CROMORNE, also CRUMHORNE, an ancient wind in strument of wood in which a cylindrical column of air was set in vibration by a reed. The lower extremity was turned up in a half-circle, and from this peculiarity it gained the French name tournebout. The reed of the cromorne was not, like that of the bassoon, in contact with the player's lips, but was covered by a cap pierced in the upper part with a raised slit against which the performer's lips rested, the air being forced through the opening into the cap and setting the reed in vibration. The reed itself was therefore not subject to the pressure of the lips, and the compass of the instrument was in consequence limited to the simple fundamental sounds produced by the successive opening of the lateral holes. The cromornes, which were made in various sizes, were in very general use in Europe from the 14th to the 17th century.