History of the Oboe

• Jean Hotteterre (1610-1691)- composer and musician of the Hotteterre family in the court of Louis XIV of France. This family of musicians and instrument makers helped to develop the baroque oboe out of the shawm. Their influence lasted up to the early 18th century.
• Philidor family (1580-1731)-Family of french musicians most notably known for serving various kings of the french court and being highly esteemed in their time.
• Cristoforo Besozzi (1661-1725)- Italian oboist and bassoonist, founder of a large family of wind players very influential around Parma, Naples and Turin for more than 200 years. American school of playing can be traced back to him.

Bate, Philip. The Oboe: An Outline of its History, Development and

Construction. NY: North 3rd (ML940 .B37 1975)

Burgess, Geoffrey. The Oboe. New Haven, Conn. Yale University Press, c2004

(ML940 .B87)

Haynes, Bruce. The Eloquent Oboe: A History of the Hautboy, 1640-1760. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2001. (ML940 .H39 2001)

Notable Oboists

• Alex Klein
• Albrecht Meyer - Principal of Berlin Phil.
• Elaine Douvas
• Liang Wang - Principal of NYP
• Eugene Isotov
• William Bennett
• Allan Vogel - LA Chamber orch.
• Paul Kaiser - Principal Vienna Symphony
• Pierre Pierlot
• Jean-Michal Penot -French National Symphony

SEE OTHER PREZI! :D

Origins of the shawm

It was most likely during the Crusades of the middle ages that Europeans first encountered the zurna, a double reed instrument common in the Arab world. The instrument was played with the entire reed in the mouth and the lips resting against a plate below the reed. It had seven finger-holes and often a thumb hole for changing octaves Crusaders may have heard the kaba zurna (the longest and lowest pitched version) played in an Ottoman military band. These bands were often used to intimidate enemy forces. Europeans likely adapted the zurna into the European shawm.

The first iconographic sources showing the shawm are from Europe around the time of the 5th crusade (1217-1221). Some primitive forms of double reeds, such as the bagpipe's chanter, likely existed in Europe before this (they may have been descendents of the aulos and tibia.

Ancient "Oboe"

Physical characteristics of the shawm

Unlike the zurna, the shawm did not have a thumbhole to help change octaves. Instead, the player must achieve this by altering their air and embouchure. The shawm had seven fingerholes, as well as several resonance holes lower on the instrument. The seventh hole, intended to be used by the pinky, was offset from the main keys in both directions to allow for players who played with either hand on top. Musicians had to block the extra hole based on their own preferences.

The shawm came in many sizes/pitches, but two were particularly common: the treble shawm and the tenor shawm (often called the bombarde), which was pitched a fifth lower than the treble shawm, much like English horns today. Some tenor shawms were significantly larger than the treble shawm, but others were similar in size, and achieved their lower pitch by starting the tone holes lower on the body. This shorter tenor shawm was sometimes called a pommer. On these lower-pitched shawms, the seventh pinky hole would have been impossible to reach. Therefore, they are provided with a fishtail-shaped key that closes a large pad much further down on the instrument. This pad and the mechanism surrounding it were generally covered by a removable ornamented piece of wood called a fontanelle. The only downside to this key is that due to the inability to half hole it, low C# is impossible on the tenor shawms.

Some say that in the middle ages, the shawm “remained closely related to its Saracen origin” and was played with “the lips pressed against the staple but [not touching] the reed” (Whitwell, The Wind Band and Wind Ensemble before 1500, 1982, p. 256), while others argue that shawmists must have placed their lips directly on the reed even at the beginning, to allow them to overblow the octave (Burgess).

The reed (which was like a bassoon reed) was attached to a metal staple that was inserted into the instrument. A pirouette was sometimes placed over the reed and provided support for the lips.

The Modern Oboe

Repertoire

Watchman on the tower

Major International Schools of Thought

Along with the trumpet, the shawm was sometimes used by watchmen, who kept watch on the towers of their walled medieval towns, to give signals to warn of attack or fire, or just to signal the hours. Because of the volume of the trumpet and shawm, as well as their versatility in being able to play a variety of recognizable melodies, they were ideal for sending a variety of signals to the town. These town watchmen were often called waits in England, and their use of the shawm was so common there that the shawm came to be known as the wait-pipe.

Repertoire

Germany

United States

• Vaughan Williams -Blake Songs, Concerto
• Britten - Temporal Variations, six metamorphosis, Two Insect Pieces
• Hindemith -Sonata
• Gordon Jacob - Concerto 1 & 2, Seven Bagatelles, Sonatina
• Straus - Oboe Concerto
• Silvestrini oboe Etudes
• Walter Piston - Oboe Suite
• Poulenc - Oboe Sonata
• Bario Sequenza
• Bartok - Three Folk songs

• Tend to have a bright, focused sound.
• Most professionals play Marigaux, or Buffet oboes, or some German brands.

Origins

See Family Tree Prezi :]

“The oboe and its double reed ancestors are likely one of the oldest instruments.  Similar double-reed instruments appear in artwork and are referenced in literature from India, Mongolia, China and Japan as well as the Arabs and Greeks.  From there, its influence spread westward into Europe probably by means of the Silk Road and Medieval troubadours during the time of the Crusades.”

The main difference in German playing is in the reed.

Karl Hentschel, "Das Oboenrohr" published by Moeck

Reed length: 71mm, staple 46 or 47 mm, length of scrape: 10 mm. Scrape features: Like the French scrape there is a gradual taper from the heal to the tip. However, the taper doesn't thin as much as it approaches the tip and then there is an abrupt edge at the tip and the tip is very short ( only 1 mm)

France

England/UK

Greece (800BC-600AD)

- discovered relationship between tones of the scale

- Pythagoras believed music not to be a "mere hobby", but a science

- aulos, double reed/double pipe, "exciting" tone

- used in the army (Spartans, Thebes, Lydians)

- also for entertainment or social gatherings

Rome (300BC-400AD) - tibiae

What was demanded of the shawm by the mid 17th century, which it could not do without changing its form, was the expression of affections. It was asked to play alone in imitation of the human voice and to move listeners.

German and English sources tell us the oboe originated in France. This can be confirmed by its name in all european languages, which is either taken directly or transliterated from the french "hautbois".

The first appearance of the baroque oboe can found in the late 1660s, although the origins of its developement can be found as far back as 1580.

Oboists of German Tradition

By the 15th century, the shawm was a very stable and well designed instrument. It's "bugs" had been all worked out long before. The shawm itself didn't need any "improvement". What drove the catalyst for change was the evolving music of the time which required of the shawm things it could not do well.

Heinz Holliger: He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland, and began his musical education at the conservatories of Bern and Basel. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez. Holliger took first prize for oboe in the International Competition in Geneva in 1959.

He has become one of the world's most celebrated oboists, and many composers (including Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter, Frank Martin, Hans Werner Henze, Witold Lutosławski, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Isang Yun) have written works for him. He began teaching at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, Germany in 1966.

Albrecht Mayer: He was a student of Gerhard Scheuer, Georg Meerwein, Maurice Bourgue and Ingo Goritzki, and began his professional career as principal oboist for the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in 1990. He joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as principal oboist in 1992, and has been principal oboist there since, together with Jonathan Kelly.

Mayer used to play a Green Line Oboe by the French company Buffet Crampon, but in 2009 switched to a line of wind instruments (Oboe, Oboe d'amore and English Horn) named after him by the German instrument maker Gebrüder Mönnig.[1]

Popular Repertoire

The Baroque oboe was a response by shawm players to meet the new emerging demands of the music of the mid 17th century. It was created gradually over time, drawing from many elements of different double-reed instruments of the time.

• They play a slightly different oboe than the rest of us. Howarth being the major brand. (See oboe section)
• They tend to play with a bright sound complimentary of the British Brass tradition.
• Many of our prominent modern literature comes from the UK.

• The majority of American School of thought comes from French school of thought from Gillette -> Tabuteau -> America! :D
• Strive for a singing, romantic, and expressive style of playing, descending from the Paris Conservatoire.
• The French Conservatoire System of oboe is the main oboe sytem in use, especially in north america.

Oboe soloists during Classical period

- Haydn oboe concerto (now credited to Ignaz Malzat)

- Mozart oboe concerto & oboe quartets

- Beethoven oboe trio

British Oboe Reeds

British Oboists

FrenchOboists

• Tie at 73mm.
• Reeds use a short tip scrape (Results in a more "bright sound" similar to german scrape)
• Use of wire, also similar to German reeds, 3mm above thread. (This is not universal, but common practice)
• Tend to have a more defined back and spine. (Similar to French and American reeds)

• Peter Graeme (1921-2012) - studied the oboe with Léon Goossens. Graeme was the oboist of the Melos Ensemble, founded in 1950, and participated with the group in the premiere of the War Requiem by Benjamin Britten, conducted by the composer at the Coventry Cathedral in 1962.
• Kieron Moore (1963-2012) Kieron Moore was born in 1963 in Bishops Stortford. Whilst studying with Lady Evelyn Barbirolli at the age of 16, Kieron was awarded an Associated Board Scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music. During his studies at the Academy, he won all the prizes for wind playing, including the oboe prize in his first year. He was principal of the LSO until his death.
• Evelyn Rothwell (Barbirolli)
• Douglas Boyd - A scottish oboist.
• Nicholas Daniel - Daniel was Professor of Oboe at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for ten years, then in 1997 became Professor of Oboe and Conducting at the Indiana University School of Music. He then was invited to be Prince Consort Professor of Oboe at the Royal College of Music in London. In 2004, he was named Professor of Oboe at the Musikhochschule in Trossingen, Germany.

Jean- Michel Penot-

He is the current Prinicpal oboist of the French National Orchestra. He studied with the prominant french oboist Pierre Pierlot at the Paris Conservatoire.

http://www.openacademy.info/page18.html

Pierre Pierlot - (born 26 April 1921 in Paris and died on 9 January 2007 ) After studying music at the Conservatoire de Valenciennes LONGATTE Gaston, Pierre Pierlot between the Paris Conservatory in the class of Louis Bleuzet in 1941 and received a first prize of oboe and chamber music in the class Fernand Oubradous . He narrowly escaped deportation to Germany. In 1949, he won first prize in the Geneva International Competition where he was several times member of the jury and those of Munich and Budapest.

In 1946, his friendship with flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal was born on French wind quintet with Jacques Lancelot , clarinet, Gilbert Courier the horn and Paul Hongne bassoon. In 1951, Pierre Pierlot is co-founder of the Ensemble Baroque de Paris with Robert Veyron-Lacroix and Robert Gendre .

After the Concerts Lamoureux, where he created the "Sinfonia Concertante" by Jacques Ibert , he joined the orchestra of the Opera in 1947 until its closure in 1972, becoming principal oboe in the orchestra of the Paris Opera Appointed professor of chamber music in 1969 at the Paris National Conservatory, until 1986 . During this period 47 of his students get the first prize.

www.orchestre.ile.com

- Egypt - 18th dynasty (1400-1300BC) - Cairo Museum

- cylindrical pipes “which show clearly the remains of double-reeds”

- Sometimes played with hands crossed over or not

Hautboy Manufacturer - France

- Johann Christian Fischer (1733 - 1800)

- Carlo Besozzi (1738-1798)

(both in Dresden)

- Friedrich Ramm (1741-1813) - inspiration for Mozart, including oboe quartet KV 370

- Antoine Sallantin - first oboe professor at Paris Conservatoire

- Christophe Delusse - adopted by Paris Conservatoire professors

- Sallantin & Vogt used them, until 1820s

Increasing variety of duties for town musicians

Barouqe Oboe: 1st Draft

The Minstrels

The Baroque Oboe

In order to achieve a softer sound that blended easily with violin, instrument makers kept the same shape and size of the shawm's bore but incorporated unique modifications. The bell was shortened, tone-holes were repositioned and their sized reduced, and the reed was made narrower. The early baroque oboe was essentially a modified shawm.

Hautboy Manufacturers - Germany

The shawm was also used by wandering minstrels in the middle ages, who made their living through multiple forms of entertainment, but largely through playing wind instruments. Wind instruments were such the standard that singers were known as menetriers de bouche and string players as menetriers de cordes to diffrentiate them from wind players. One English scribe wrote: "For the most parte all maner mynstrelsy/By wynde they delyver thyr sound chefly."

The minstrels met in large international "schools" of minstrelsy called "scolae ministrallorm" in order to exchange ideas, literature, and instruments. These schools, which were held throughout France, Germany, and the Low Countries, have been documented as early as the 12th century, and apparently reached their peak during the late 14th and early 15th centuries. They took place during Lent, as no minstrel performances were allowed then. One such school held in Italy in 1324 reportedly had some 1500 minstrels in attendance.

Eventually, the duties of these town watchmen became more about ceremony and entertainment, and less about practical defense. With this transition, the shawm was developed into a gentler and more versatile instrument, with players using their lips more directly on the reeds to control and vary the sound. Eventually, a common ensemble of shawm, bombarde (tenor shawm), and sackbut (medieval trombone) emerged. By the fifteenth century, this ensemble was extraordinarily popular--every notable town and court had one. This was of course a loud, or "high," ensemble, especially suitable for playing outside. (Medieval ensembles were generally divided into loud and soft, or "high" and "low.")

These ensembles played at banquets and feasts, dances, carnivals, and other important events. Individual citizens could also hire them to play for weddings or other private ceremonies.

Also as part of this transition, the musicians began to perform on a wider variety of instruments. By doing so, they greatly increased their available options for instrumentation, so that a small group of musicians could provide a sufficient variety of instrumental textures for banquet feasts and similar performances. In the Low Countries, for example, town instrument purchases at the end of the fifteenth century began to include recorders, crumhorns, and cornetts, when such purchases had previously been limited almost exclusively to shawms, bombards (tenor shawms), and sackbuts. A professional wait “was, of course, expected to be able to play all of these instruments” (Whitwell, The Wind Band and Wind Ensemble before 1500, 1982, p. 115). Not being “sufficiently qualified in playing ‘all the winds’” could lead to a town musician being fired, as happened to two tower musicians in Hall in 1502 (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 151).

- Jacob Grundmann in Dresden (collaborated with the Besozzi oboists)

- other workshops: Sattler & Crone in Leipzig, Engelhard in Nuremburg, Freyer & Kirst in Potsdam

- Haydn - Rockobaur in Vienna

The oboe Haydn, Mozart, & Beethoven knew

The minstrels also formed guilds, in part to protect themselves from common prejudices against them. The earliest of these guilds was the 'Nicolai-Bruderschaft' of Vienna, founded in 1288, said to be a direct ancestor of the Vienna Philharmonic. The first French minstrel guild, the 'Confrerie de St. Julien des menestriers' chartered in 1321, counted eight women among its founding members, and later provided for its older members by building a chapel and a hospital for them.

After its initial form directly following the shawm had been further refined, the baroque oboe was generally made of boxwood and featured three keys, a "great" key and two side keys. The side key was often doubled so use of either the right or left hand could be used on the lower joint. In order to produce higher pitches, the player had to "overblow", or increase the air stream to reach the next harmonic.

- sharper tone

- more upper range abilities

- narrow bores

- smaller tone holes

- pitched mid- 430s

Works Cited

Added keys/Innovations

Important People

By: Fernando Yanez

- because of slight pitch change throughout Europe, sometimes different top joints were switched out, or using longer/shorter staples

- before adding keys, oboists used 'long fingerings', which facilitated higher notes

- soon, keys such as the speaker/octave key, C#, F, G#, Bb, low B were added

- some resisted the adding of keys, while others encouraged it

The Decline of Minstrelsy

The Dawn of the Renaissance

Many of these minstrels found permanent employment as members of town or court wind bands, and so also took over the position of town watchmen or "waits" as described above. As more minstrels became thus employed, they began to distinguish themselves as "minstrels of honor" to differentiate themselves from the wandering minstrels, who were viewed with some suspicion by most. This helped protect them from suffering from the challenges that wandering minstrels faced by the later Middle Ages--by that time wandering minstrels had virtually no legal rights, were excluded from the rites of the Church, and could even (according to a 1547 English law) be branded with a 'V' on the forehead or have their ears cut off if they stayed in a town longer than three days!

Playing the oboe

Playing the baroque oboe today

Being a musician in the baroque period usually meant being in the family business. It was not uncommen for wind players to play many instruments. Oboists were usually also flutists, bassonists, and recorder players. Composers of the time were also accomplished multi-instrumentalists. There were a few tutors written, but most passing down of information was done through family tradition, thus leaving modern scholars with an incomplete picture of baroque oboe playing.

Historical performance has been making a strong comeback in the past few decades. Being a baroque oboist is now a viable option for making a living. The modern baroque oboe has a few differences from the historical instrument, though overall it is faithful to the original. The biggest difference being that modern baroque instruments can be made, and more commonly are made, out of denser woods such as grenadilla instead of the historically accurate box wood for the sake of longevity and stability. The second difference being that a pinky key is often removed eliminating the baroque oboe's ability to be ambidextrous. In terms of playing, although there has been much scholarly resesarch done, players often have to fill in gaps themselves such as with reed making.

For the wind instruments, the Renaissance effectively started in the beginning of the 16th century, as new developments in wood working (and thus bore design) made it possible to craft a wider variety of instruments--both new instruments, and different sizes of traditional instruments. With the new possibility of having a full range of instruments of the same type, the homogenous consort of three or four parts became the prominent ensemble during this era. A recorder ensemble, for example, might include a bass, tenor, alto, and soprano recorder. As musicians were competent with a variety of instruments at this point, a full variety of entertainment could be provided by the same set of musicians switching instruments. You could have a recorder consort followed by a shawm consort followed by a viol consort, for example.

The court bands took the lead in this development, with the civic bands following soon after. The instruments used, because of the tremendous variety now needed, were often owned by the court or the town government. Wealthy middle class merchants also sometimes had a band, and provided the necessary instruments. During this time, the performance requirements of civic wind players expanded to include performing for theater performances and more frequently than before in church services and public concerts.

In the last half of the 16th century, broken consorts, which mixed types of instruments, became more commonly used. Generally instruments remained similar, as with the trombone and cornett ensemble, but more variety was also possible. Sometimes winds were even mixed with strings. The shawm and trombone (sackbut) ensemble was still sometimes used.

Renaissance Guilds

The Music

During the Medieval and Renaissance eras, music was universal, not instrument or ensemble-specific. Any music could be played by any instrument or ensemble that was practically capable of playing it. Wind bands (such as the shawm and sackbut ensemble) frequently performed chansons, for example. In addition to this, members and especially leaders of the town band tended to compose music for the group. One of the most notable of these is Tielman Susato, the leader of the Antwerp town band, whose music is still played sometimes today (notably in a wind ensemble arrangement).

The civic musicians were provided with a very modest salary (and uniforms) by the town, but often found it necessary to supplement that salary with freelance performing (often at weddings). The conflict this created with other musicians, such as free-roaming minstrels and part-time amateurs, lead to both the further disenfranchisement of the minstrel and the creation and strengthening of musicians' guilds. Musicians guilds had existed before, but in the 16th century, the guilds began to focus their energy largely on ensuring that their members had first access to freelance work in the towns.

One ordinance from 1561 York specifies “that ‘no manner of foreigner’ be allowed to practice any form of minstrelsy” (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 157). The Guild of Minstrels in London, which consisted of independent, but local, London musicians, “complained,

The continual recourse of foreign minstrels, daily resorting to this City out of all the countries of England and enjoying more freedom than the freemen, causes the Minstrels of the City to be brought to such poverty and decay that they are not able to pay ‘lot and scot’ and do their duty as other freemen do, since their living is taken from them by these foreigners” (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 155).

Ordinances were passed against part-time musicians as well. One 1554 ordinance observed that “these part-time musicians,

Leaving the use of their crafts and manual occupations and giving themselves wholly to wandering abroad riot vice and idleness do commonly use nowadays to sing songs called ‘Three Men’s Songs’ in taverns, at weddings, etc. . . . to the great loss of the poor fellowship of minstrels, it is enacted that such conduct is to cease” (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 157).

A similar 1555 civic code in Beverley “forbids any ‘miller, shepherd, or husbandman playing on pipe or other instrument should perform without authority at any wedding or merry-making, outside his own parish’” (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 157). The guilds in France seem to have been somewhat more accepting of traveling musicians. Around 1580, the current “king” of the Paris guild, Clude de Bouchaudon, “instituted a system of ‘licenses,’ which could be sold to new players in town who were not members of the guild. This allowed them to play, while both retaining some control from the guild and at the same time enriching the guild’s treasury” (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 192)

Guilds served other purposes as well. Members of guilds were also required to act respectfully and politely to one another—insulting or criticizing another member of the guild could lead to fines (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, pp. 156, 187). The guilds were also instrumental in setting standards for the training of apprentices. In London, apprentices were required to “pass a proficiency examination before playing in taverns, hostelries, or alehouses” (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 155). The Paris guild is, again, in some ways more accepting than most, as it “did not require residence in Paris as a requirement for being an apprentice” (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 193). Parisian apprentices were, on average, between ten and sixteen years old, and served an apprenticeship of officially six years (though “few seems [sic] to have been required to serve so long, and never if one was the son of a ‘master’”) (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 193). After these six years (or less) of training, the apprentice was required “to play a ‘chef-d’oeuvre’ before the king [of the guild] and one of his lieutenants. This apparently was a sight-reading examination and the difficulty depended on the amount of control the guild wished to exert at the moment with regard to controlling the number of players” (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, pp. 193-194). This guild seems to have been somewhat prone to nepotism, as this examination was “a mere formality” for the son of a master of the guild. For apprentices who failed to pass this examination and become a master in the guild, the lower rank of “fellow” was offered, which allowed them to play at minor weddings and banquets. In Mons, a town in the Low Countries, the apprenticeship was much shorter—only two years—and was followed by a performance before “the assembly of ‘masters.’” The apprentice was required to “be able to play, ‘two pieces of music on each of said instruments (shawm, cornett, recorder, and violin), such songs as the masters see fit to choose’” (Whitwell, The Renaissance Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, 1983, p. 188).

by Ashley Rollins

Works cited:

*Burgess, Geoffrey. The Oboe. New Haven Conn. Yale University Press, c2004

(ML940 .B87)

*Whitwell, David. The History of the Wind Band and Wind Ensemble, Vol.1-9. Northridge Cal. Box 513, Northridge 91328. c1983. [ML1300 .W56 1982]

The Conservatoire or conservatory oboe, By: Jacob Mireles

Types of Wood/Material Used:

Grenadila Wood

Rose Wood

Plastic

• Different types native to madagascar, Brazil, australia.
• Problems with illegal logging .
• Less Dense than Grenadilla, and more prone to crack, but produces a rich tone.

• Dalbergia melanoxylon- Also Known as African Blackwood
• Native to Seasonally dry regions of Africa.
• Conservation Status: Near Threatened.

• Less expensive than wood, and better for students.
• Harsher more pointed tone.
• Much more durable, again, better for students.
• Most plastic student model oboes are missing low B flat as well as the left F key, and third octave key.
• Yamaha, Fox, make decent plastic instruments.

Composite Material

Violet Wood

• Hard Purplish or reddish wood
• Native to Tropical Rainforests in Brazil and Central America
• Difficult to work with.

• Buffet Green Line instruments use a composite material made of apoxy/nylon resin mixed with the dust of granadilla wood.
• These instruments have a good tone and the benifit of never cracking due to climate alone.
• Several other companies are starting to use composite material including fox and yamaha.

Cocobolo Wood

• Tropical hardwood tree from central america.
• High oil content which may cause allergic reactions in some people.
• Conservation status: Vulnerable
• Very hard and dense wood.

The Bore

English Horn/Cor Anglais

Pitched in F

1.5 times length of oboe

Heckelphone

Oboe d'amore

The mezzo-soprano of the oboe family pitched in A.

• First used in Strauss's 1905 opera Salome, it is often confused with the bass oboe.
• Pitched an octave lower than oboe, it's four feet in length and rests on a stand on the floor.
• Reed resembles a bassoon reed.
• Only about 150 in existance.

• Mostly Sword shaped as opposed to truly conical, except yamaha.
• Conical bores overblow at the octave and generally has a harmonic spectrum strong in both even and odd harmonics.
• Larger the bore, the darker the sound.
• Bore size has increased throughout the 20th century.
• If the bore cracks, it is almost impossible to repair, if not completely useless.
• The Bell shape affects tone as well and is different for oboe as opposed to English horn or oboe d'amore.

The Rest of the Gang

Bass Oboe

Piccolo Oboe/Musette

• Also known as baritone oboe.
• Pitched an octave lower than oboe and is twice as long.
• Notated in trebel cleff and sounds an octave lower.

The piccolo oboe, also known as the piccoloboe and historically called an oboe musette, is the smallest and highest pitched member of the oboe family. Pitched in E-flat or F above the regular oboe (which is a C instrument), the piccolo oboe is a sopranino version of the oboe, comparable to the E-flat clarinet.

Mostly used in film scoring.

Modern Innovations and Those Responsible

Traits of Modern Oboes

Reeds and Cane

Common Brands

• Most oboists make their own reeds.
• The cane used in making oboe reeds is largely imported from the south of France: Some major cane providers being: 1. Loree, 2. Rigotti, 3. Pisoni
• A large number of tools are required in making reeds that are universal to all oboists: Cane splitter, pre gouging and gouging machines, shaper handles and tips,mandrels, staples, thread, bee's wax, knives and accessories, rulers, plaques, cutting blocks. Various complete lists are available.

• Loree,(Cabart)
• Marigaux
• Howarth
• Fox
• Laubin $10k- 13k
• Buffet
• Yamaha
• Covvy
• Fossatti