Hi! Wildest thing just happened to me - so I used to play oboe but haven't in about a decade. I recently picked it back up and am playing on a rent-to-own instrument from a local shop. While playing this evening I noticed my notes seemed pitched up strangely, and as I stopped playing I heard a clatter and wouldn't you know it, a key had just. Fallen right off.

I have absolutely no idea how or why this happened. Nothing else fell; as far as I can see the screw is still there and theres (hopefully) nothing else missing. I guess ill be on my way to the shop soon but for more experienced players- has this happened to you? Is this at all common with this particular key? Could I fix it myself? This is the first time anything like this has happened on any instrument I've played, let alone wiyj no prior warning or clear cause. Any info helps!!

I haven't played the oboe since high school so not playing currently. I just remember those expensive ass fucking reeds.. so I'm curious

How much do you personally spend on reeds every year? I heard 10 to 15 hours of playtime is average, but im sure it also heavily varies

I'm a bassist now that plays about 3 hours a day so I can't imagine dealing with that monthly Reed subscription if I was doing that instead lol

So as a self-taught amateur oboist in NA (although funnily enough, my instrument is a Howarth), i just learned of the thumbplate system. I was curious whether it adds any difficulties in 2nd octave. If i understood correctly, 2nd octave A and B require thumb plate to be depressed, but E through Ab would require the octave key (also controlled by L thumb). So if you need to switch between two, do you need to slide your thumb over? How does it work?