The characteristic sound of the oboe: Can it be played with a single reed and still maintain its tone colour?
Sandra Carral, Christophe Vergez, Nederveen, Kees · 2010
Would an oboe with a single reed sound like a saxophone? What difference exactly does a single reed make compared to a double reed? Is the sound of the oboe due to the double reed, or to the conical bore? Measurements done recently in double reeds point to the fact that the behaviour of double reeds is not fundamentally different from that of a single reed, as had been thought before. In the light of this, it is hypothesised that, given the right parameters, it is indeed possible to build a single reed mouthpiece for an oboe without modifying its characteristic sound or tuning. Some advantages of having such a mouthpiece could be: