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Shawm
The shawm was a Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family, made in Europe from the late 13th century until the 17th century. It was ancestral to the modern oboe.
It had a long bore which started straight but widened into a conical end, and had a double reed. It produced a loud shrill tone, and was used by military bands[?] during the Crusades, as well as in ordinary life for dancing.
The oboe developed from the shawm in the mid-17th century when the French musicians Jean Hotteterre[?] and Michel Danican Philidor[?] modified it, producing an instrument with a narrower bore and a reed which is held by the player's lips near the end.
- The Renaissance Shawm (http://www.s-hamilton.k12.ia.us/antiqua/renshawm.htm)
- The Shawm and Curtal (http://www.diabolus.org/guide/shawm.htm) - from the Diabolus in Musica Guide to Early Instruments
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