RECORDERS produce a flute-like sound when air passes through the windway and splits against the edge of a wooden lip. Unlike later Baroque recorders, Renaissance recorders have a fuller sound and a more restricted range. The PIPE is a simple three-holed flute, built to play in a single key. Due to its unique ability to utilize the overtone series, it has a range of an octave and a half. The pipe is always played with one hand, while the other hand beats a tabor (drum). CRUMHORNS and CORNAMUSES produce a soft buzzing sound. On both, the double reed is protected inside a wooden cap. The crumhorn's "J" shape is purely ornamental. Cornamuses are straight and produce basically the same sound. Both have a restricted range of slightly over one octave. VIOLS were the primary bowed stringed instruments in the Renaissance. Unlike members of the violin family, viols have six strings and frets. Regardless of size, all viols are held between the legs. The Italian term for viol is viola da gamba. The RANKET, or RACKETT, is the loudest of our soft instruments, and also the most unusual. Within its foot-high cylinder, eight feet of bore twist back and forth. The result is a reed instrument with the sound and low range of a bassoon. The CORNETTO combines the finger holes of a recorder with the cupped mouthpiece of a trumpet. The result is an instrument with a trumpet-like sound and some degree of dynamic flexibility. It has a two octave range. SACKBUTS are the ancestors of the trombones. Their smaller bell gives them a softer sound than the modern trombone. Alto, tenor and bass sackbuts are usually combined with the cornetto to provide a four-part ensemble. The SHAWM is one of the loudest Renaissance instruments. It uses a double reed, held directly in the mouth. Shawms are still found in ethnic cultures throughout the world. Shawms died out in Europe after the Renaissance and were replaced by the oboe family. SCHREYERPFEIFEN are shawms to which a protective reed cap has been added. Though the schreyerpfeife retains the shawm's loudness, it lacks the flexibility and range of a shawm. Developed in the 16th century, the CITTERN is a fretted instrument whose metal strings are often plucked with a feather. The back is flat and the pegbox, curved. Because they were inexpensive and easy to play, citterns were particularly popular among amateur musicians.