Oboe

A musical instrument of the woodwind family. It is a descendant of the shawm. In the 17th century Jean Hotteterre and Michel Danican Philidor modified the shawm, so that the new oboe had a narrower bore and a reed which is held by the players lips near the end.

The oboe is usually made from wood, with an extremely narrow conical bore, and double-reed mouthpiece. This leads to overblowing at the octave (compare to the clarinet which overblows a twelfth). Together with the flute/recorder it is one of the older woodwind instruments.

The oboe has several sibling instruments. The most widely known today is the cor anglais(English Horn), which evolved from the Baroque oboe da caccia. Both are pitched a perfect fifth lower than the standard oboe. The oboe d'amore, also popular during the Baroque period, is pitched a minor third lower than the oboe. Johann Sebastian Bach used the oboe d'amore extensively.