double-reed

[ duhb-uhl-reed ]

adjective

, Music.

1. of or relating to wind instruments producing sounds through two reeds fastened and beating together, as the oboe.

double-reed

adjective

1. relating to or denoting a wind instrument in which the sounds are produced by air passing over two reeds that vibrate against each other

Word History and Origins

Origin of double-reed¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

If the oboe was a somewhat unusual selection for a young musician, Mr. Stacy soon made the even more unconventional choice to specialize in the English horn, a confusingly named instrument that is not in fact a horn but rather a double-reed instrument, an alto member of the oboe family.

From New York Times

A blunt four-on-the-floor thump might just be the least aggressive part of “Right to Riot” from the British Armenian musician Hagop Tchaparian, which also brandishes traditional sounds — six-beat drumming and the snarl of the double-reed zurna — and zapping, woofer-rattling electronics as it builds.

From New York Times

The first sounds that leap out of “Right to Riot” are traditional: an aggressive six-beat drum pattern and the nasal, biting snarl of what Armenians call the zurna, a double-reed instrument used under various names across the Balkans, the Middle East, northern Africa and western Asia.

From New York Times

Both began lessons on the saxophone, then switched to more difficult double-reed instruments.

From New York Times

In Mr. Focht’s apartment, his double-reed woodwind instrument transports him somewhere else.

From Washington Times