吹奏
すいそう · suisou · JLPT N1 · noun
instrument
🎺 吹 = blow + 奏 = play music, so blow-and-play means playing wind instruments
Wind instruments make sound when you blow air into them. 吹く means to blow and 奏でる means to perform music, so the compound names that action.
吹 — mouth 口 + lack/yawn 欠
吹 is a semantic compound. 口 (mouth) shows the action involves the mouth, while 欠 depicts a person with an open mouth exhaling or yawning. Together they vividly suggest blowing air out, the core meaning 'to blow.'
奏 — hands 廾 lifting offering 夭 + 丰 (sheaf)
Originally a pictograph showing two hands respectfully presenting an offering or sheaf upward, often interpreted as presenting music or tribute to a ruler. From this ceremonial sense it came to mean 'to play (music),' 'to present (a memorial to the throne),' and by extension 'to achieve' or 'accomplish.'