The Quiet Oboe is the quiet American cousin to the Australian Didgeridoo, an aboriginal musical instrument, hollowed of local Australian wood by termites, and colorfully painted. The music of the Quiet Oboe is visual, and like the Didgeridoo, no two are exactly alike. Each is an original.

INSTALLATION

TO BEGIN, AND FOR VERTICAL
To mount the Quiet Oboe vertically, place a nail, or for larger pieces, a drywall screw, in the wall, with the head angled up, as you would to hang a picture. It is not necessary to hit a wall stud. Hold one end of the oboe to the light, and look through the other end to find the holes drilled into the surface of the tube. There will be more than one. Place one of the holes in the oboe over the drywall screw.

HORIZONTAL OR DIAGONAL
Look through the Oboe to find the mounting hole nearest the center of the tube length. Insert a pen or pencil in the hole, hold the piece up to the desired wall location, and mark the placement on the wall. Place the screw in the wall at an angle, with the head slightly upward, and mount the Oboe using the hole you have designated. Rotate the other end of the oboe into position; place the second nail or screw through the other hole at the end of the piece.

“FLOATING” BY USE OF THE STAND-OFF HARDWARE

1. Follow the instructions above to arrange the oboes on the wall. This initial placement facilitates the addition of the floatation brackets.
2. Remove the oboes from the wall, one by one. We use a Q-tip cotton swab placed in the hole to remember which oboe hole we used. Place a second Q-tip in a second hole in the oboe.
3. Choose the bracket pair with the desired extension length. The outer sleeve of the bracket determines the distance the oboe will float away from the wall.
4. Drill a 5/8” hole in the wall at the marked location. For now, we suggest drilling just the one hole. GREAT TIP: Use a vacuum hose, no brush attachment, right where you are drilling and save a boatload of cleanup!
5. Insert the butterfly end of the bracket into the wall a sufficient depth to allow the butterfly to spring open. Pull back on the bracket; you should feel the bracket stop against the back of the wall material. Tighten the bracket until it is snug against the wall, with the hook end facing up.
   Please note: Our extension brackets are built for 5/8” sheetrock walls. They will work for any wall material of this, or slightly thinner material. If the wall has a double layer of sheetrock, a longer stem of threaded rod may be required.
6. Using a pen or pencil inserted into the hole of the oboe, spread the fibers to allow easy mounting. This helps to avoid breaking the fiber. (If some fiber breaks, re-attach it with white glue or wood glue.)
7. Carefully slip the bent bracket tip into the hole so that just the threaded part is inside the oboe.
8. The oboe is now mounted on one of the two brackets. While on its one bracket, hold the oboe parallel to the wall. Insert a pen or short pencil into the second hold (we marked it with a Q-tip in step 2 to make this part easy.) Use the pen to mark the second hole location, and repeat steps 4 through 7. Sometimes, for the second bracket, it is handy to use pliers to rotate the bracket sideways, just to allow it into the hole. Then rotate it as necessary to “lock” the oboe into position.

“PICKUP STICKS” Installations:

• a) Mount all pieces designated to be “flat” mounted, that is, placed directly against the wall, without stand-off hardware, using drywall screws as described above.
• b) To place the pieces that “float” over the others, first locate a hole closer to the center of the Oboe (refer to page 1.) Place a short pencil backwards, point side out, in the hole, and use it as a pointer to locate a clear spot on the wall in which to insert the first piece of hardware. Make sure your “pointer” is over wall space, not over another tube. Install the first stand-off as described in step 5 above.
• c) To affix the free end of the Oboe, first, rotate the Oboe into the desired position. If the free end can make contact with the wall surface, place a drywall screw through the hole located at the end of the tube. If you prefer the free end to “float”, use the “pointer” technique described in paragraph b) to located where to drill for the hardware. (See also steps 4 through 7 above.) Note: There is usually another hole 3 or 4 inches above the hole nearest the end of the tube: it is another alternative, and usually, you can feel for it just above and in line with the hole nearest the tube end.

If you hit a wood stud:
Remove the butterfly. Use a 15/64” bit, drill the stud, and screw the bracket into the stud, following all other steps as necessary.

If your wall is concrete, concrete block, or brick:
We suggest ¼” x 1” Lag Shields, available at most hardware stores. Again, remove the butterfly from the oboe bracket and install according the instructions on the lag shields. These installations can be a bit of a challenge, so the easiest route is to omit the extension hardware and use Tapcon®, a brand of masonry screw available at most good hardware stores in lieu of the drywall screws to flat mount the Oboes.

CARE:
We suggest using a vacuum hose, holding the hose end an inch or two away from the Oboe. Do not brush the Oboes. (You can feather dust, but we feel this just redistributes the dust.)

Above all, enjoy them!
Most Sincerely,

Myra Burg