Hello! My daughter has been playing oboe since 3rd grade, and now that she's in high school, she's ready to move beyond her rented student Yamaha.

From what I've read, a budget of around $4,000–$4,500 should get us a decent pre-owned oboe, but I'd love to hear from more experienced players about which brands and models are worth looking at.

We live in New England, so I'm assuming we'd likely need to trial instruments by mail unless there's a good dealer nearby. Is that generally how it works? Are there particular dealers you'd recommend for buying a used oboe and arranging trials?

I'd appreciate any advice on brands, models, reputable dealers, or anything else we should know as we navigate this process. Thanks!

I'm a beginner baroque oboe player and my new reed (Baroque oboe reed: Tasso from Oboe-shop) takes a huge amount of effort to play. Should it be lightly scraped (blended)?

It seems nearly impossible to play softly and no matter the embouchure, the low F sounds very muffled. It's total thickness is 0.44 at the tip and 1.05 mm at the heart. There is an abrupt increase in thickness on the top blade, here is a video of what it looks like after 2 minutes of soaking and playing a couple of notes. Also, it's been soaked, briefly played, and completely dried for about 10 times the past 5 days. Any help would be much appreciated!

https://reddit.com/link/1x7c3jt/video/b7oubruzxsvh1/player

In a pinch I bought an English horn reed from a maker I thought would be decent. The reed is fine, but it has nothing to secure it to the bocal. I find that when I play I end up pulling the reed off. As you can imagine, that’s a pain in the neck. I don’t make my own reeds (and I realize that is a cardinal sin), but is there any way to put tubing on a reed after it’s made so it doesn’t keep slipping off? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Personally, I can't recall encountering any situation where it really mattered whether I used the left or right D trill key.

https://musescore.com/user/37270121/scores/39174434?share=copy_link
https://musescore.com/user/37270121/scores/39117005?share=copy_link

Import oboes..? Let me explain.
I am a drummer primarily. I’ve hopped around disciplines for awhile, but I’m settling on drums as a primary. That being said, I still record and produce music and I have always had a soft spot for the soaring Melodies on oboe and english horn. Being as I have already spent my money on good drums and cymbals… and… trombones… trumpets and saxaphones… and being that I do not play oboe in any performing sense, nor could I ever afford to hire an oboist to record for my personal tracks (I enjoy multitracking more anyways,) how bad are the Chinese oboes anyways?

I know that they are not fit for professional performance use and often have softer keywork that is more prone to go out of alignment, but is there anything redeeming about them? Can they sound good for home and studio use? Will they suffice for a doubler like me? Or is there really 100% no point in spending a couple hundred on one?

The reason I even ask is because most forums I have read often are coming from a place of “I want to be a concert oboist,” to which the replies will all be “invest in your career, you will need a good instrument, spare no expense” which I fully agree with. I don’t think oboe doubling is maybe as common of a perspective to this question. So yeah, if anyone has used them and had a good experience, let me know! I miss playing oboe…

Hi oboists — I'm the developer of Solfa. I tried a small, real English-horn-to-oboe notation example rather than a generic key change.

These are two bars from the Largo of Dvořák's Ninth, in an old Oboe II / English Horn part. The top panel is the scanned F-English-horn notation; the bottom is the actual Solfa output for C oboe. It is written down a perfect fifth so the sounding pitches stay the same. The written key signature changes from four flats to five. I haven't corrected the notes by hand. I checked the displayed pitches and rhythms, but this is only a two-bar excerpt; I haven't validated the whole part. Timbre and range across a complete movement would need a musician's judgment, and a player should proofread any generated part.

If you've ever had to cover an English horn passage on oboe, would a readable transposed part help, or is the different sound usually the deciding issue?

Disclosure: I built Solfa. The tool is at https://solfa-music.com. New accounts get two page credits after phone verification; further credits are paid.

Source: Dvořák, Symphony No. 9, Largo, Oboe II / English Horn, historical Simrock/Kalmus part, IMSLP #41075, PDF page 11 (printed page 3): https://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.9,_Op.95_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k,_Anton%C3%ADn_Leopold))

So I sat down to tie on reeds and it snaps super easily, I move onto another roll and it also snaps with very little tension. I go through all my thread and it just snaps. It did not do this last week what is happening?

The rod is loose and my D key can’t be depressed…

Im a freshman im first chair out of 3 flutes and we have plenty of clarinets and we lost our oboe player due to them being a senior and i want to try and learn oboe i think im a alright flute player ive gotten into all state and held first chair and also played with the highschool since 7th grade but

Hi!! I'm a middle school oboist who has an All-County Audition in 3 days. It's for the middle school county band, and I was wondering if any of y'all had some tips. I've been playing for about a year, taking private lessons and practicing every day, but I was wondering if there are any audition-specific tips, how to control nerves, not flub it up, etc,. All I know is that there's not a lot of competition for oboe at the middle school level.

Thanks!!

quick question to oboe community

so I feel like I finally cracked the code on compression and support: I am finally applying compression using my “lid” or the top of my compression sandwich. my notes are flowing better (it seems) and it’s gotten a lot easier to diminuendo to nothing.

I’m also experiencing a tightness in my chest that is also apparently normal. it’s really making me tired when I play my longer pieces though…is this just something that I will build resistance to? It’s making me feel uncomfortable and tired though….

please help!

I had this reed for about a month but didn't really use it. I've been playing with this reed for about a week now. I noticed that it had these weird black lines. Is it mold?

Edit: I can't believe I forgot to upload an image

I’ve been playing oboe for around a year and a half and wanting to know how i can improve on intonation, tone, and phrasing.

I know the reed matters a lot on how you sound but how can i improve on phrasing and such things like that?

Any exercises or books would be appreciated

What the title says. My daughter wants to continue her oboe education. Grade 5, going into high school soon. I can't post in my local Reddit because of my karma and posts. Looking for someone local to aid my daughter or any YouTube recommendations would be appreciated.

Hi! Wildest thing just happened to me - so I used to play oboe but haven't in about a decade. I recently picked it back up and am playing on a rent-to-own instrument from a local shop. While playing this evening I noticed my notes seemed pitched up strangely, and as I stopped playing I heard a clatter and wouldn't you know it, a key had just. Fallen right off.

I have absolutely no idea how or why this happened. Nothing else fell; as far as I can see the screw is still there and theres (hopefully) nothing else missing. I guess ill be on my way to the shop soon but for more experienced players- has this happened to you? Is this at all common with this particular key? Could I fix it myself? This is the first time anything like this has happened on any instrument I've played, let alone wiyj no prior warning or clear cause. Any info helps!!

I haven't played the oboe since high school so not playing currently. I just remember those expensive ass fucking reeds.. so I'm curious

How much do you personally spend on reeds every year? I heard 10 to 15 hours of playtime is average, but im sure it also heavily varies

I'm a bassist now that plays about 3 hours a day so I can't imagine dealing with that monthly Reed subscription if I was doing that instead lol

So as a self-taught amateur oboist in NA (although funnily enough, my instrument is a Howarth), i just learned of the thumbplate system. I was curious whether it adds any difficulties in 2nd octave. If i understood correctly, 2nd octave A and B require thumb plate to be depressed, but E through Ab would require the octave key (also controlled by L thumb). So if you need to switch between two, do you need to slide your thumb over? How does it work?

I adore his playing/sound and also play a Howarth XL. Does anyone know anything about his set up?

I’m looking for info regarding his shape and staple choice as well as scrape dimensions. He’s occasionally posted a few photos of his reeds on his instagram and they appear to have unusual proportions (a short tip with a long back scraped right down to the thread)

How many reeds is it considered "normal" wasting when you're starting to try to make your own reeds?

I'm starting to get frustrated and just wanted something to motivate me 🤣

Hey everyone, I've been playing an Yamaha YOB 431 for almost 10 years

My band just bought another one, Lalique HF30, but honestly I wanted a professional opinion. Do you know this oboe?

Should I stick with the Yamaha? I think it's better but I don't have much knowledge about it

Hello!

I haven’t played the oboe in over ten years- but I have held onto my vintage Fox oboe and have recently had the urge to break it out.

All-state/youth symphony hardcore vibes in HS followed by college ensembles (while pursuing my BM in piano and music therapy). At that point I was adjusting my own reeds and purchasing custom reeds from grad students… i worked as a music therapist for years (using lots of instrument skills but not oboe) and have now worked in music business/philanthropy for a few years which finally has me missing my original instrument passions.

While I have lost my skill, embouchure, and reed making tools, I don’t think I have lost my “eye” for a good reed… and now that I am states, years, and careers away I no longer know the best place to get them, especially as a beginner (soft/medium) again. I fear that if I order a Lesher or Jones pack of reeds I will curse at the shaping and symmetry and will declare my failure at re-learning as a result of the reed and the reed only.

Have the mass markets gotten better? What is this synthetic reed nonsense? Is my Fox oboe case moldy and the oboe inside cracked- maybe!? Where can I get a solid “professional” quality reed at a “beginner” softness?

P.S- even 10+ years later I still have relatively frequent recurring dreams that I show up for an audition or performance and all of my reeds are split.

i just got of a long rehearsal and didn’t realize one of the screws was coming loose, i pulled down to take the thumb rest off and the nail must isn’t gotten caught on the inside so no i can’t take it off.. any ideas? i’m assuming it’ll have to be broken off which i can live with although how?? i can send it to a shop but id love to fix the issue myself.