An Oboe is very difficult to tune as the reed can only be moved in and out a little way making little difference. This is why an orchestra tunes to the oboe. Using a tuner or your ear if your musical you can pull out the reed to sharpen the pitch or in to flatten it.
The Clarinet is a conical tube. The longer the tube the lower the note, the shorter the tube the higher the note. Typically, tuning the clarinet is done by adjusting the length of the tube at the either the joint where the barrel meets the upper joint or where the barrel meets the mouthpiece.
First of all, check your Concert B-flat - that is to say the third space C against a tuner. If you are flat check to see all of the joints of the clarinet are completely together and you are using a firm embouchure. If you find you are sharp (high), pull out a little bit at a time between the tuning barrel and upper joint of your instrument until you match the pitch on the tuner. If you want to check further, test out your middle C. Notes around this area of the instrument can further be adjusted by pulling out/pushing in at the middle of the clarinet between the upper and lower joints. Further tuning problems can be addressed with loosening or tightening the embouchure or alternate fingerings the better you get to know your instrument.
You tune a bassoon by adjusting your embouchure (the way your mouth holds the reed). If the bassoon is sharp, then relax your embouchure a little and open your throat more. If it is flat, tighten your embouchure and blow more air. If the note is still flat/sharp once you have mad these adjustments then you need to pull the bocal out or push it in more. If none of the techniques work then you need to take the bassoon to get checked out.
all in the mouth
All the instruments are tune to the piano. Before an orchestral concert, the musicians will either tune to a note played on the violin by the concertmaster, or an oboist.
A standard symphony orchestra can tune to three different members: the principal oboe, the concertmaster, or the solo pianist. The oboist is used to tune whenever there is an oboe in the orchestra, the concertmaster is used whenever there isn't an oboe, and the pianist/keyboardist will play the tuning note if he or she is the soloist for the evening.
The most common reason given is that the oboe is the most difficult to tune and always is tuned to because is piercing and loud. This reason is actually false. The reason the oboe tunes the orchestra is because when orchestras started to develop during Handel's time, the oboe was the most common instrument in the orchestra. It was easier to tune to the oboes since there was so many of them.
It is generally believed that the oboe is used as the pitch source to tune the orchestra because, of all the instruments, the oboe has the least ability to be varied. In this way of thinking, the oboist makes their reeds and strives to be able to play in tune, and since they can't be adjusted, whatever the oboist comes up with is what everyone has to accept and adjust to. There may be some truth to this legend. On the other hand, the oboe actually has a fairly large range of variability if the reed is well made and the oboist is professional-grade. (Consider this: If oboes were so impossible to tune, how could a Berlioz symphony employ four of them?) In actual fact, today, most orchestra musicians are already well-tuned to electronic tuners before the oboist sounds the first note, and the oboe-note/tuneup session is more for show than for real tuning.
all in the mouth
All the instruments are tune to the piano. Before an orchestral concert, the musicians will either tune to a note played on the violin by the concertmaster, or an oboist.
A standard symphony orchestra can tune to three different members: the principal oboe, the concertmaster, or the solo pianist. The oboist is used to tune whenever there is an oboe in the orchestra, the concertmaster is used whenever there isn't an oboe, and the pianist/keyboardist will play the tuning note if he or she is the soloist for the evening.
The most common reason given is that the oboe is the most difficult to tune and always is tuned to because is piercing and loud. This reason is actually false. The reason the oboe tunes the orchestra is because when orchestras started to develop during Handel's time, the oboe was the most common instrument in the orchestra. It was easier to tune to the oboes since there was so many of them.
It is generally believed that the oboe is used as the pitch source to tune the orchestra because, of all the instruments, the oboe has the least ability to be varied. In this way of thinking, the oboist makes their reeds and strives to be able to play in tune, and since they can't be adjusted, whatever the oboist comes up with is what everyone has to accept and adjust to. There may be some truth to this legend. On the other hand, the oboe actually has a fairly large range of variability if the reed is well made and the oboist is professional-grade. (Consider this: If oboes were so impossible to tune, how could a Berlioz symphony employ four of them?) In actual fact, today, most orchestra musicians are already well-tuned to electronic tuners before the oboist sounds the first note, and the oboe-note/tuneup session is more for show than for real tuning.
Typically two oboists play in the orchestra; with the 2nd oboist doubling on English horn when needed. Some larger professional Symphony Orchestras (like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). Have a dedicated English hornist, that can double second oboe, or play the rare third oboe part in a pinch.
The oboe doesn't necessarily play a part per se, neither do all the other instruments. It is a network. However, the oboe has wonderfully fantastic melodic phrases and solos written for it, mostly melancholy or bittersweet, or even girly and childish! Mind you that the oboe is the main tuner for the rest of the orchestra because it is constantly in-tune at A440.
The instruments were tuned to the Oboe which could keep the tune up and not like the string instruments which got out of tune. Remember the Baroque orchestra did not have standardization.
When your C is too low, this could mean a few things; 1) Your reed could be badly scraped and have a "ditch" in it, 2) It could be a problem with your oboe, 3) The C is possibly the least stable note of the oboe, so you could be biting on the reed or not using enough air.
Traditionally, the Concertmaster (usually the first chair violinist) tunes his violin to a known standard pitch like A-440 and then the other orchestral instruments tune to his or her pitch. Sometimes, an oboist provides the pitch tone for tuning. The oboe is used more frequently because its sound penetrates easier to all players of the orchestra.
Usually it's the principal oboe. In case of a piano concerto, the orchestra will tune to the piano.
Currently in America it is set at A=440, however, some European orchestra like to go a little higher anywhere from 442-5 but in music history A has ranged anywhere from 425-460 if not a wider range of variance