Although the precise year when the oboe was invented is unknown, it is said to have originated sometime around the mid 17th century in France. Of course, double-reed wind instruments such as the reed flute were in use in Europe even before then.

Who created the first oboe?

The oboe proper (i.e., the orchestral instrument), however, was the mid-17th-century invention of two French court musicians, Jacques Hotteterre and Michel Philidor.

When was bassoon invented?

The bassoon is a 17th-century development of the earlier sordone, fagotto, or dulzian, known in England as the curtal. It was first mentioned about 1540 in Italy as an instrument with both ascending and descending bores contained in a single piece of maple or pear wood.