What instrument sounds closest in timbre to an oboe?

probably yes,
I love the oboe, its called the instrument of madness :)

ukelele. yeah, definitely ukelele.

I'd say a harpsichord. Why do you ask?

A skin flute

a bassoon sounds similar, just a lot deeper

It depends who is blowing on it.

I wouldn't know what an oboe was if you walked up and hit me with one.

Gah, google here I come.

Clarinet or bassoon

I ask because I handed in a dictation assignment and all of the clarinets in the free scoring program I downloaded automatically have accidentals in the key signature. I'm not into arranging for woodwinds, so I just assumed if my assignment was called "melodic dictation in C" it would be in an instrument naturally in C?

Anyway my professor said oboe is close enough and that he thinks its really cool I chose to put Andante on my page, I regret that now because in his email now he wants the whole class to write the exact tempo of future assignments.

the dictation started on middle C, so which instrument is the range more natural for?

For you delictation...One of my fav`s.. I love the Oboe too.... (And in case anyone tries to beat me to it...Its not pink).

Dammit, C!

Leave the sweet girl alone!

Soprano Sax

You know, Like Kenny G plays.

Probably the clarinet but I'm no expert.

I was a band geek and played bass clarinet and contra-bass clarinet. I was seated with the bassoons.
The oboe players were with the clarinets and sometimes shared the same sheet music.

Closest to oboe? English horn maybe. Except the oboe is pitched in C (concert), and the English horn in F (fifth below concert)

bassoon definitely. i set in band for 7 years and am fairly certain although second i would say clarinet but definitely go with the bassoon. they say it's the hardest instrument aside from the french horn to learn.

tenor sax

Ass pipe! brrrrrrpp

If the dictation is in C, maybe that just meant concert C, in which case flats/sharps in the key signature would be ok depending on the instrument selected.

But if the prof said "close enough," then go with that!

Bari Sax (bottom note low Db -1/2 step lower w/added C key)
Bass Clarinet (low D - match regular B. Sax w/added Db key)

All those words you people use is highly suspectable. It sounds like some sort of code for some sort of plan. I bet you all are eskimos planning the comming invasion of the unfrozen lands.

Here is the correct answer, Pro Muocian for 35 years and Band teacher.

Give that women a Gold Star

Except she's a he LOL

(But I had an unfair advantage - orchestra/choir arranger for nearly 40 years)

The Cor Anglais

My ass had accidentals in the key signature after that bid bowl of chili I had for lunch. :)

A Renaissance cornetto (zink) or a crumhorn.

Perhaps a soprano sax, but that's a bit of an insult to the oboe.

An English horn is just a larger version of th oboe, so that doesn't count. Neither do the other family members (oboe d'amore, oboe da caccia). Those are needed to perform Baroque music decently.

The clarinette is too mellow.

There's an organ register that fit's the oboe nicely: it's usually called "oboe." Go figure.

Bass fer cryinout loud

If you're looking for a substitute instrument, i.e. you want to play some piece but don't have an oboist, then use a clarinet.

You'll have to write out a transposition of the music because, as others said above, the clarinet will be in b-flat while the oboe is in c. Just transpose everything one up whole note.

(I'm assuming you won't have someone playing an e-flat or an a clarinet. If you did, you'd probably have an oboist too.)