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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000040.txt from 2003/02
From: Andrew Keller <andrewjkeller@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Still searching for an instrument
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 20:13:17 -0500
Luis,
I purchased a Yamaha 841 about seven months ago,
so I thought I would pass along to you my experiences
with it.
First of all, I could probably guess which dealers
made those comments, because I was told the exact same
thing while shopping around. I am aware of no study,
however, which has shown Yamaha oboes to be more
likely to crack than Loree and Rigoutat instruments.
They are made of the same type of wood as other oboes,
and there is no reason that they should crack more
often, so long as standard precautions are taken. The
reason they are less expensive has nothing to do with
any alleged tendency to crack. Rather, it is a
standard marketing strategy. When a company with
enormous resources introduces a new instrument, it is
going to temporarily undercut the competition's prices
until it grabs a good share of the market. Yamaha
instruments are less expensive than those of Loree and
Rigoutat because Yamaha has resources that other
makers lack.
The claim that a few professionals play on Yamaha
oboes because of the money strikes me as particularly
humorous. I seriously doubt that people like Richard
Woodhams and Jeff Rathbun are going to compromise
their artistic integrity by playing on inferior
instruments in order to make a few extra bucks. After
all, the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras already
pay fairly well.
The Yamaha 841's have made such waves in the oboe
community because they are exceptional instruments.
Their intonation in the low range is considerably
better than that of Loree oboes (I can't draw a
comparison to Rigoutat, as I've never played one), and
they project better. I have had several opportunities
to verify this second claim. First of all, when I was
shopping for oboes a while back, I play-tested Loree,
Fox, and Yamaha oboes side by side in a hall. Though
the Loree seemed to have the most resonance to
listeners a few feet away, the Yamaha projected out
into the hall with a noticeably fuller sound.
Furthermore, I recently had the opportunity to witness
this phenomenon again in a chamber music recital
involving two well-known oboists (whose names I will
not mention). One played a Loree, the other a Yamaha.
While listening to the open rehearsal beforehand, I
thought there might be some minor balance problems, as
the Yamaha sound seemed much lighter up close. From a
distance, though, in the recital hall, the Yamaha oboe
again projected with a richer tone.
There is, however, an airiness to the Yamaha's
sound that is bothersome at first (though I don't even
notice it now). It is not heard at a distance,
though, and I suspect that it is probably somehow
acoustically linked to the instrument's good
projection.
My experiences with Yamaha have been very good,
thus far; and it seems that many others share my
opinion, judging from the number of exceptional
players who have switched over to Yamaha. If you want
to project without having to work so hard, and if you
never want to worry about pulling up the pitch of
typically flat low notes, then I believe it is an
excellent choice.
Andrew Keller
--- Luis de la Torre <l_delatorre2000@-----.com>
wrote:
> Thanks for the help with the earlier question about
> differences between Loree and Rigoutat but now I've
> been thinking about the Yamaha 841 because I don't
> have a lot of money to spare, starting college and
> all. I won't name any specifics, but one retailer
> suggested it to me, another said they're probably
> cheaper than other pro models because 100% of them
> will crack, and another said (I'm paraphrasing)
> "Yamaha is a bad investment, go with Loree because
> it
> is the best oboe made, and a few professionals
> played
> on Yamaha becuase Yamaha paid them and not because
> of
> the quality of the instrument. Anyone play a Yamaha
> 841 or know anything about them, evenness of scale,
> tone quality, do they really all crack, etc.? For
> just
> under $4000 they're significantly cheaper than Loree
> and if they're nearly as high quality would be a
> great
> deal.
>
> now.
> DOUBLEREED-L mailing list
> DOUBLEREED-L@-----.edu
>
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