The oboe ( / ˈ oʊ b oʊ / OH -boh ) 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.
66-410: The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, measures roughly 65 cm ( 25 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) 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
132-478: 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
198-520: A mallet or hammer . In industrial use, a hydraulic ram or falling weight (' trip hammer ') may be used to drive a chisel into the material. A gouge is a type of chisel that serves to carve small pieces from the material; particularly in woodworking , woodturning and sculpture . Gouges most frequently produce concave surfaces and have a U-shaped cross-section. Chisel comes from the Old French cisel , modern ciseau , Late Latin cisellum ,
264-544: A spoon chisel , which is bent, with the bevel on both sides. To increase the force, stone chisels are often hit with club hammers , a heavier type of hammer. Masonry chisels are typically heavy, with a relatively dull head that wedges and breaks, rather than cuts. Often used as a demolition tool, they may be mounted on a hammer drill , jackhammer , or hammered manually, usually with a heavy hammer of three pounds or more. These chisels normally have an SDS , SDS-MAX , or 1-1/8" Hex connection. Types of masonry chisels include
330-446: A synthesizer . Piano keys have often been made from ivory over the instrument's history, such that a common phrase for playing the piano has been to "tickle the ivories". This article relating to musical instruments is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Gouge (chisel) A chisel is a wedged hand tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge on the end of its blade , for carving or cutting
396-402: A tenor saxophone and flute player, Yusef Lateef was among the first (in 1961) to use the oboe as a solo instrument in modern jazz performances and recordings. Composer and double bassist Charles Mingus gave the oboe a brief but prominent role (played by Dick Hafer ) in his composition "I.X. Love" on the 1963 album Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus . With the birth of jazz fusion in
462-470: A "sweep number" is specified that expresses the part of a circle defined by the curve of the blade. The sweep number usually ranges from #1, or flat, up to #9, a semi-circle, with additional specialized gouges at higher numbers, such as the U-shaped #11, and a v-tool or parting tool, which may be an even higher number such as #41. In addition to sweep, gouges are also specified by the distance from one edge of
528-399: A craftsperson to cut into areas that may not be possible with a regular, straight-bladed gouge. The cutting shape of a gouge may also be held in an adze , roughly as the shape of a modern-day mattock. Gouges are used in woodworking and arts. For example, a violin luthier uses gouges to carve the violin, a cabinetmaker may use it for running flutes or paring curves, or an artist may produce
594-420: A cutting tool, from caedere , to cut. Chisels are common in the archeological record. Chisel-cut materials have also been found. Woodworking chisels range from small hand tools for tiny details, to large chisels used to remove big sections of wood, in 'roughing out' the shape of a pattern or design. Typically, in woodcarving , one starts with a larger tool, and gradually progresses to smaller tools to finish
660-455: A hard material (e.g. wood , stone , or metal ). The tool can be used by hand, struck with a mallet , or applied with mechanical power . The handle and blade of some types of chisel are made of metal or wood with a sharp edge in it (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind ). Chiselling use involves forcing the blade into some material to cut it. The driving force may be applied by pushing by hand, or by using
726-427: A key is essentially a small wrench used to turn a tuning machine or lug. On woodwind instruments such as a flute or saxophone , keys are finger operated levers used to open or close tone holes , the operation of which effectively shortens or lengthens the resonating tube of the instrument. By doing so, the player is able to physically manipulate the range of resonating sound frequencies capable of being produced by
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#1732779904946792-408: 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 (usually from
858-421: A pair of tongs . This tool is also often used in combination with a "top fuller" type of hotcut, when the piece being cut is particularly large. Stone chisels are used to carve or cut stone, bricks or concrete slabs. To cut, as opposed to carve, a brick bolster is used; this has a wide, flat blade that is tapped along the cut line to produce a groove, then hit hard in the centre to crack the stone. Sculptors use
924-567: A particularly poignant or emotional scene. An example is the 1989 film Born on the Fourth of July . One of the most prominent uses of the oboe in a film score is Ennio Morricone 's " Gabriel's Oboe " theme from the 1986 film The Mission . It is featured as a solo instrument in the theme "Across the Stars" from the John Williams score to the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of
990-448: A perfect fifth lower than the oboe. The oboe d'amore , the alto (or mezzo-soprano) member of the family, is pitched in A, a minor third lower than the oboe. J.S. Bach made extensive use of both the oboe d'amore as well as the taille and oboe da caccia , Baroque antecedents of the cor anglais. Less common is the bass oboe (also called baritone oboe), which sounds one octave lower than the oboe. Delius , Strauss and Holst scored for
1056-449: A professional oboist) 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
1122-412: 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
1188-399: A specific note, the air stream flows through. The keys of an accordion direct the air flow from manually operated bellows across various tuned vibrating reeds. On other keyboard instruments , a key may be a lever which mechanically triggers a hammer to strike a group of strings, as on a piano , or an electric switch which energizes an audio oscillator as on an electronic organ or
1254-405: A very smooth finish is not required or when the work cannot be done easily with other tools, such as a hacksaw , file, bench shears or power tools. The name cold chisel comes from its use by blacksmiths to cut metal while it was cold as compared to other tools they used to cut hot metal. Because cold chisels are used to form metal, they have a less-acute angle to the sharp portion of the blade than
1320-400: A way that the sound remains clear and continuous throughout the frequency change (a quality also called legato and often called for in the oboe repertoire). The standard oboe has several siblings of various sizes and playing ranges. The most widely known and used today is the cor anglais (English horn) the tenor (or alto) member of the family. A transposing instrument ; it is pitched in F,
1386-458: A wider internal bore, a shorter and broader reed and the fingering-system is very different from the conservatoire oboe. In The Oboe , Geoffrey Burgess and Bruce Haynes write "The differences are most clearly marked in the middle register, which is reedier and more pungent, and the upper register, which is richer in harmonics on the Viennese oboe". Guntram Wolf describes them: "From the concept of
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#17327799049461452-410: A woodworking chisel. This gives the cutting edge greater strength at the expense of sharpness. Cold chisels come in a variety of sizes, from fine engraving tools that are tapped with very light hammers, to massive tools that are driven with sledgehammers . Cold chisels are forged to shape and hardened and tempered (to a blue colour) at the cutting edge. The head of the chisel is chamfered to slow down
1518-447: 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 (a minor sixth) than the lowest note of the oboe. Music for the standard oboe is written in concert pitch (i.e., it is not a transposing instrument ), and the instrument has a soprano range, usually from B ♭ 3 to G 6 . Orchestras tune to
1584-400: Is generally taken to mean the soprano member rather than other instruments of the family, such as the bass oboe , the cor anglais (English horn), 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
1650-504: Is inserted into the reed socket at the top of the instrument. The commonly accepted range for the oboe extends from B ♭ 3 to about G 6 , over two and a half octaves, though its common tessitura lies from C 4 to E ♭ 6 . Some student oboes do not have a B ♭ key and only extend down to B 3 . A modern oboe with the "full conservatoire" ("conservatory" in the US) or Gillet key system has 45 pieces of keywork, with
1716-458: 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. 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
1782-550: The Paul Winter Consort and later Oregon . The 1980s saw an increasing number of oboists try their hand at non-classical work, and many players of note have recorded and performed alternative music on oboe. Some present-day jazz groups influenced by classical music, such as the Maria Schneider Orchestra, feature the oboe. Indie singer-songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens , having studied
1848-643: The Wiener Philharmoniker instrumentarium. This oboe was developed further in the 19th century by the Triébert family of Paris. Using the Boehm flute as a source of ideas for key work, Guillaume Triébert and his sons, Charles and Frederic, devised a series of increasingly complex yet functional key systems. A variant form using large tone holes, the Boehm system oboe, was never in common use, though it
1914-505: 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 (Filidor) 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
1980-521: The scientific pitch notation system), 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
2046-489: The Classical era. The Wiener oboe (Viennese oboe) is a type of modern oboe that retains the essential bore and tonal characteristics of the historical oboe. The Akademiemodel Wiener Oboe, first developed in the late 19th century by Josef Hajek from earlier instruments by C. T. Golde of Dresden (1803–73), is now made by several makers such as André Constantinides, Karl Rado, Guntram Wolf , Christian Rauch and Yamaha. It has
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2112-510: The Clones . The oboe is also featured as a solo instrument in the "Love Theme" in Nino Rota 's score to The Godfather (1972). Key (instrument) A key is a component of a musical instrument , the purpose and function of which depends on the instrument. However, the term is most often used in the context of keyboard instruments , in which case it refers to the exterior part of
2178-467: 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 (the side key is often doubled to facilitate use of either the right or left hand on the bottom holes). In order to produce higher pitches, the player has to " overblow ", or increase
2244-657: 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 ( / ˈ h oʊ b ɔɪ / HOH -boy ). This
2310-591: The Italian müsa and zampogna or Breton biniou . David Stock 's concerto "Oborama" features the Oboe and its other members as a soloist, the instrument changing in each movement. (ex. Oboe D'amore in movement 3 and Bass Oboe in movement 4) The oboe remains uncommon in jazz music, but there have been notable uses of the instrument. Some early bands in the 1920s and '30s, most notably that of Paul Whiteman , included it for coloristic purposes. Most often in this era it
2376-693: 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 (died 1734) and his son Thomas Jr (died 1754). The range for the Baroque oboe comfortably extends from C 4 to D 6 . 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. The Classical period brought
2442-420: 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
2508-446: The blade to the other (this corresponds to the chord of the circle section defined by the edge of the blade). Putting these pieces together, two numbers are used to specify the shape of the cutting edge of a gouge, such as a '#7-20mm'. Some manufacturers provide charts with the sweeps of their blades shown graphically. In addition to varying blade sweeps, bevels, and widths, blade variations include: All of these specialized gouges allow
2574-453: The bore, the Viennese oboe is the last representative of the historical oboes, adapted for the louder, larger orchestra, and fitted with an extensive mechanism. Its great advantage is the ease of speaking, even in the lowest register. It can be played very expressively and blends well with other instruments." The Viennese oboe is, along with the Vienna horn, perhaps the most distinctive member of
2640-751: The clarinet. However, they do exist, and are produced by brands such as Legere. 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
2706-590: The cutting edge to provide clearance. The round nose chisel is used for cutting semi-circular grooves for oil ways in bearings. The diamond point chisel is used for cleaning out corners or difficult places and pulling over centre punch marks wrongly placed for drilling. Although the vast majority of cold chisels are made of steel, a few are manufactured from beryllium copper , for use in special situations where non- sparking tools are required. Cold chisels are predominantly used in Repoussé and chasing processes for
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2772-417: The detail. One of the largest types of chisel is the slick , used in timber frame construction and wooden shipbuilding. There are many types of woodworking chisels used for specific purposes, such as: Woodturners use a woodworking gouge or chisel designed to cut wood as it is spun on a lathe . These tools have longer handles for more leverage, needed to counteract the tendency of the tool to react to
2838-436: The downward force of the spinning wood being cut or carved. In addition, the angle and method of sharpening is different. Chisels used in metal work can be divided into two main categories: hot chisels and cold chisels. A cold chisel is a tool made of tempered steel used for cutting 'cold' metals, meaning that they are not used in conjunction with heating torches, forges, etc. Cold chisels are used to remove waste metal when
2904-436: The fabrication of bronze and aluminium sculptures . A hot chisel is used to cut metal that has been heated in a forge to soften the metal. One type of hot chisel is the hotcut hardy , which is used in an anvil hardy hole with the cutting edge facing up. The hot workpiece to be cut is placed over the chisel and struck with a hammer. The hammer drives the workpiece into the chisel, which allows it to be snapped off with
2970-526: The family (it is usually pitched in E ♭ or F above the oboe), and the contrabass oboe (typically pitched in C, two octaves deeper than the standard oboe). Folk versions of the oboe, sometimes equipped with extensive keywork, are found throughout Europe. These include the musette (France) and the piston oboe and bombarde ( Brittany ), the piffero and ciaramella (Italy), and the xirimia (also spelled chirimia ) (Spain). Many of these are played in tandem with local forms of bagpipe , particularly with
3036-434: The following: A plugging chisel has a tapered edge for cleaning out hardened mortar . The chisel is held with one hand and struck with a hammer. The direction of the taper in the blade determines if the chisel cuts deep or runs shallow along the joint. In leather work , a chisel is a tool used to punch holes in a piece leather. The chisel has between one and seven (or possibly more) tines that are carefully placed along
3102-453: The formation of the mushroom shape caused by hammering and is left soft to avoid brittle fracture splintering from hammer blows. There are four common types of cold chisels. These are the flat chisel , the most widely known type, which is used to cut bars and rods to reduce surfaces and to cut sheet metal that is too thick or difficult to cut with tin snips . The cross cut chisel is used for cutting grooves and slots. The blade narrows behind
3168-438: The genus Dalbergia , which includes cocobolo , rosewood , and violetwood (also known as kingwood ). Ebony (genus Diospyros ) has also been used. Student model oboes are often made from plastic resin to make the instrument cheaper and more durable. The oboe has an extremely narrow conical bore . It is played with a double reed consisting of two thin blades of cane tied together on a small-diameter metal tube (staple) which
3234-420: The instrument in school, often includes the instrument in his arrangements and compositions, most frequently in his geographic tone-poems Illinois , Michigan . Peter Gabriel played the oboe while he was a member of Genesis , most prominently on " The Musical Box ". Andy Mackay of Roxy Music plays oboe, sometimes with a Wah-Wah pedal. The oboe is frequently featured in film music, often to underscore
3300-444: The instrument that the player physically interacts in the process of sound production. On instruments equipped with tuning machines such as guitars or mandolins , a key is part of a tuning machine . It is a worm gear with a key shaped end used to turn a cog, which, in turn, is attached to a post which winds the string. The key is used to make pitch adjustments to a string. With other instruments, zithers and drums , for example,
3366-405: The instrument. Similar to the bass oboe is the more powerful heckelphone , which has a wider bore and larger tone than the baritone oboe. Only 165 heckelphones have ever been made. Competent heckelphone players are difficult to find due to the extreme rarity of this particular instrument. The least common of all are the musette (also called oboe musette or piccolo oboe), the sopranino member of
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#17327799049463432-510: The late 1960s, and its continuous development through the following decade , the oboe became somewhat more prominent, replacing on some occasions the saxophone as the focal point. The oboe was used with great success by the Welsh multi-instrumentalist Karl Jenkins in his work with the groups Nucleus and Soft Machine , and by the American woodwind player Paul McCandless , co-founder of
3498-434: The line where the holes are desired, and then the top of the chisel is struck with a hammer until the tines penetrate the leather. They are then withdrawn, and the leather worker then stitches through the resulting holes. A modern gouge is similar to a chisel except its blade edge is not flat, but instead is curved or angled in cross-section. The modern version is generally hafted inline, the blade and handle typically having
3564-425: The manner of the modern key (i.e. held open for the upper register, closed for the lower). 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 C 4 to F 6 (using
3630-490: 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 (which allowed for more precise manufacture), 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
3696-556: 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 opposed to the generally cylindrical bore of flutes and clarinets ). As a result, oboes are easier to hear over other instruments in large ensembles due to its penetrating sound. The highest note
3762-416: 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. The oboe uses a double reed, similar to that used for
3828-619: The possible additions of a third-octave key and alternate (left little finger) F- or C-key. The keys are usually made of nickel silver , and are silver - or occasionally gold -plated. Besides the full conservatoire system, oboes are also made using the British thumbplate system. Most have "semi-automatic" octave keys, in which the second-octave action closes the first, and some have a fully automatic octave key system, as used on saxophones . Some full-conservatory oboes have finger holes covered with rings rather than plates ("open-holed"), and most of
3894-586: The professional models have at least the right-hand third key open-holed. Professional oboes used in the UK and Iceland frequently feature conservatoire system combined with a thumb plate. Releasing the thumb plate has the same effect as pressing down the right-hand index-finger key. This produces alternate options which eliminate the necessity for most of the common cross-intervals (intervals where two or more keys need to be released and pressed down simultaneously), as cross-intervals are much more difficult to execute in such
3960-406: The same long axis. If the bevel of the blade is on the outer surface of the curve the gouge is called an 'outcannel' gouge, otherwise it is known as an 'incannel' gouge. Gouges with angled rather than curved blades are often called 'V-gouges' or 'vee-parting tools'. The blade geometry is defined by a semi-standardized numbering system that varies by manufacturer and country of origin. For each gouge
4026-539: 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
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#17327799049464092-464: The spurious concerto in C major Hob. VIIg:C1. Beethoven wrote the F major concerto, Hess 12, of which only sketches survive, though the second movement was reconstructed in the late 20th century). 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
4158-415: The tubes that has been altered into various “effective” lengths, based on specific key configurations. The keys on the keyboard of a pipe organ also open and close various mechanical valves. However, rather than directed influencing the paths the airflow takes within the same tube, the configuration of these valves instead determines through which of the numerous separate organ pipes, each of which tuned for
4224-531: Was borrowed from the French name, hautbois [obwɑ] , which is a compound word made up of haut ("high", "loud") and bois ("wood", "woodwind"). The French word means 'high-pitched woodwind' in English. The spelling of oboe was adopted into English c. 1770 from the Italian oboè , a transliteration of the 17th-century pronunciation of the French name. The regular oboe first appeared in
4290-624: Was used for dance band music, but occasionally oboists may be heard used in a similar manner to a saxophone for solos. Most of the time these oboists were already playing with the band or orchestra on a different woodwind instrument. The multi-instrumentalist Garvin Bushell (1902–1991) played the oboe in jazz bands as early as 1924 and used the instrument throughout his career, eventually recording with John Coltrane in 1961. Gil Evans featured oboe in sections of his famous Sketches of Spain collaboration with trumpeter Miles Davis . Though primarily
4356-501: Was used in some military bands in Europe into the 20th century. F. Lorée of Paris made further developments to the modern instrument. Minor improvements to the bore and key work have continued through the 20th century, but there has been no fundamental change to the general characteristics of the instrument for several decades. The modern standard oboe is most commonly made from grenadilla , also known as African blackwood, although some manufacturers also make oboes out of other species of
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