Oboe (ō'bō) n.
A slender woodwind instrument with a conical bore and a double-reed mouthpiece, having a range of three octaves and a penetrating, poignant sound.
(the above definition was taken from Answers.com)
My cousin Mary's daughter, Kayla is an oboist. While she was in high school she played in the orchestra and even traveled to New York City to perform a couple years ago. She was offered some music scholarships but decided to attend the University of Wyoming on an academic scholarship. The oboe is the instrument in the orchestra that all the rest of the instruments must tune to. That's because it is the most difficult instrument to tune! I sometimes get the oboe's sound mixed up with the bassoon, but they are really very different. The bassoon is deeper, lower I think. The following video is from The Mission (which was one of Jessica's favorite movies) and features the oboe ~ "Gabriel's Oboe". I hope you can listen to it all the way through. It is truly lovely.
love, Cassie