I like very well the sound of oboe,
and it occurs to me that it might do very
well with ITM. Of course I don’t know this,
never having even touched one;
don’t know how it would ornament,
etc. But, well, mightn’t it?
And I wonder about other instruments,
e.g. bassoon. Any opinions? Info?
I figured I’d be eaten if I posted this
on the ITM board…Best
Tuba is very good, especially for fast reels.
Well, you can say that the U.P. chanter is derived from the Baroque oboe, so there you go!
g
Somewhere I have a recording of an English Horn played in ITM. It worked.
–James
English horn is the lower pitched oboe, right?
Yeah, it’s like an “alto oboe.”
You usually hear them called English Horn…the actual orchestra name is Cor Anglaise.
They are a neat instrument, nice sound almost like a really mellow bagpipe chanter, a softer lower buzz than an oboe.
I have only once heard one played in person but thoroughly enjoyed it.
–James
The theory about that name, BTW, is that “corn anglais” is supposed to mean “angled horn” (because unlike the oboe it has a bend in it to make it easier to hold), but the name English horn stuck.
Jim - You should be eaten.
But not on a tuesday! 
Well, the oboe has a lovely bell-like tone,
and there are these extraordinary Albioni
oboe concertos where the oboe has
extraordinary agility and fluency.
So, why not? I wonder what ornamentation
sounds like on an oboe. Must find out.
Thanks. Glad at least some of you
aren’t cannibals. Best
Jim - I do hope you mean that you’re going to find a good oboe player to “find out” how it will sound for ITM and not planning on picking up the oboe yourself. I once suffered through a year of my sister learning to play oboe way back when I was in high school - prior to that experience I, too, liked their sound…I personally feel this is not an instrument to pick-up and casually tootle on.
Eric
(Founding Member - Church of the Reformed Cannibals)
Let’s see…garlic: check. Bay leaves: check. Roma tomatoes: check. Boning knife: check.
Heh heh. Scuse me for not taking this seriously.
OK, seriously, then. licks chops
Albums are one thing; TRAD (note caps) sessions are another, IMHO. I recall a Lúnasa CD, Otherworld, I think it was, where there were some fluglehorns or the like going on in one track. Even a friend totally unfamiliar with ITM wondered at that, even though the musicianship was stellar.
That being said, if you don’t try, you’ll never know. I’m not so adventurous, I suppose.
Different styles of music have naturally evolved on different instruments, and crossing over is not always easy. For example, clarinet is a staple of klezmer, which is also fast and heavily ornamented (and also a Lunasa favourite!). But the kind of ornamentation used in klezmer is highly optimized for the clarinet, just like the kind of ornamentation we use is highly optimized for the pipes/whistle/flutes. And klezmer is mostly on the minor flat keys like Dm, while IrTrad is mostly on the sharp major keys, like D, G and A.
That said, there’s nothing that prevents any particular instrument from being used. The sax used to be popular in ceili bands in the 1940’s and 1950’s but has all but disappeared. It’s probably overdue for a comeback (Conal O’Grada plays sax, by the way). So is the piccolo (i play piccolo a lot these days, in sessions). Piano is slowly slowly making an appearance as melody instrument, and it sounds wonderful. Brendan Powers showed that the harmonica compares very well with the button box.
The main thing with oboe/corn anglais/bassoon is, like someone else already said, they’re not just instruments, they’re cults, they’re a way of life; you can’t just pick up the oboe casually.
I also usually warn that you shouldn’t take up 2 burdens at the same time: learning Irish Traditional music and learning how to play it in a non-traditional instrument. Learn a traditional instrument first, then branch out.
g
Glauber, that was a well-written, infomative post. 
I especially agree with your warning on learning IrTrad first, before trying to play it with new tools.
–James
Interesting idea..the oboe, someone posted the same question on The Session.
MarkB
Jim,
Don’t worry, I’m not going to eat you, no matter how scrumptious you may or may not be.
Regarding oboes and ITM on the other hand, the only occurence of this that I’m aware of is the multi-instrumentalist, Shelley Phillips. She’s best known as a harp player but plays Irish and baroque flutes as well and is also classically trained on oboe. Most of her recordings feature some bits of trad. Irish, English, American and occasionally Swedish music with oboe or English horn and it works a lot better than it should. You can find out more info about her and her albums at www.gourd.com.
As for bassoon, the Scottish piper Gordon Mooney has done some interesting stuff using it. He plays mostly Border and Northumbrian pipes and his wife does some neat sorta baroque-sounding counterpoint stuff on bassoon and flute. Gordon used to have a webpage, but I forget what it is.
I know a married couple, he plays bassoon, she plays
oboe, who play in the symphony here in St. Louis.
She’s interested in ITM. So maybe I can give
a report one day. Yes, I know that oboe isn’t
to be taken lightly! I’m old and stringy, FYI;
please try broccoli, but don’t overcook it. Thanks to all, Jim
OK, here’s the truth. Folk oboe, here i come!
The reason to bring up oboes is that some 18th century collections of Irish tunes specify that they can be played on the violin, German flute (i.e., transverse flute, as opposed to the “English flute”, which is a recorder), or oboe. The publisher was obviously trying to maximize his target audience. While I don’t know of any records of oboes being used in Ireland, they were sometimes used in Scotland. This would have been a Baroque oboe, of course. Modern oboes have been redesigned to be a lot louder. During the Middle Ages, folk instruments of oboe type were used in both Scotland and Ireland.