The mouthpiece of the tenor saxophone is very similar to that of the clarinet, an approximately wedge-shaped tube, open along one face and covered in use by a thin strip of material prepared from the stem of the giant cane ("Arundo donax") commonly known as a reed. The reed is shaved to come to an extremely thin point, and is clamped over the mouthpiece by the use of a ligature. When air is blown through the mouthpiece, the reed vibrates and generates the acoustic resonances required to produce a sound from the instrument. The mouthpiece is the area of the saxophone with the greatest flexibility in shape and style, so the timbre of the instrument is primarily determined by the dimensions of its mouthpiece. The design of the mouthpiece and reed play a big role in how a saxophone sounds. Classical mouthpieces generally help produce a warmer and rounder tone, while jazz mouthpieces generally help produce a brighter and edgier tone. Materials used in mouthpiece construction include plastic, ebonite and various metals e.g. bronze, brass and stainless steel.