongside trumpets. A wind instrument consists of a tube containing a column of air which is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set into the end of the tube. ... Mouthpiece was a straight edge hardcore punk band that featured Tim McMahon on vocals. ... A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as a player blows into a tubular resonator. ... A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... Cornett The cornett or cornetto is an early wind instrument, dating from the Renaissance period. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a organic material found as the primary content of the stems of woody plants, especially trees, but also shrubs. ... This article is about the walnut tree. ... Hornbostel-Sachs (or Sachs-Hornbostel) is a system of musical instrument classification divised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift für Musik in 1914. ... At various times, and in various different cultures, various schemes of musical instrument classification have been used. ... Trumpeter performing with the United States Air Forces in Europe Band The trumpet is the highest brass instrument in register, above the tuba, euphonium, trombone, sousaphone, and french horn. ...

On early models, the fingerholes were keyless, like on a recorder. Later models, however, add keys, as on a clarinet, although the keys were for additional holes (out of reach of the fingers), while the original holes remained uncovered & unkeyed. The range varies according to the instrument and the player, but typically covers a range from two octaves below middle C to at least a half octave above middle C. This article is about the musical instrument, not about devices for recording sound, visual, and other information; for the latter, see tape recorder, video cassette recorder, flight data recorder (black box), camcorder, recorder (part-time judge). ... A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common Bb soprano clarinet. ... In music, an octave (sometimes abbreviated 8ve or 8va) is the interval between one musical note and another with half or double the frequency. ... In music, the term middle C refers to the pitch-class C located between the staves of the grand staff. ...

The instrument was first used to strengthen the sound of choirs in plainchant. Around the middle of the 18th century, it began to be used in military bands and orchestras, but was replaced in the 19th century by a fully keyed brass instrument, the ophicleide, and later on by valved bass brass instruments such as the euphonium and tuba. Since then, it has hardly been used at all, although many original models still survive, and it is sometimes played as part of historically authentic performances. A choir is a musical ensemble. ... Broadly speaking, plainsong is the name given to the body of traditional songs used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Military Band marching A military band is a group of soldiers assigned to musical duties. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... The ophicleide, a brass instrument, is part of the family of keyed bugles invented by Jean Hilaire Asté (often called Halary), in the early 1800s. ... The authentic performance movement is an effort on the part of musicians and scholars to perform works of classical music in ways similar to how they were performed when they were originally written. ...

A variation on the serpent was the bass horn, which is essentially the same, but is simpler in shape, consisting of a tube folded back on itself (rather like the modern bassoon), rather than the curvy shape of the original instrument. Another common variation is the so-called "Russian Bassoon", which is neither Russian nor a bassoon. Bassoon Playing range of a bassoon The bassoon is the tenor member of the woodwind family. ...

See also: Euphonium A typical 4-valved bell-upright euphonium The euphonium is a valved brass instrument, the tenor member of the tuba family. ...