Single reed instruments fall under three Hornbostel–Sachs classes:
The following is a list of clarinets and saxophones, relative to their range and key of transposition from the opposite family:
Note that if one was to compare clarinets to their saxophone counterparts while considering their approximate lowest (concert) pitch†, the order would shift:
Although the clarinet and saxophone both have a single reed attached to their mouthpiece, the playing technique or embouchure is distinct from each other.
The standard embouchures for single reed woodwinds like the clarinet and saxophone are variants of the single lip embouchure, formed by resting the reed upon the bottom lip, which rests on the teeth and is supported by the chin muscles and the buccinator muscles on the sides of the mouth. The top teeth rest on top of the mouthpiece. The manner in which the lower lip rests against the teeth differs between clarinet and saxophone embouchures. In clarinet playing, the lower lip is rolled over the teeth and corners of the mouth are drawn back, which has the effect of drawing the upper lip around the mouthpiece to create a seal due to the angle at which the mouthpiece rests in the mouth. With the saxophone embouchure, the lower lip rests against, but not over, the teeth as in pronouncing the letter "V" and the corners of the lip are drawn in (similar to a drawstring bag). With the less common double-lip embouchure, the top lip is placed under (around) the top teeth. In both instances, the position of the tongue in the mouth plays a vital role in focusing and accelerating the air stream blown by the player. This results in a more mature and full sound, rich in overtones.
Hoeprich, E (2008). The Clarinet. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ↩
Donald Murray Campbell, Arnold Myers; et al. (2004). Musical Instruments: History, Technology, and Performance of Instruments of Western Music, p.53-5. Oxford. ISBN 9780198165040. https://books.google.com/books?id=D_15UtgRVJsC&q=%22double%20reed%22 ↩
Foster, Caxton C. and Soloway, Elliott (1981). Real Time Programming, p.165. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 9780201019377. "One will play a square wave and sound rather like a bagpipe or other double-reed instrument." https://books.google.com/books?id=0swmAAAAMAAJ&q=double+reed+square+wave ↩
Midgley, R, ed. (1976). Musical Instruments of the World. United States: Diagram Visual Information Ltd. ↩
Rice, A.R. (1992). The Baroque Clarinet. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ↩
Rendall, G.F. (1971). The Clarinet: Some notes upon its history and construction. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company. ↩
Kroll, O (1968). The Clarinet. New York, NY: Taplinger Publishing Company. ↩