The notion of oboe comes from the French word hautbois . This is the name given to a wind instrument that has six holes and has between two and thirteen keys .
It is an aerophone that is part of the group of woodwind instruments , since the sound is generated through the vibration of the air produced by the instrument itself. In the specific case of the oboe, there is a double reed that vibrates.
The oboe has a conical-shaped bore (inner chamber). The instrument can be up to sixty centimeters long: holes are made on its tube and the keys are installed. The base of the tube, on the other hand, is wider than the rest, which is why the oboe resembles a funnel .
The person who plays this instrument is called an oboist or even an oboe player. The left hand is placed on the head of the aerophone, while the right hand goes in the middle sector.
Regarding the history of the oboe, its origins date back to about three millennia before Christ . The Assyrians, Babylonians and Sumerians developed instruments of this type. In Ancient Egypt , meanwhile, oboes also existed, as in Ancient Greece .
Of course, although it has existed since ancient times, the oboe has gone through an important evolution throughout its long history. This series of changes is reflected in a wide variety of types of oboes and emerged as a result of the creativity of the many cultures that have specialized in this instrument.
The contrabass oboe , the hunting oboe , the baritone oboe , the love oboe and the piccolo oboe are some of the members of the oboe family. Notably, composers such as Antonio Vivaldi , Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart have created works for oboes.
One way of classifying the different types of oboes divides them into traditional and modern : in the first group are the dulzaina, thebombarda, the bagpipe, the zurna, the duduk, the hichiriki and the bagpipe; the second includes the love oboe, the piccolo, the baritone and the English horn. In this way, over the centuries a very large family has been formed, offering us different faces of the "same instrument."
The oboe has a tessitura that is between B flat 2 (the second on the piano, starting from the lowest) and G 5; That is, its total extension is two octaves and a major sixth. To get B flat 2 it is necessary to use a special key that is activated with the left little finger. It is worth mentioning that it is possible to play notes above this limit, even reaching C 6; They are the so-called super-high notes .
Beyond the number of octaves that its tessitura includes, it is possible to speak of registers , a term that groups sounds of certain heights according to the arrangement of the air column that is necessary to execute them. In the case of the oboe we can say that it has four registers, according to the Franco-Belgian notation:
* the bass , which measures one sixth and goes from B flat to G which is on the second line of the staff;
* the middle , an octave that is included between the G before that of the third line;
* the acute , between G 4 and D 5;
* the sobreacute , which completes the basic tessitura of the oboe, reaching G 5.
It is said that it is impossible to play sounds below low B flat on the oboe. Regarding the super-highs, mentioned above, they represent a risk for the musician, which is why they are not very common in live concerts.