Contrabass oboe Contrabass oboe The contrabass oboe is a double reed woodwind instrument in the key of C or F, sounding two octaves or an octave and a fourth (respectively) lower than the standard oboe. Current research, in particular that by hautboy specialist Bruce Haynes, suggests that such instruments may have been developed in France as part of an original attempt to maintain the complete family of double reed instruments when the oboe was created from the shawm. There was an instrument referred to as the basse de cromorne or basse de hautbois which was used by Lully, Charpentier, and other French
Oboe musician Paul Sartin plays the oboe in several English folk bands including Faustus and Bellowhead. Welsh bagpipe player and bagpipe maker Jonathan Shorland plays a 'rustic oboe' similar to the Breton 'piston' with the bands Primeaval and Juice. He formerly played with Fernhill, who play traditional Welsh music. The popular traditional music of Brittany boasts a significant professional class of musicians playing increasingly sophisticated double reed instruments, supported by professional instrument makers, reed manufacturers and the educational system. The Breton 'piston' oboe and bombard have expanded from traditional roles into genres as diverse as jazz, rock, and classical music. The