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
Reed (mouthpiece) After the cane is split, the pieces will be gouged in a gouging machine to remove many cane layers to drastically decrease the thickness. This eases the process of scraping for the reed-maker and helps to maintain sharper knives. Reed makers not only masterfully learn to make reeds, but also learn how to sharpen knives with great mastery. Finally, the gouged pieces of cane soaked and "shaped" on a shaper with razor blades and allowed to dry before the final steps. The shaped piece of cane is then re-soaked and tied onto a "staple" for oboe reeds and formed on