The Oboe:

An Explanation of Its Progression and Physics

Ben Cossitor

INART 50

December 12, 2008

The Oboe: An Explanation of its Progression and Physics

I. Intro

II. History of the oboe

A. Shawms

B. French hautbois

C. Spread through Europe

D. Refinement in 1700s

III. The oboe of today

A. Wooden/plastic

B. Note range

C. Playing practices

a. Embouchure

b. Vibrato

IV. General properties of woodwinds

A. ¼ wave resonators

B. Blown air causes vibrations

C. Keys that shorten and lengthen tube

D. Equal distribution of sound (not directional)

V. The bore

A. Conical

B. Small degree of expansion

C. Allows all harmonics

VI. The reeds

A. Short life
 B. Construction

C. Components

c. Tip

d. Heart

e. Windows

f. Spine

VII. The fingering system

A. Hand placement

B. Keys for each chromatic note

C. Overblows octave

D. “Leaks” to allow higher notes

VIII. The spectrum of the oboe

A. Tone quality

B. Harmonics

C. Spectrum

IX. Conclusion
 For centuries, the oboe has fascinated the human race with its unique timbre and piercing tone. But

what exactly makes the oboe sound so different? How can a woodwind that looks so similar to a clarinet

produce a sound so fundamentally different? According to physics the oboe has several qualities that

have developed over the centuries that lend to its unusual tone; the bore, reed, length, etc. all

contribute to the sound that people associate with the modern oboe. Because of these factors and the

laws of physics, the oboe creates a sound that can pierce through an entire ensemble like no other

instrument.

In order to understand the reasons for the various features of the modern oboe, knowledge of the

oboe’s development is necessary. Its origins trace back to the thirteenth-century shawms of Europe and

debatably even further back into ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Israel. These instruments had wide

double reeds that were taken entirely into the mouth, producing a powerful, strident sound (Burgess

17). They also were made of a single piece of wood with a long bell and usually six or seven tone-holes.

These early shawms were mainly used for outdoor processions, and they were often compared to the

trumpet. Over time, musicians discovered that they could produce lighter tones that were more suitable

for indoor concert playing by pulling the reed out of their mouth to the very tip; this gave them more

control of tone, pitch, and dynamic. This change occurred in the seventeenth century with the French

“hautboy.” According to Burgess and Haynes, two distinguished oboist-musicologists,

“The modern notion of what the oboe is, and what it is expected to do, was born in the seventeenth

century. In fact, the seventeenth century can be seen as the most experimental period in the history

of the instrument. . . While the instrument’s physical form changed, an even more fundamental

mutation took place in the idea of the instrument’s character and role. The hautboy’s new function

was that of a soloist and orchestral collaborator, and this job description has remained valid up to

the present day.”

This hautboy is considered to be the direct ancestor of the modern oboe, as it was the first treble double

reed to be used as an orchestral instrument. The hautboy physically differed from the shawms by its

shortened bell, narrowed side-walls, and newly-positioned tone holes (Burgess 29). The instrument was

also divided into two sections by a joint between the player’s hands and was typically made out of

boxwood, although ebony, ivory, and fruitwoods were also used. Brass was used for the keys and reed

staple (tube on which the reed is tied), and the woodwind typically only had two to three keys (Burgess

33). Furthermore, the new hautboy had smaller tone-holes, giving it a softer and “darker” sound that

blended better with other instruments. This also had the effect of making notes unstable between

registers, allowing a player to easily jump between two octaves with just his/her breath and lips

(Burgess 33). From Louis XIV’s court in France, the hautboy branched out, spreading into ensembles

throughout Europe; after this point, instrument-makers internationally began experimenting with the

hautboy until around 1800, when most players shifted to the keyed oboe (Burgess 58). The most

fundamental change for this keyed oboe was its tone-holes for each chromatic note of the scale. Finally,

the oboe conservatoire was developed in France in the latter half of the nineteenth century; it had much

a much simpler key system from the earlier keyed oboe. This simplification allowed the instrument to

vibrate easier without all the obstructions from wooden key-mounts and metal saddles; it instead

utilized rods and posts to hold the keys and rings over the tone holes to help with sealing. Also, octave

keys were included on these new models to facilitate jumping between octaves.

With just a few more years and minor adjustments, the conservatoire oboe became the

standard oboe that has lasted to the present day. Naturally, instrument makers continue to make

minute changes since perfection is impossible, yet for the most part the oboe has reached the height of

its potential. As an oboe major myself, I can accurately describe the physical properties of the modern

instrument. The oboe has two joints separating the top piece, middle piece, and bell. The interior of the

oboe (called the bore) is conical in shape with a small degree of expansion that begins all the way at the
tip of the reed and continues to the bottom of the bell. Professional oboes are usually made out of

rosewood or ebony wood, although resin is also commonly used. The oboe’s two registers’ ranges truly

extend from D4 to C5 and D5 to C6; however, extra keys and cross fingerings allow today’s oboists to

play from B flat 3 to G6 (Rossing 247). A thinner double reed is used, tied to a staple made of metal. This

reed’s tip is placed on the player’s lips where he/she has full control of tone, dynamic, and pitch with

just the slightest jaw motion. According to Mr. Hurtz, associate professor of oboe at Penn State

University, this is due to the reeds’ flexibility; the two pieces of cane actually vibrate against each other

when air is blown through them. By pressing the reed harder into the lips, the opening is more closed;

thus, the sound is softer because less air is let through although the player’s air speed does not change.

This constant high velocity air stream is important when playing the oboe since it is imperative to the

response time of the instrument. Furthermore, the modern oboe’s sound can be very sweet and delicate

in its middle and upper registers (the lower register sounds “honky” and is difficult to control which will

be discussed later in the paper), yet it still tends to pierce through any ensemble in which it is included.

Vibrato (or a wavering in pitch or air) is used to mitigate this effect; unless otherwise notated, oboists

always use vibrato. As Mr. Hurtz taught me, the proper way to implement this vibrato is by causing

fluctuations in the air stream with the diaphragm.

To explain the physics behind the oboe, it is necessary to understand the common physics of all

woodwind instruments. Woodwinds produce sound by one or two physical reed(s) creating a vibrating

column of air; thus, they are classified as aerophones, which are “all those instruments where the sound

is produced by a vibrating column of air,” (Campbell 186). The reed(s) acts as a sound generator which

vibrates and initiates the sound waves that travel through the air; the body of the instrument acts as a

resonator which amplifies and radiates these soundwaves (Campbell 187). Thomas Rossing has the best

explanation of this process when he says,

 “ . . . as blowing pressure is applied, the reed valve allows a puff of air to flow into the

instrument and at the same time starts the reed swinging ‘shut’ toward the mouthpiece [his

example was for the clarinet]. The puff of air (or pulse of positive pressure) travels down the

pipe until it comes to the open end, where the pressure rather abruptly drops to zero. This

causes a negative pressure pulse to propagate back up the pipe toward the mouthpiece. When

it arrives, the reed is just completing its swing toward the mouthpiece, and the negative

pressure pulse ‘pulls’ the reed valve a little farther shut. Since the reed valve is now closed or

nearly closed, very little air enters, so a negative pressure pulse starts back down the tube

toward the open end.

“Now we reverse the chain of events described in the preceding paragraph. The negative

pressure pulse arrives at the open end, the pressure suddenly rises to zero (actually, to normal

atmospheric pressure), and a positive pressure pulse begins its journey back toward the

mouthpiece. When it arrives, the reed is swinging open and the pressure pulse pushes it farther

open, so that a new puff of air can be introduced from the player’s mouth,” (Rossing 238-9).

This explanation for the clarinet can be applied to the oboe by simply exchanging the mouthpiece for

another reed. For example, when the clarinet’s reed was closing toward its mouthpiece, both the oboe’s

reeds would be closing in toward each other. Rossing goes on to explain that as the reed is pushed in

and out, it experiences “positive feedback” similar to a child swinging on a swing; due to its appreciable

mass, the air forces the reed to vibrate in harmony with the natural frequency of the column of air

(239). Furthermore, it is important to understand the nature of quarter-wave resonators. Since most

woodwinds (the exception being the flute) are pipes closed at one end, they all act as quarter-wave

resonators with a pressure node at the middle and end of the instrument (Fletcher 469). Another

consequence is that only odd harmonics of the fundamental can sound for a cylindrical-bore pipe (the
oboe, having a conical bore has special properties which be discussed in more detail later). Another

property all woodwinds share is the use of tone holes along their lengths. Tone holes serve the purpose

actually changing the length of the instrument depending upon where the bottom-most key lies. Finally,

woodwinds all have spread out directionality; the radiation from the bell is supplemented by radiation

from open key-holes, causing sound to spread outward from different points on the instrument

depending on which note is being played (Fletcher 480).

As mentioned above, a woodwind with a cylindrical bore can only produce odd harmonics of the

fundamental due to its properties as a quarter wave resonator. However, the oboe has a conical bore,

so what are the effects? According to Fletcher,

“We are left with the conclusion that useful bore profiles for reed- or lip-driven instrument using

finger holes should approximate fairly closely to cylinders or cones, and this is indeed what is

found in practice. . . Oboes and bassoons and their ancestor the shawms . . . are close to conical

in bore and possess a complete-harmonic mode series,” (Fletcher 463).

The angle of the oboe’s cone is rather small at 1.4 degrees and about 60 centimeters in length. To quote

Rossing, “The resonances of a cone have essentially the same frequencies as an open pipe of the same

length. This statement is true even if the cone is truncated, which may seem paradoxical at first glance.

As a sound wave travels toward the small end of a cone, its pressure must increase,” (Rossing 243).

Thus, the conical bore allows the oboe to sound all harmonics of the fundamental when playing any

note.

The next property specific to the oboe is its double reed. Oboists (and all double-reed

performers really) spend hours each week simply preparing the cane and shaping it to be used the next

week. Double reeds last only a short time, usually only a number of hours before the cane is weakened

and physically collapses. Mr. Hurtz explained this phenomenon to me by explaining what the cane really
consists of; each strip of cane is essentially made up of microscopic tubes (a larger analogy being celery).

Each time we soak the reed we fill those tubes to capacity, making the reed extremely flexible; However,

as we begin playing on it, our saliva replaces the water, and the enzymes in our saliva actually begins

breaking down these microscopic tubes. When constructing a reed, an oboist has to be extremely

precise from the very start. An actual tube of cane is split into three parts, each of which are examined

and thrown away if twisted or warped. Next in the process is gouging, which take a curved blade across

the inside of the curved cane until the cane is the precise thickness need to begin scraping. From there,

the cane is soaked and then actually bent and folded in the middle with just the maker’s fingers. This

folded cane is set on a mold, and the sides of it are then shaped with a razor blade. Finally the cane is

prepared and ready to be tied at this point. It’s held onto a tube with the fingers while a spool of thread

is wrapped around it at very high tension; it’s this point that the cane is most likely to crack, to the

frustration and loss of sanity of the practicing oboist. Only after the cane is tied can it be scraped with a

knife until it has a specific contour that allows vibrations to pass through in a way desired by the

individual oboist. Every professional has his own style of scraping that suits his/her preferences, but

there are a few elements that all oboe reeds must have to sound properly. The tip is the most important

as it is the actual source of vibration; from my teaching with Professor Hurtz, I have learned it is made

extremely thin in order for it to vibrate readily and have a wonderful response time to the player’s

breath. The next common element is the spine which is a thick vertical strip of cane left on the center of

the reeds; it serves to prolong the reed’s life by providing a support against the sometimes crushing

force of the player’s lips. The heart, just a few centimeters below the tip, is a very thick area of cane and

its top has the shape of an inverted v. The heart serves to calm down the excited vibrations from the

extremely thin tip by forcing the vibrations to travel over the thicker area of wood. The inverted v,

according to Mr. Hurtz, serves to make the transition smoother for the vibrations. The last two common

elements are the rails and the windows. The rails are strips of cane left on the very edges of the reed,
and their purpose is to better the seal along the sides of the reed, thus making the pitch more stable.

The windows are thin areas (but not as thin as the tip) just below the heart that extend to the bottom of

the reed; these are used to allow the slowed down vibrations from the heart pass easily through the rest

of the reed. When the oboist’s finished double reed is blown into, the two pieces of cane begin to

oscillate for reasons already explained, and they actually beat against each other.

In addition, the fingering system of the oboe contributes to its pitch and range. The modern

oboist can choose from a variety of different keys to be added to his/her oboe, customizing the

instrument. However, as with everything else, a little goes a long way; most professional oboists only

choose the most important extra keys that they foresee themselves having need of in the future (Carse

140). The finger holes on the oboe are placed so that three fingers of each hand can cover holes at all

times with the left hand above the right. The little fingers can move around to various extra keys that

allow the instrument’s range to extend beyond that of the player’s reach (Fletcher 467). The keys are

held in place by the system of rods and springs mentioned earlier that free space on the oboe and allow

it to resonate. Furthermore, instruments with conical bores like the oboe “overblow” an octave to the

second mode and can use similar fingerings for this upper register (Fletcher 467). The oboe actually has

two (and sometimes three) register keys that help with this overblowing, one for the lower part of the

upper register and one for the higher (Fletcher 468). Mr. Hurtz put it best when he explained them as

little leaks that oboists need to open in order to play higher. Even in the middle register, a half-hole is

used in order to go to the top lines of the staff. From there, more and more “leaks” are added until the

bizarre fingerings of the high upper register are reached with fingers being placed in seemingly random

places.

Finally, this analysis would not be complete without an attempt at explaining the oboe’s very

unique tone. The oboe has been marveled at since its inception for its powerful tone that pierces
through an ensemble like a trumpet. Many terms have been used to describe this tone: sweet, tender,

dulcet, nasal, etc. What exactly is the physical basis for this sound? Fletcher says, “ . . . the impedence

maxima are fairly well aligned with the first few harmonics of output to exhibit a full harmonic

spectrum . . . This feature together with the relative weakness of the fundamental and the higher level

of upper harmonics gives the oboe a lighter, brighter sound than that of the clarinet playing the same

note. Even in its upper register, the oboe shows a high level of overtone components in its sound,”

(Fletcher 493). Rossing goes on to explain, “Quality oboes have cutoff frequencies that are nearly

constant throughout their playing range, and for different instruments vary from about 1100 to 1500 Hz.

A higher cutoff frequency results in a bright tone, and a lower cutoff frequency in a dark tone, just as in

the case of clarinets. The spectra of oboe sounds show substantial amounts of the higher

harmonics . . .,” (Rossing 247). Therefore, the oboe’s “bright” sound quality comes from its large number

of harmonics that extends higher than many other winds.

Because of the oboe’s numerous idiosyncrasies and unique features, it has a tone quality and

range that is quite unique. While the double reeds may all sound similar, the oboe is debatably the most

prominently heard in the orchestra due to its piercing nature. It fills the role of the soprano double reed

quite well with its capability to play sweetly at some times and then quite vigorously at others. The oboe

is a product of its progress; without its shawm ancestors being created the way they were, the oboe

would not have come to us in its present form. However, since it did, the oboe will continue to captivate

audiences with its exotic tone and soloistic nature for as long as our culture exists.
 Bibliography

Burgess, Geoffrey, and Bruce Haynes. The Oboe. London: Yale University Press, 2004.

Campbell, Murray, and Clive Greated. The Musician’s Guide to Acoustics. New York: Schirmer Books,

1987.

Carse, Adam. Musical Wind Instruments. New York: Da Capo Press, 1965.

Fletcher, Neville H. The Physics of Musical Instruments. 2d ed. New York: Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.,

1998.

Rossing, Thomas. Science of Sound. Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc., 1990.