the oboe tunes the orchestra because an oboe cant tune to anything else

5:31 the exact pitch does matter at least for us string players. My violin was built specifically resonate well at its tonal range centered around A=440 hz. When i use a lower A, i can of course tune the other strings to that, and play in tune relative to that lower A- but the instrument will not project as much, the sound loses some of its luster and it will literally produce less sound. I also find it harder to play in a different tuning because i constantly notice that it's all slightly off and what i hear won't match with muscle memory. Getting double stops in tune becomes harder too. Not to be overly pedantic or anything like that of course, just wanted to add this! Your video was really interesting, i was literally wondering why we use hoboe for tuning just the other day. Edit: my own theory for the reason why (this was before i watched the video), was that it might be because the hoboe produces quite a pure sound compared to other woodwinds. A bassoon or clarinet with a more rich timbre would maybe have too 'fuzzy' of an A, making it harder for everyone else to tune to their tone. Especially with a flute, the sound has a lot of character but i don't think it would make the easiest instrument to tune to. But the hoboe can be quite nasal sounding so maybe there's a bit more A in the timbre and less overtones / other pitches. It still wouldn't explain why you wouldn't just use a french horn or a trumpet though, as like you said they're louder and arguably it's even easier to tune to that.

I miss playing. I played for 20 years until it cracked and I couldn't buy a replacement.

Loved listening to this!!

Question and comment: First thanks for the podcast, very interesting If a piano is used why wouldn't the oboe tune to that instrument? You can't tune the piano as easily as other instrument. Comment: I played a military gig in a large auditorium. The conductor used the chimes as a tonal center.

matur suksma😊

great topic to start the series

Who else thought that was a plunger in the thumbnail 😭✋

What if they are playing a piano concerto?

There could be many reasons for tuning to the oboe. First, when symphony orchestras were starting out, aside from strings, the next most frequent instruments written for in a composition were oboes and horns. If a piece was only written for strings, you obviously would tune to the concertmaster (1st chair, 1st violin), who could conceivably first tune to a nearby piano, especially if the piano was written for in the piece itself. The problem is that tuning to a string instrument means tuning to an instrument that produces many, many overtones because, by construction, string instruments have open, adjacent strings that unfortunately get activated...they vibrate...when any of the other strings are sounded. Horns and, for that matter, other woodwinds like flute, clarinet, bassoon either don't project as nicely as the oboe (very penetrating sound that everybody hears without difficulty) and is a fairly pure tone with minimal generation of harmonic overtones, especially at A4.

I am not a musician, but I love learning about music. Thank you for this awesome educational podcast episode, Zeke!

yoo this is great (from an oboe and English hornist)

Not the "BARBARIAN" court - it should be BAVARIAN. Munich is in the province of Bavaria and this was the name already by the time of the rise of violin family instruments. The basic story is entirely true. This is truly due to tradition. And yes, there have been various pitch basis, with not all of it being strict A=440 hz. People have even tried targeting A=430 hz.

Thought for sure I was watching a much more popular video for some reason

We are supposed to tune to the oboe? My band tunes to the clarinet.

Lol you think people are actually tuning to you? These days that is just out of tradition and it tells the audience to shut up. The cornets of that period were not like the modern cornets. At that time they were a wood instrument covered with leather, a wood or brass mouthpiece copped like modern brass instruments but it had holes like a wood wind, played with buzzed lips.