Oboe Problems:
Adjustment problems can often be best solved by a skilled oboist, possibly your private teacher.
Octave vents in need of cleaning will likely need sending off, though your private teacher may be able to do the work, as that requires a fair bit of time and equipment that people don't generally travel with.
Many problems will need a professional repair tech (bent rods, pads needing replacing, broken springs).
Some common problems may be solvable by a director reasonably comfortable with woodwind repair (a very minor stuck C# pad, possibly bent B/Bb pinky keys, possibly a mild bent Eb pinky key, for the bold who aren't overly concerned about final appearance possibly a bent triller bridge key).
It's safest to send stuck swabs off to a repair tech. Other methods sometimes do work, but come with risks.
Cracks WILL need a professional repair shop, and a good one.
Be very careful with fully wooden instruments – see bottom of chart.
Avoid leaving instruments in hot cars. The heat will melt pad glue, causing them to shift, creating misseated pads that can cause serious response issues throughout the oboe. An oboe that goes suddenly from working to feeling terribly out of adjustment may have been through this.
Problem |
Cause |
Solutions |
Notes gurgle (or in some cases, like C, may speak almost a half step too low) |
Water in keys
Remind student to always swab IMMEDIATELY after playing, to make sure their mouth is fairly clean when they play (no gum or food), and to avoid laying the oboe on the keys. Encourage students to start their days on a long, loud lower note to encourage the water path further down the oboe. |
Play the note EXTRA loud to force the water out of the tonehole Swab to help remove the path that led the water there Blow firmly both across and into the tonehole (the highest open tonehole on the troublesome note is usually the one) to force the water out Use cigarette paper to help absorb water |
Low Bb and B keys touch, can't move freely |
There should be a very small amount of space between the low Bb and low B keys; they should not touch when they move.
These can get bent if students set the oboe leaning towards those pinky keys, and lean when setting the oboe down or picking it up.
These can get bent if students push the top of the bottom joint into their bodies when assembling the bell and bottom joint. Pushing the bell into themselves instead would be fine.
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Bend these so that there's a little space between - just enough that they don't touch when they move. Whether you focus on moving the B or Bb key will depend on which looks to have been bent. It'll be B if they've been pushing the bottom joint into themselves assembling the oboe; Bb if they've been leaning it towards the longer pinky keys setting it down. You can use your hand or stick your screwdriver between for leverage.
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C# key - the pinky key itself and not just the key that it moves - sticks, especially when the C pinky key is held down. You'll likely first hear this in the chromatic scale.
This is happening because the RIGHT Eb pinky key is bent, almost certainly.
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The right Eb pinky key is bent. The bits of the mechanisms here are so close to each other that a bent Eb key will cause the C# to stick. You can spot this even in the earliest stages by holding the low C key down and hitting the C# key. The C# key should move freely without causing any movement in the Eb key.
Students may be putting a hand or thumb on the Eb pinky key when assembling the oboe or taking it apart, causing the bend.
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Very difficult cases will need a repair shop, but most can be fixed with bending and possibly key oil. The Eb key was most likely bent down towards the oboe and up towards the other pinky keys, but check the appearance in case it is otherwise. Grab the Eb pinky key with your hand and move it back towards where you think it started (likely up away from the oboe and down away from the pinky keys). Keep checking whether the C# key can move freely while the C key is held; this is a matter of trial and error. If you need leverage to get it away from the other pinky keys, you can use your screwdriver.
Try adding a little key oil at the joints in the rod, especially the one near the Eb key. |
C# pad (NOT pinky key) sticks
C# sounds like C-natural, especially when first picking up the oboe. |
This is common on Fox oboes, though they are generally excellent. While students being inconsistent about swabbing or playing with excess food residue in their mouths can cause sticky pads, that's unlikely this far down the oboe. This seems to be a question of the shape of the pad and tonehole.
Do check that it's the pad and not the rod, but it usually is.
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Usually, forcing the pad to move by hitting the screw on the key that moves when C# is hit, near the bottom of the bottom joint, a few times is enough to free it up for a playing session. Always try this first.
If that's insufficient, try a little cigarette paper or pad paper under the pad. And if THAT doesn't work, you can try some VERY fine grit sandpaper, gently and carefully. But do this only if previous efforts don't work.
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Low notes respond poorly, even on reeds that have plenty of low overtone in the crow.
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B sounds almost like C, and the pad below the B key is open a bit on B
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A sounds almost like Bb, and the pad below the A key is open a bit on A
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Various trill fingerings don't work - Db/Eb, F#/G#, low B/C# |
The oboe is out of adjustment. |
Adjust the oboe. This requires some experience, and usually the use of a detailed guide (like the McFarland adjustment guide). Ideally your private teacher can help you here, or a good repair technician. If not, get such a guide, and experiment on an oboe you can afford to mess up on when you have time to make mistakes and undo them, test playing after each change.
Sometimes if a bumper cork falls off, its adjustment can change suddenly. Almost worse is when a loose bumper or silencing cork in the process of falling off shifts around, doubling or disappearing in turn. |
Notes make a weird sound somewhere around middle C# or D
The triller on the top joint (above B) is stuck open after bumping the trill key, but only when the oboe is together, not when the top joint is off. |
The trill bridge key is bent so that the top and bottom joint's portions rub against each other and prevent its closing.
Encourage students to be careful when assembling the oboe, and make sure the case is in reasonable condition and that nothing in it could hit the bridge key when the oboe's away.
There is a small but real chance the problem could be on the top joint instead. You can test by hitting the top joint's trillers and being sure the keys move freely. |
Bend whichever piece of the bridge key got bent back to where the pieces align, but don't rub against each other. There should be a little play in the key.
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Ab doesn't work, unless you use right Ab |
The Ab spring is one of the first to break on an oboe. The spring may be too weak to function even if not visibly broken yet.
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This needs a repair shop or someone comfortable replacing springs. The spring in question is very near the Ab pad, on that very short rod just above it.
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A stuck rod is possible, but a dead spring is far more likely.
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A stuck rod would also need a repair shop. |
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If Ab does eventually speak given enough time and the issue seems to be a sticky pad, see notes below. |
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Ab is sticking briefly and takes a second to respond |
A student has, at some point, put too much cork grease just under the Ab key on the top joint tenon cork. It's gotten under the Ab pad and made it sticky.
Be careful not to use too much cork grease directly under the Ab pad.
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Clean the pad with cigarette paper. Pad paper may also be used. Use a screwdriver to carefully knock out any cork grease bunched on the outside of the tonehole you can see. If the problem persists, VERY fine grit sandpaper may help, but be extremely careful using that so high on the oboe. You do NOT want to make a leak here. |
Half hole notes crack down the octave, even when the student is definitely moving the finger well |
The half hole diamond may be blocked.
This can happen naturally over time, especially if students wear a lot of lotion. |
If you look in the hole in the half hole key, you should see, on most oboes, a diamond. If the hole is so clogged you can't, clean it. You can just use your oboe screwdriver. |
The first octave key notes crack down the octave or gurgle, but the pad is moving as it should when the octave key is hit. |
Water and/or dirt in the first octave vent
This happens naturally over time. |
The first octave vent will need to be removed and cleaned. This requires an octave vent remover, and some way too make a seal after replacing the octave vent - usually wax and an alcohol lamp. Your private teacher may be able to do this, or you may need to send it to a repair shop. |
The first octave key notes crack down the octave, and the pad is NOT moving when the octave key is hit. |
Could be a sticky pad, a dead (or just out of place) spring, or a binding rod (due to either bending or - more likely - dirt, rust, lack of oil) |
Identify whether it's pad, spring, or rod.
If pad, try a little cigarette paper or pad paper under the pad. And if that doesn't work, you can try some VERY fine grit sandpaper, pointed DOWN at the metal to clean it. You can use the sandpaper on the pad itself, but do this only if previous efforts don't work, and keep in mind it is extremely risky this high on the oboe.
If it's the rod, cleaning and oiling may solve a rod binding due to age, dirt, or rust If the rod is binding because it's bent, it will need a repair shop.
If the spring has merely slipped off its place, it can simply be put back in place. If the spring is dead or too weak, it will need replacing, likely at a repair shop.
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The second octave key notes crack down the octave or gurgle. |
Water and/or dirt in the second octave vent
This happens naturally over time. |
The second octave vent will need to be removed and cleaned. This requires an octave vent remover, and some way too make a seal after replacing the octave vent - usually wax and an alcohol lamp. Your private teacher may be able to do this, or you may need to send it to a repair shop. |
C sounds like B or Bb sounds like A, and the secondary keys are not moving as they should, even though the students first finger is curved and on the tip.
If the keys are moving but this problem still exists, especially on C, you may just have water in the key. |
The bridge key may be misaligned.
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Check that the bridge key that moves when you hit the F# key is perfectly aligned.
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Springs may be out of place or dead.
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If the spring has merely slipped off its place, it can simply be put back in place. If the spring is dead or too weak, it will need replacing, likely at a repair shop.
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The rod may be binding |
If it's the rod, cleaning and oiling may solve a rod binding due to age, dirt, or rust If the rod is binding because it's bent, it will need a repair shop.
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F# sounds almost like F, and you've double checked that the student is not bumping the little key below the F# key with their finger |
The secondary key below F# is binding (unless the problem is just water in a key)
While the pad and the spring are possible culprits, the rod is FAR more likely here.
Encourage students to be careful not to squeeze the rod assembling the oboe. |
If it's the rod, cleaning and oiling may solve a rod binding due to age, dirt, or rust If the rod is binding because it's bent, it will need a repair shop. |
Forked F sounds more fuzzy and out of tune than usual, on an oboe with a forked F resonance key |
The forked F resonance key may be sticking. Check. It should go up on forked F.
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Sometimes forcing the pad to move a few times is enough to free it up for a playing session. Always try this first. If it seems to be the pad, you can also try cigarette or pad paper.
If it is the rod, cleaning and oiling may help.
The flat spring on the bottom may need replacing if it seems to be weak/dying. |
Oboe is resistant and struggles with tuning (likely flat)
Check for cracks. Look first between the trillers on the top joint, above B. Cracks will almost always be on the top joint, usually the top half of it.
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Small cracks are common in wooden oboes, between the trillers and just above the B key.
Cracks cause leaks out of toneholes, posts, etc. Small cracks are common, but large ones can be dangerous.
Care mistakes will make cracks more likely and worse. Be careful about temperature and humidity.
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Cracks need a GOOD repair person, preferably a specialist. Good repair here involves pins and probably tonehole inserts, not just humidifying. That takes serious skill and experience to do safely and well.
Be careful with your wooden oboes, and get cracks repaired well and reasonably promptly, as not doing so can cause them to grow.
Any oboe with a crack that makes it all the way through the bore is almost certainly the end of that top joint.
Encourage your oboists with fully wooden oboes to exercise good practices with wooden oboe care, ESPECIALLY if the wooden oboe is new. · New wooden oboes must be broken in gradually. There are many guides on breaking in an oboe. Essentially, play no more than 15 minutes once or twice a day for the first week. Increase playing periods by about 5 minutes each week until you reach 45 minutes. o While breaking in, swab even more often than normal. o Play lots of long tones and low notes. · Cold and dry air are the ENEMIES of oboe. When the OUTSIDE of the oboe is too much colder or dryer than the humid, human-temperature air being blown into it, the outside wood will crack. o Avoid AC vents or heat vents (heat vent air is still dry) · ALWAYS warm up the outside of the top of the top joint before playing. o NEVER blow warm air INTO the oboe to warm it up. Blow warm air onto the outside of the oboe or stick the top joint under your armpit instead. · Don’t play the oboe outside unless conditions are ideal for it. NEVER below 65 degrees. · Swab immediately after playing and before breaks. · Avoid sudden temperature and humidity changes.
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