Oboe

The highest member of the Western classical orchestra's group of reed instruments, the oboe is one of the orchestra's most difficult instruments to play. The difficulty comes from the oboe's temperamental "double reed"--two blades of a specific tropical grass joined together threaded together into a split reed that vibrates when blown and activates the sound that passes through a three-part wooden or plastic cylinder about thirty-eight inches long. Holes in the cylinder are covered with a complex apparatus of keys to enable the player to produce chromatic tones in several registers. The end result is an instrument of surpassingly beautiful expressivity but formidable technical challenges. The oboe is a descendant of the Renaissance shawm, which also used the double-reed principle. Its origins lay in the splendid French royal court of the seventeenth century, and its melodious, rather strange name is derived from the French hautbois, meaning "high wood." Perhaps because of its difficulty--it requires several years of study for even basic competence--the oboe has been largely restricted to classical music. Unusually complex in its construction, oboes vary more widely between makers than other instruments, with large French and German branches and countless individual variations in overall construction, key apparatus, and reed shape.

Winds Instruments