Oboe
The oboe is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites.
The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, measures roughly long and has metal keys, a conical bore and a flared bell. Sound is produced by blowing into the reed at a sufficient air pressure, causing it to vibrate with the air column. The distinctive tone is versatile and has been described as "bright". When the word oboe is used alone, it is generally taken to mean the soprano member rather than other instruments of the family, such as the bass oboe, the cor anglais, or oboe d'amore.
Today, the oboe is commonly used as orchestral or solo instrument in symphony orchestras, concert bands and chamber ensembles. The oboe is especially used in classical music, film music, some genres of folk music, and is occasionally heard in jazz, rock, pop, and popular music. The oboe is widely recognized as the instrument that tunes the orchestra with its distinctive 'A'.
A musician who plays the oboe is called an oboist.
Sound
In comparison to other modern woodwind instruments, the soprano oboe is sometimes referred to as having a "bright and penetrating" voice. The Sprightly Companion, an instruction book published by Henry Playford in 1695, describes the oboe as "Majestical and Stately, and not much Inferior to the Trumpet". In the play Angels in America the sound is described as like "that of a duck if the duck were a songbird". The rich timbre is derived from its conical bore. As a result, oboes are easier to hear over other instruments in large ensembles due to its penetrating sound. The highest note is a semitone lower than the nominally highest note of the B clarinet. Since the clarinet has a wider range, the lowest note of the B clarinet is significantly deeper than the lowest note of the oboe.Music for the standard oboe is written in concert pitch, and the instrument has a soprano range, usually from B3 to G6. Orchestras tune to a concert A played by the first oboe. According to the League of American Orchestras, this is done because the pitch is secure and its penetrating sound makes it ideal for tuning. The pitch of the oboe is affected by the way in which the reed is made. The reed has a significant effect on the sound. Variations in cane and other construction materials, the age of the reed, and differences in scrape and length all affect the pitch. German and French reeds, for instance, differ in many ways, causing the sound to vary accordingly. Weather conditions such as temperature and humidity also affect the pitch. Skilled oboists adjust their embouchure to compensate for these factors. Subtle manipulation of embouchure and air pressure allows the oboist to express timbre and dynamics.
Reeds
The oboe uses a double reed, similar to that used for the bassoon. Most professional oboists make their reeds to suit their individual needs. By making their reeds, oboists can precisely control factors such as tone color, intonation, and responsiveness. They can also account for individual embouchure, oral cavity, oboe angle, and air support.Novice oboists rarely make their own reeds, as the process is difficult and time-consuming, and frequently purchase reeds from a music store instead. Commercially available cane reeds are available in several degrees of hardness; a medium reed is very popular, and most beginners use medium-soft reeds. These reeds, like clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon reeds, are made from Arundo donax. As oboists gain more experience, they may start making their own reeds after the model of their teacher or buying handmade reeds and using special tools including gougers, pre-gougers, guillotines, shaper tips, knives, and other tools to make and adjust reeds to their liking. The reed is considered the part of oboe that makes the instrument so difficult because the individual nature of each reed means that it is hard to achieve a consistent sound. Slight variations in temperature, humidity, altitude, weather, and climate can also have an effect on the sound of the reed, as well as minute changes in the physique of the reed.
Oboists often prepare several reeds to achieve a consistent sound, as well as to prepare for environmental factors such as chipping of a reed or other hazards. Oboists may have different preferred methods for soaking their reeds to produce optimal sounds; the most preferred method tends to be to soak the oboe reed in water before playing.
Plastic oboe reeds are rarely used, and are less readily available than plastic reeds for other instruments, such as the clarinet. However, they do exist, and are produced by brands such as Legere.
History
Centuries before the Spanish and Portuguese conquests in the New World, the early version of the chirimía arrived in Europe from the Middle East due to cultural exchanges. The Crusades brought Europeans into contact with the Turko-Arabic zurna. However, the oboe’s roots go back even further, linked to ancient reed instruments like those of Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as the Greek aulos and Roman tibia. Nearly lost in the West during the Dark Ages, the oboe reappeared with the Arabic zurna in the 13th century, evolving through European bagpipes and finally becoming the French hautbois in the 17th century, which is when modern oboe history truly began. In English, prior to 1770, the standard instrument was called a hautbois, hoboy, or French hoboy. This was borrowed from the French name, hautbois, which is a compound word made up of haut and bois. The French word means 'high-pitched woodwind' in English. The spelling of oboe was adopted into English from the Italian oboè, a transliteration of the 17th-century pronunciation of the French name.The regular oboe first appeared in the mid-17th century, when it was called a hautbois. This name was also used for its predecessor, the shawm, from which the basic form of the hautbois was derived. Major differences between the two instruments include the division of the hautbois into three sections, or joints, and the elimination of the pirouette, the wooden ledge below the reed which allowed players to rest their lips.
The exact date and location of origin of the hautbois are obscure, as are the inventors. Circumstantial evidence, such as the statement by the flautist composer Michel de la Barre in his Memoire, points to members of the Philidor and Hotteterre families. The instrument may in fact have had multiple inventors. The hautbois quickly spread throughout Europe, including Great Britain, where it was called hautboy, hoboy, hautboit, howboye, and similar variants of the French name. It was the main melody instrument in early military bands, until it was succeeded by the clarinet.
The standard Baroque oboe is generally made of boxwood and has three keys: a "great" key and two side keys. In order to produce higher pitches, the player has to "overblow", or increase the air stream to reach the next harmonic. Notable oboe-makers of the period are the Germans Jacob Denner and J.H. Eichentopf, and the English Thomas Stanesby and his son Thomas Jr. The range for the Baroque oboe comfortably extends from C4 to D6. In the mid-20th century, with the resurgence of interest in early music, a few makers began producing copies to specifications taken from surviving historical instruments.
Classical
The Classical period brought a regular oboe whose bore was gradually narrowed, and the instrument became outfitted with several keys, among them those for the notes D, F, and G. A key similar to the modern octave key was also added called the "slur key", though it was at first used more like the "flick" keys on the modern German bassoon. Only later did French instrument makers redesign the octave key to be used in the manner of the modern key. The narrower bore allows the higher notes to be more easily played, and composers began to use the oboe's upper register more often in their works. Because of this, the oboe's tessitura in the Classical era was somewhat broader than that found in Baroque works. The range for the Classical oboe extends from C4 to F6, though some German and Austrian oboes are capable of playing one half-step lower.Several Classical-era composers wrote concertos for oboe. Mozart composed both the solo concerto in C major K. 314/285d and the lost original of Sinfonia Concertante in E major K. 297b, as well as a fragment of F major concerto K. 417f. Haydn wrote both the Sinfonia Concertante in B Hob. I:105 and the spurious concerto in C major Hob. VIIg:C1. Beethoven wrote the F major concerto, Hess 12, of which only sketches survive. Numerous other composers including Johann Christian Bach, Johann Christian Fischer, Jan Antonín Koželuh, and Ludwig August Lebrun also composed pieces for the oboe. Many solos exist for the regular oboe in chamber, symphonic, and operatic compositions from the Classical era.