David N. Greenwald: The Adjustment of the Oboe and English Horn

The oboe and its lower-pitched relative, the English horn, each have about 25 small screws that regulate how easily and well the instrument plays. The protocols for ‘adjusting’—finding the proper position for—each screw are unique to each screw, and small errors can make the instrument hard to play or even unplayable. As a result, most players find the process of adjustment daunting.  

The Adjustment of the Oboe and English Horn guides the reader through all the protocols and diagnostic tests players need to adjust their instruments. With the aid of high-quality color illustrations, the book offers generous, complete instructions for adjusting each screw, as well as a wealth of ‘playing tests,’ some developed by the author himself, to help the player troubleshoot. Where helpful, the mechanism of the keywork regulated by an adjustment screw is explained; and, where relevant, differences among the mechanisms of different makers’ instruments are addressed. Although adjustment has occasionally been the subject of chapters in general instrument maintenance books or of pamphlets, The Adjustment of the Oboe and English Horn offers the first book-length treatment of the subject. For the first time in the history of the oboe and English horn, players and woodwind technicians have a reference work to which to turn to obtain all the guidance they need to get an instrument ready for a challenging performance.