# Oboe With Even Fingerings



## Enthalpy

Hello everyone and everybody!

Here I propose a *system for octaviating instruments families: oboe* and heckelphone, oboe da caccia, saxophone and tubax, sarrusophone and rothphone, tárogató, cornetto. The flute and the bassoon rather not.

It shall be easier to play in all keys and cheaper to produce. It has one hole per semitone and always opens all holes below the main transition. This enables regular hole positions, diameters and lengths, to make the emission and intonation even. Not wide holes at the theoretical positions with a double reed.

This system is the iteration F of my ramblings started there, essentially identical to the tárogató and cornetto pictured there and there
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the simplification is more obvious at an oboe with bare holes. Compare with the conservatoire system left.










The register holes and trill holes rest closed, all others rest open. This *system F* supposes that the second register can begin at B-natural already. I hope the added Stowasser holes help that. Then the right thumb alone operates two keys. But if the second register can begin at B-flat, one key suffices at the right thumb, all fingerings slip a semitone lower, defining the system G.










Fingerings for the higher registers aren't yet defined. All main holes being independent, they combine freely as cross-fingerings.

The hands are lower than usual, the tilted right hand gets a key for 3R. The oboe d'amore, English horn, tenor oboe (aka baritone aka bass) need more cups hence keys as the hole spacing increases.

I depict concentric trill keys as on the flute, this needs not be. I ignore how many register keys are required, they're depicted independent to play the higher registers, and their concentric construction is optional. If the B trill hole doesn't serve cross fingerings, it could be doubled near B-flat to sound A-B better.

The joints lengths can match already dry wood for present oboes. Vectra should outperform grenadilla and resist moisture
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Check there the effect of chambers at the oboe's holes and the Stowasser holes
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as well as the rounded hole inserts and the long playless keys
talkclassical - talkclassical

Will oboists accept a advantageous different system? That's not so important. Many clarinettists and flutists would play an easier and cheaper oboe.

Marc Schaefer, aka Enthalpy


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## Enthalpy

The Wiener oboe starts the second register already at B-flat (or is it B-natural?*)*
 mdw.ac.at at "2. Change of register"
so my system here can indeed start the second register at B-natural.


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## LKB

The questions which come to my mind are:

1a ) Would harmonics, double-harmonics and multiphonics ( chords ) still be possible, and 1b ) how would they change?

2) Would alternate fingerings still be available if desired, for varying timbre, ornaments etc.?


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## Enthalpy

Hi LKB, thanks for your interest!

I don't play the oboe (I played the violin, the piano, the alto sax, the flute, the tuba, occasionally the soprano and bass clarinets, now the bassoon, but only blowed in an oboe when meeting an oboist) so I may be quite wrong...

I'm confident about harmonics. This results from the bore width, which I would keep, and from the tone hole widths, which I want to keep, only make more regular.

The system I propose opens all tone holes below the main closed-to-open transition, for all notes, without any exception. Consequently, the positions, diameters, lengths of the tone holes can (and would) be evenly distributed. This means also that the many exceptional combinations of open and closed tone holes disappear, together with the impossible combinations that result from cups closed or open at rest and their mechanical coupling. All keys are independent in my system, so the musician can seek the combinations of open and closed holes freely.

I expect multiphonics to be possible on my system, again as a result of the bore width and tone hole diameters. More note pairs should be available thanks to the free combinations of keys. But exactly this is impossible to predict, and should be tried on a prototype.

I designed the system to need no alternate fingerings, whatever the signature, trill and slew. Only two trill keys exist at the octave jump. Learning is then easier (bassoon is bad for that), playing by ear too. Though, the independent keys allow to close some of them below the main transition, to emit quartertones, dull sounds, and so on.


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