Double reed of double reeds for the oboe family of instruments is similar in principle: like the bassoon's reeds, they consist of two pieces of "Arundo donax" cane fastened together with an opening at the tip. However, because the oboe does not have a bocal, the cane must be fastened to a metal tube (the staple), the lower half of which is normally surrounded by a piece of cork. The staple is then inserted into the farrow at the upper end of the oboe. There are many different methods of making reeds and many variations of design have been developed. Players can
Oboe d'amore was invented in the eighteenth century and was first used by Christoph Graupner in "" (1717). Johann Sebastian Bach wrote many pieces—a concerto, many of his cantatas, and the "" movement of his Mass in B minor—for the instrument. Georg Philipp Telemann also frequently employed the oboe d'amore. Its popularity waning in the late eighteenth century, the fell into disuse for about 100 years until composers such as Richard Strauss ("Symphonia Domestica", where the instrument represents the child), Claude Debussy ("Gigues", where the oboe d'amore has a long solo passage), Maurice Ravel, Frederick Delius, and others began using it once