Author: Chris P
Date: 2017-04-04 10:46
Bassoon toneholes are round - only some are drilled at angles to either bring them within reach of the player's fingers or drilled at angles to increase their length to stabilise certain notes.
And with them drilled at angles, they will appear to be oval where they meet the surface - this is basic geometry. You'll see the same thing with Renaissance woodwinds where toneholes have been drilled to put them within fingertip reach at the joint surface, but diverge through the joint wall to meet the bore much further apart. If you cut a tube at an angle, the truncated end will be oval - bassoon tonehole tubes are a perfect example should you have to remove or make one.
Likewise with some clarinet C#/G# toneholes that have been drilled at an angle to the bore centre line instead of perpendicular to it - this tonehole will therefore appear to be oval as a result where it meets the joint surface, but is still round as basic tonehole cutters and machinery will only produce round toneholes.
The few instances where they aren't round is when they've been milled out (such as some vent holes) to elongate them so they're velodrome-shaped.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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