The oboe oiling debate will never cease.  I’ve been a member of the double reed community for nearly 30 years at this point, and I have always seen the conversation around whether you should oil or not.  I’m sure there’s some scientific data out there to support or not support oiling, however, the variables involved are so inconsistent that it’s hard to say with certainty one way or the other.  Therefore, most people talk about oiling or not oiling from a personal experience perspective.  This post will be no different, it’s just a conversation with my thoughts on why I do believe in oiling oboes, and clarinets for that matter.

Let’s face facts!  Most of us do certain things and believe in certain methods because our primary teachers believe in them.  We love our teachers!  So, just like I believe in swabbing, I believe in oiling.  My primary teacher, Dr. Dan Ross, believes in oiling and I watched him oil his oboe many times through the years.  I, in turn, oiled my oboe many times through the years while I was a student and then afterward as I moved into being a professional.

The basic reasons I believe in oiling are very simple.  Oiling conditions the wood to help keep it hydrated which, in turn, helps prevent cracking under some circumstances and retains the amazing qualities of the wood for a longer period of time.

I personally played a K series Loree oboe for just over 20 years. I believe, due to the oiling, I never had a crack and the amazing dark timbre of the oboe was retained through the years.  (NOTE:  I oiled the oboe when it was new almost every day for a month.  Every morning I would check it and the oil was gone, “soaked up.”  I continued oiling frequently until the oboe stopped soaking up the oil as much, then I slowed down the frequency even more, etc.  Eventually, I only oiled that oboe a couple of times a year.  I believe the wood will tell you when it needs to be oiled.)

I once heard a story which I believe to be true.  A repairer wanted to dispel the “need to oil” myth.  He took a piece of Grenadilla wood and completely submerged it for two years.  At the end of the two years, he removed the wood and cut it in half.  What did he find?  Those of us that believe in oiling would like for the wood to be soaked, but that was not the case.  He cut the piece of Grenadilla in half and found no oil penetration.  This repairer concluded that oiling is not necessary because the oil does not penetrate deep into the wood.

In my mind, this previous story does not conclude anything, except that Grenadilla will not soak through.  If anything this study helps show that we do need to oil or moisturize our wooden wind instruments.  Imagine if oil cannot penetrate deep into the wood, how fast the wood will dry out without protection.  This is one reason I think we should oil because we need to keep the wood conditioned. Look at any piece of wood that has been cut down from originally being a living tree.  Over time it drys out and breaks down, especially when it is introduced to different temperatures and moisture.  When wood drys out it becomes less dense, therefore losing all its beautiful original “wood” characteristics that you purchased it for in the first place.  Manufacturers know this all too well as they are making instruments with more wood, which makes them heavier, to appeal to players who want a deep dark sound!  More weight or more denseness makes deeper darker sounds.  So to conclude this paragraph, I have found that oiling a wooden wind instrument consistently over time will extend its life regarding tone and potential damage to cracking.

(Side note to oiling and saturation.  If you oiled your oboe and the wood became saturated, the oboe would be unplayable at that point.  Why?  Because we cannot be playing our instruments with oil oozing out all over us, it would also ruin all pads and corks over time.  The only thing we need oozing out of our oboes is beautiful music!  Lol.)

There are a few other ideas I have that I feel are more common sense taken from my observations over the years.  Have you ever “oiled”  furniture?  I grew up seeing my mother and grandmothers oiling their furniture, especially antique furniture.  Why?  Did the oil penetrate deep into the wood fibers?  I can’t say for sure, but I would guess that it did not.  What it did do was add a protective layer of moisture to help prevent the wood from completely drying out.  By not drying out, the wood joints would remain tight over the years, the wood would have minimal shrinkage and/or warpage, and the wood surface would not crack.  This process is done in various ways on all types of woods, really hard dense woods and softer less dense woods, all to achieve the same results of having a beautiful piece of furniture for generations to come.

This next thought has nothing to do with wood, so is probably irrelevant, but I’m gonna mention it anyway.  When our hands become dry, we most likely apply lotion to our hands.  We don’t do this for the lotion to penetrate deep into our tissue then into our bloodstream, but only to condition and moisturize the exterior layer of our skin.  We are conditioning our skin so that it doesn’t dry out, crack or peel.  I find this example to be similar to oiling wood in many ways.  Again it’s not exactly the same as wood, but carries with it the same thought process, application, and results.

Read our Oboe Oiling Procedure here: https://www.onksws.com/2018/10/15/oboe-oiling-procedure/

Click here https://youtu.be/mz4zFshuaB8 to view a video of Jason demonstrating the oiling procedure.

“The mechanisms of an oboe and English horn are so complicated!” So who of you out there can agree with that statement? OK, I thought so. BTW, I also raised my hand. They are indeed complicated for many reasons. Oboes have many keys that interact with each other all at the same time. Oboes have many adjusting screws throughout the mechanism that connects one key to another. Oboes have joints that connect together with connecting bridge keys. All of the keys on an oboe are held in place with steel rods and/or pivot screws and said keys have to be “tight” on those rods/pivot screws to operate consistently. These few items all have to do with the mechanism, but there is so much more: tone holes, corks, springs, pads, octave vents, tenon connections, screws, rods, mechanism key oil, etc. As with any musical instrument, all of the parts must be in working order to make you, the player, happy, but as you can see, the oboe has many pieces and parts and can be very complicated.

Every week we have oboes come in with only “one thing wrong,” or “it plays well, but can you just check it over.” When our clients say these phrases, we tell them we will check it out and let them know our thoughts and recommendations. It isn’t that our clients are completely oblivious to the issues their oboe is having, it’s just that they have gotten accustomed to it over time and the parts of the oboe have worn down over time. This is very similar to cars and car repairs. If you drive your car very much, you will need to have maintenance on the brake system and eventually the pads will need to be replaced. The same thing is true with oboes. The longer you play your oboe, the harder you press the keys, the more the pads in those keys will wear out. Also, all of the connecting corks will wear through causing mechanisms to become loud and adjustments unstable. Because the oboe mechanism is so complicated, it makes the task of “fixing just one thing” very difficult. If your low notes are not responding like you prefer, it very well could be due to a pad or pads leaking on the upper joint of the oboe. Spring tensions could be wrong causing certain keys to not operate properly, etc

Due to this complexity, we recommend you have a full comprehensive cleaning/set-up in our shop at least once a year. So I know by this point you are asking, “What is included in this full comprehensive cleaning/set-up?” At Onks Woodwind Specialists we:

* Completely disassemble the instrument.
* Check tenon connections for stability, which is more than just checking the tenon corks.
* But we do check the tenon corks also 🙂
* Check all key bumper corks and adjustment corks. We usually change all of the adjustment corks on oboes vs. just changing one cork here and there because we have found it makes the overall feel of the mechanism more even and stable. Plus with all of the keys off the oboe, it’s a no-brainer! Takes only a couple minutes and makes the mechanism feel great!
* Clean all hinge tubes and pivot sockets.
* Clean all rods and pivots.
* Clean all post holes and facings.
* Clean all tone holes and oboe body to break down saliva build-up.
* Wash body and oil, if wood.
* Before reassembling, we test wooden instruments to make sure the wood seals. This is especially important if the instrument has crack history. If the wood doesn’t seal we remedy that before reinstalling any keys.
* Reassemble the mechanism one key at a time checking each pad for optimal coverage. If the pad is leaking we level the pad. If the pad cannot be leveled, we replace the pad and if the key is too loose, we fit the key.
* As we are reinstalling keys, all springs are regulated to have proper tensions, which is critical for the complicated oboe mechanism.
* As more keys are added and pads checked, the regulations are also added.
* All rods and pivot screws are oiled with a heavy weight synthetic oil.
* Reassemble all three joints of the oboe, regulate the joints together and perform our first of many play tests.

As you can see the annual cleaning at Onks Woodwind is thoroughly comprehensive. And honestly, these items are only the highlights. There are many other small details that as oboists we pay attention to and can “feel” as we playtest the oboe. We have found over the years that when our clients have a thorough cleaning/set-up at Onks Woodwind, they magically do not have emergencies between annual visits!

If you are an oboist that simply wants their oboe to work and not have to worry when it’s going to malfunction “the next time,” we would be honored to serve you with our comprehensive annual cleaning/set-up.