r/oboe • u/Same_Estimate_7439 • 2d ago
You guys are going to hate me but…
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…
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u/SprightlyCompanion 2d ago
They're bad. Not worth it. Specifically: they famously do not stay in adjustment. Oboe is a technically complex instrument with many mechanisms that have dual purposes and multiple connections, so the slightest misalignment can make the instrument at best impossible to play in tune and at worst simply unplayable.
There are lots of good used oboes out there that will cost the same as a new shitty Chinese one.
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u/FlowAffectionate5161 2d ago
Oboe is hard enough without having to fight an instrument of questionable quality. Proceed at your own risk.
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u/Wonderful_Emu_6483 2d ago
99% of people here will say they are not worth the money. I personally believe currently there is just not enough data because most people claiming that have not tried one or have no experience with one.
I’ve played some Chinese factory saxophones, clarinets, and flutes that were acceptable IMO. I can’t say if any oboes out of these places are the same.
Some evidence in their favor: Ari on YouTube did a review of the “Singers Day” oboe from Amazon, which looks like any other Chinese factor oboe, and their review of it was positive, it sounds good and can play full range. It’s a bit higher priced than the other “branded” Chinese oboes, but looking at the keywork and the body, they’re identical.
Also, the Kessler Custom oboe seems to have favorable reviews, similar body to the Chinese oboes, the only difference is full conservatory keywork with a D ring key.
I think there’s potential for there to be acceptable affordable Chinese oboes, but nobody wants to spend the money to do an actual review of one. That one guy on YouTube (can’t think of his name) frequently tries super cheap band instruments from online. He ordered an oboe but unlike past reviews, he didn’t have an actual oboist try it out, so I can’t say whether or not it was decent. He made a sound on it, but he’s not an oboist.
I’d say if you have the money, go ahead and order at your own risk. I’m curious to try one but I haven’t felt like spending $400 on something that may be an expensive lamp.
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u/Same_Estimate_7439 2d ago
This is my thought exactly! It seems that almost all the experience from this type of experiment is focused on beginners or super pros. I think I am leaning towards trying it, because a lot of people here are mentioning tech stuff, but I’m my own tech with woodwinds, so I don’t mind adjusting stuff, not to mention that this purchase would be through Amazon, so if it does turn out to be a lamp, I just return it! I think more than anything I’m curious. I’m not expecting excellent quality but it’s probably going to be better than playing a sample on a piano. I’ll record my findings when I get around to it. I’m simultaneously doing school and shopping for French horn additionally, so it will be awhile ahaha
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u/khornebeef 2d ago
There are two massive things to consider that differentiate oboe from flutes and clarinets: The oboe is a FAR more complex instrument than either and is FAR less popular than either. This means that smaller issues in QC will lead to bigger problems and that oboes of worse quality will sell for much more since they do not benefit from the economy of scale like flutes and clarinets do.
Saxes are close in complexity to oboes, but the most popular saxes are alto and tenor whose tolerances are way more forgiving due to the size of the instrument by comparison. I personally have not tried any cheap Chinese oboes, but I have tried many Chinese flutes, clarinets, and saxes. While the majority of these instruments are serviceable, they do have issues with QC/FNF that may be easily remedied on other winds, but would probably cause massive issues on oboe that the average Joe would have no clue how to resolve.
If you are going to buy a cheap oboe, make sure you have an oboe tech who knows how to play oboe inspect it for functionality. There are so many adjustments and points of leakage on oboe that you really need someone who knows what they're doing to check it out with a quality reed so you can quickly diagnose whether it's your reed, technique, or horn that's keeping you from sounding good because I assure you, even with the ideal gear setup, you will sound terrible just due to the learning curve if you can make a sound at all.
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u/Affectionate_Sir_192 2d ago
I know it sounds like I'm being like any good music teacher were I encourage "go in all the way to have the best sound possible with the best instrument you can get". Thats not what I'm saying. For someone to say "cheap oboes aren't great", is quite an understatement and not just to a professional. Many of those instruments are not just cheap or low quality, they're unplayable. I had a student once who's parent bought an oboe for $1000 on Amazon and the instrument was unplayable. Not bad, unplayable. Not even a skilled repairmen could have fixed it. Many of the keys on it were not even shaped right. I can easily tell that none of its keywork was put together by anyone who actually plays a woodwind. Nothing was damaged or bent, the instrument was unplayable because engineers were thinking like engineers, not musicians. Because of the displacement of keywork, some notes were nearly half steps flat/sharp in relation to god knows what because of compramises that would make perfect sense to engineers. Issuse like this are beyond adjustment. The only thing it was good for is to turn it into an $1000 lamp. They sent it back after I attempted to play on it for them. Believe it or not, this is not the worst of cheap oboes.
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u/Random_ThrowUp 14h ago
Saxophones, Clarinets and Flutes are leas technically complex than an Oboe.
Regarding these "A professional endorsed these chinese instruments" (whether it be flute, saxophone, clarinet, or oboe), keep it in mind they are professionals with decades of experience playing. Their embouchures and breathing muscles, etc. are so nuanced and developed that they can adjust to even the junkiest of instruments and make them sound good. The same instrument in the hands of a beginner or an early intermediate who does not have the same nuanced embouchure will not work well. Plus, more likely than not, the Chinese company paid the YouTuber to endorse the brand. Or the YouTuber has a partnership with the brand that grants them commissions.
With these promising brands like Kessler Custom, while they MIGHT work really well, in the long run, they are still "not worth the risk". Brands like Fox, Renard, etc. they have decades (maybe a century) worth of experience with making oboes, and being trusted by professionals. They have a proven track reccord. The same can not be said of Kessler Custom. While Selmer Paris is impressed with their repair capabilities and made them an official Selmer Paris Pro Shop, that does not mean that they are good at checking Oboes. At most, they are "general band repair people" who do phenomenal jobs on Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, and Brass Instruments, but are largely ignorant and unaware of how to actually repair an oboe. If Fox/Renard were impressed with their repair capabilities, then it would be something to consider. I acknowledge what you said that not all professionals have tried these, and more do. That may establish brands like Kessler, but professionals rightly would rather stick with a brand that has had decades (or a century) of experience being trusted by a professionals.
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u/Affectionate_Sir_192 2d ago
I freelance perform and teach private oboe lessons professionally throughout Central Texas. Cheep oboes are usually worse than bad to say the least. Not just bad quality, but often not functional. That soaring beautiful sound you talk about can only be achieved with an instrument that seals properly, is made with quality interior dimensions, and at least half decent intonation. An instrument that can do these things is gonna cost at least 1,500 USD for a beginner model that may or may not have all the keys. It also takes a competant oboe player to identify what is a good reed vs a bad reed which typically takes a couple years to develop opinions on what quality reeds are for you. If you have experience playing other reeded instruments AND a good teacher (you must have), it could still take many months to over a year. This is not "oh well im not looking to sound professional, teachers always go in with a goal to sound as good as possible, maybe I can get by without some of this". What I'm talking about is that in order to have a sound that anyone would want to listen do, you'll have to put in the time to understand what quality reeds are.
The Chinese making a molded copy of a good oboe is not the same as making an oboe that functions. You have to know how all the mechanisms actually work in order to get everything to seal. All of this keywork is more complex than it is on clarinet, saxophone, and flute. Woodwind repairman routinely say "if you can fix an oboe, you can fix any instrument, but not the other way around".
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u/Practical_Debate7447 2d ago
I will throw out a suggestion for a kessler custom oboe…perhaps the fully composite one so you aren’t dealing with wood. It’s a great instrument for the price. As a doubler you will be much happier.
…I am primarily a flautist. I also play clarinet, saxophone and oboe!
I’m going to say yes we could live with cheaper instruments. Yes we could make it work…but oboe has A LOT of keys and things to go wrong. My oboe needs a tech to adjust it presently 😂
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u/Mundane-Ant7460 1d ago
I wouldnt recommend it. I would recommend checking out the Oboe Fairy, you can try out the oboes and send back whatever doesnt work for you. And great coffee.
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u/djodjo626 14h ago
There are some Chinese oboes today that are good for students to begin with a full conservatory and for people who don’t want to buy professional ones yet. Or don't want to go professional. People here may not like it but I started in an Aurosus oboe. I played fine with it and with good reeds. I've played in professional orchestras with it. No issue. It helped me get started. Especially since in Mexico, buying even a used oboe from the accepted brands is not economically possible. I have a cousin in the USA who also bought a Chinese one since he said it's not economically viable for him either. Get what you can that is good with your income. Don't worry about what country the oboe is from. Try it out and if you like it and it works great. If not then try another one. Chinese oboes today are not the same as Chinese oboes twenty years ago.
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u/Forward-Feature9874 12h ago
You can’t afford to hire an oboist to record your personal tracks? But you can afford to drop a couple hundred to buy a crappy oboe? Does not compute…
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u/Same_Estimate_7439 6h ago
For 2 hours of playing, I would pay almost the whole of that cost I imagine. And besides, I prefer tracking things myself so I can have time to experiment with the options of tone and articulation without wasting someone else’s time. Honestly as long as what I purchase has full range keyword and plays better than the buffet student I used to own, I’ll be in a good place. I think if I started actually posting and making money off of what I use these instruments for, I’d be much more confident spending a lot more money on them, but I think that would be after college.
As someone in here stated, there is just not very much data of people actually playing these instruments. Frankly, if you haven’t played one yourself, how can you say they are completely worthless. I think at this point my scientific curiosity is the biggest driving force here. I have played on some very very nice oboes in demo places and music stores, as well as some really really bad oboes, like the Selmer student ones from the 90s. I’m beyond curious just to know what these new knock offs play like. I’m doing a similar thing for a double Horn as well, another… cinematic instrument that I cannot afford but know how to play.
I still hold the sentiment that anyone who intends to pursue this instrument as a primary career goal should not waste time on an import instrument like this, but my use case is just not that. If $500 can buy me a couple years worth of recording oboe solos in orchestral vgm covers, then I’m beyond ecstatic! If it comes and is as bad as everyone says, then I have more knowledge and can share my real world anecdote! everyone wins haha!
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u/RossGougeJoshua2 2d ago edited 2d ago
I mean... It's your money and you seem to understand the risk. You're not a parent trying to spend as little as possible on a 9th grader's oboe, setting them up for failure.
Not being focused on oboe, you are not going to reach a playing level where the sound and tuning peculiarities/imperfections are going to start to get in your way in a manner that you notice and bothers you.
If you have the opportunity to buy one for "a couple hundred" as opposed to a couple thousand and have proof that it is in playing condition with an opportunity to try it out, go ahead. Buying one for a couple hundred does not set you back too badly when you decide to upgrade it can only sell it for a couple hundred (probably to that parent of a 9th grader who ignored our advice). But if the cost is $1800, halfway to a used but excellent mid-range Fox, know that you will still only resell it for $200 if you try to upgrade.
If you take it for repair, a generic band instrument repair shop might accept it and do their usual adjustment and pad work, which may be enough to correct a leaky oboe but not up to the standard of a professional player. An oboe specialist might refuse it outright because they can't make it play to their own standards.
Developing players need a reliable instrument to learn on so the oboe itself does not get in the way of their playing, advanced players need a reliable instrument to put out advanced performances. Nobody is asking anything of you if it is your decision to lay down an occasional oboe recording in your own studio.
tl;dr Notice how I still managed to list 4 paragraphs why not to buy it, after saying it's your money and you already read the risks. With extra warnings in there for the parents of young players.