Oboe Storage

As seen from Figure 1, Little Alex Horne should take extra care of his oboe and the reeds when it is not in immediate use. Being able to pull it from behind your back with an exposed reed, whilst convenient, is no doubt an easy way to damage the reed.

Figure 1: I thoroughly disapprove of how Little Alex Horne stores his oboe and the exposed reed when it is not in immediate use.

A serious oboist treats their reed with the utmost care. Reeds are the vital lifeline of an oboe as it is what makes the sound.

Reeds are also the bane of an oboist’s life; they are very temperamental and oboe reeds are significantly more expensive than other single and double reeded instruments (Clarinets, Bassoons).

The O-Body

At first glance, the oboe that Mr Horne is playing on looks like a legitimate oboe; compare Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2: Are you sure of your embouchure, Mr Little Alex Horne?
Green circles: Alex’s embouchure.
Blue circles: The bell of this oboe.

Figure 3: A labelled oboe for reference, courtesy of johnpacker.co.uk.

However, on closer inspection, the blue circles (indicating the bell of the oboe), do appear to be different to a typical oboe; the brim is not as thick and ends more abruptly. Add to this, there appears to be two silver joints in quick succession on the lower end of Alex’s oboe, whereas a typical oboe only has one joint above the bell.

Did Alex Horne add an appendage to his oboe’s bell end? Was this appendage purely for the joke of pulling out a snake from the bell end?

It’s not clear why such an appendage was required. The toy snake could have been placed in the oboe’s existing bell comfortably in my opinion. The sound would have been muffled and muted no doubt; but this audio effect could be used to a player’s advantage in the correct circumstances². However, I doubt Mr Horne was worried about the sound quality he was going to produce.

The snake appears to be made of rigid, plastic-esque material, with noticeable force being used by the Taskmaster himself (Greg Davies), to pull out the snake. The appendage could thus potentially, and commendably, be added to avoid damage to the real oboe itself. A felt or cotton snake would have been sufficient for the gag and not damaged the oboe, but likely not realistic enough. And of course Taskmaster is all about the realism…³

A Read on the Reed

As seen in the green circles of Figure 2, Alex is using an actual oboe reed, compared to say a bassoon reed (considerably wider at one end than the other). Mr Horne also seems to be adopting the appropriate embouchure⁴ to play the oboe; he is pulling his lips over his teeth, and then lightly sandwiching the reed between these cushioned teeth when placing it into his mouth. He is hopefully not biting down on the reed too much. Whilst this may not be the most optimal embouchure, he is not simply putting the reed in his mouth with no cushioning on the teeth, and blowing into it; this is what I incorrectly self taught myself back in 2002…

Mr Horne apppears to be using an actual oboe reed for this gag, and is also adopting a good embouchure for playing the oboe.

A Load of Quack

We now turn to Mr Horne’s actual playing and the sound being made.

Alex manages to say the word “Pull!” and “Harder!” to his master⁵, whilst an oboe is still heard. From this observation, it is clear that Mr Alex Horne is miming along to a pre-recorded track.

Add to this, I have doubts as to whether the pre-recorded audio was even of an oboe; to my (naive) ears, there are soprano saxophone qualities to the audio track. This also seems plausible as Alex could have relied on his The Horne Section brethren, and specifically relied on saxophonist Mark Brown to provide an audio track. Soprano saxophones are capable of making the following sound, which are typically brighter and breathier in tone.

Figure 4: Is Mark Brown the true talent behind Little Alex Horne’s OBoE?

Mr Horne is miming to a pre-recorded track; it is not possible to make an oboe sound whilst talking coherently.

There are also suspicions that the pre-recorded track is not even of an oboe, but fact of a soprano saxophone.

And why do I believe fake musical news is being promoted by Little Alex Horne and the Taskmaster team? Based on my (naive) ears:

• a soprano saxophone typically has a much brighter, breathier sound due to the single reed noise producing mechanism used,
• an oboe has a more nasal, piercing and mellow sound, a result of the double reed sound production.

This is most distinct in the first few seconds of Alex’s “playing”; the audio track is considerably brighter, smoother and less piercing in the opening few bars. The pre-recorded track also seems to be more stable and smoother with respect to tuning and pitch.

For reference, a professional oboist is capable of making the following sound and tones. Famous pieces featuring an oboe include:

• Representing the Duck in Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev.
• Theme to Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
• Gabriel’s Oboe from the film “The Mission” by Ennio Morricone.
• I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher

A sound comparison between a soprano saxophone and (baroque) oboe is usefully provided in this youtube video, which may or may not support my suspicions.