Oboe of the family (it is usually pitched in E or F above the oboe), and the contrabass oboe (typically pitched in C, two octaves deeper than the standard oboe). Folk versions of the oboe, sometimes equipped with extensive keywork, are found throughout Europe. These include the musette (France) and the piston oboe and bombarde (Brittany), the piffero and ciaramella (Italy), and the xirimia (also spelled chirimia) (Spain). Many of these are played in tandem with local forms of bagpipe, particularly with the Italian zampogna or Breton biniou. Similar oboe-like instruments, most believed to derive from Middle Eastern models, are also
Oboe rather than other instruments of the family, such as the "bass oboe", the "cor anglais" (English horn), or oboe "d'amore" In English, prior to 1770, the standard instrument was called a "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy" ( ; borrowed from the French name, a compound word made of "haut" ["high", "loud"] and "bois" ["wood", "woodwind"]). The spelling of "oboe" was adopted into English c. 1770 from the Italian "oboè", a transliteration of the 17th-century pronunciation of the French name. A musician who plays the oboe is called an oboist. Today, the oboe is commonly used in concert bands, orchestras, chamber