The Secret Language of Bassoon and Classical Music

1. Multiphonic (more than one note simultaneously). This technique is very prominent in contemporary bassoon music. The is enabled to produced a wide array of multiphonics (literally hundreds) fairly easily, often by simply pressing a key. This is fairly unique to the bassoon as opposed to other wind instruments, in that they're easy to produce, greatly varied, and can sometimes have up 5 or 6 pitches present in one multiphonic.
2.Quarter Tones and Timbrel Trills. These techniques are present in more than just bassoon music. Quarter tones are the pitches the exist halfway between each half step. Quarter tone pitches are fairly easy to produce on any wind instrument (excluding the lowest register). They're notated using variations on the sharp and flat symbols. With these come timbrel trills. These are simply an alternation between two pitches that are only a few cents away from each other. This means they register as the same pitch on a tuner (more or less) but have different tone colors or are microtonally different from each other.
3. Reed adjustments. There's no need for me to delve into the details of reeds but just understand that as a double reed player, I'm constantly adjusting my reeds and may do so during a rehearsal. Also please understand that these adjustments make a difference to me even if it doesn't sound different to you.

I often am annoyed that because I play an instrument which exists almost exclusively in the classical music idiom, people assume I must only play Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms. I view classical music and bassoon as versatile disciplines and make an effort to diversify my art as much as I can. I don't really blame people who assume otherwise. After all, a lot of classical musicians and most bassoonists don't have a diverse approach to their musicianship. I simply wish my instrument didn't come with such conservative baggage.