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The crumhorn's distinctive curved shape makes it one of the most visually striking of the early reed instruments, and also gives it its name, which comes from the German word krumhorn meaning curved horn.
The crumhorn is a capped reed instrument: sound is produced by a double reed very much like a basoon reed, but the reed is covered by a wooden cap rather than being held between the player's lips. Finger holes are used to change the pitch of the note, but the capped reed does not allow overblowing, so the instrument's range is limited to a little over an octave. Crumhorns are often played in consorts comprising soprano, alto, tenor and bass instruments.
Trio Grosso has a consort of Milla crumhorns (pictured here) made by Stefan Beck, Berlin, Germany. Each instrument has three different bells, which make a substantial difference to its tone and loudness.
Although modern crumhorns usually have fingering very similar to recorder fingering, they require far greater breath pressure and playing them in tune requires both skill and stamina. Not for the faint hearted!
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