Doublereed Archive - Posting 000092.txt from 2004/10

From: "Angela Wells" <oneflute1oboe@-----.com>
Subj: [DR-L] Re: Ideal woodwind theory and oboe playing
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 11:05:35 -0400

Hi everyone,

I remember reading on this list a while back something about what pitch one
should be blowing on the reed while playing the oboe. If I remember
correctly, most of us agreed that somewhere around Bb is good. So, playing
the reed without the oboe, Bb would be the sounding pitch, and the feeling
of playing Bb on the reed should be transferred to playing the whole oboe.

I also have a hazy recollection of someone saying that they give students
exercises to play on the reed alone, sliding between Ab and C as well as
moving between these notes in steps. The purpose of these excersises was to
develop some kind of technique for rolling the reed in and out of the
embouchure.

Please do tell me if I've dreamed this all up. Also, if anyone disagrees or
has any corrections to make, please do.

My problem is that I've been attending required weekly "woodwind
masterclasses" at school which are usually given by a saxophone player.
Everyone but the flutes are thrown in together. This particular saxophone
professor has a wealth of knowlege about musical phrasing, but confuses us
double reeds when he talks about technique.

He had a sax student blow through only the mouthpiece and neck of the
saxophone, demonstrating that the air and embouchure are independent of what
note you're playing. Air and embouchure remain constant while you move your
fingers.

I learned in woodwind pedagogy that this is true for single reed
instruments. However, this professor maintains that it's true for all wind
instruments.

I challenged him. I showed how several pitches can be blown on an oboe reed,
and demonstrated how we use this for intonation purposes as well as for
extreme registers. He tried to prove me wrong and managed to confuse me
thoroughly.

It seems that his point is true to a certain extent when applied to the
oboe. We tend to overcompensate, and do too many wacky things with our air
and embouchure while our fingers flail about. But I still feel that
embouchure compensation is needed. I know that I have to sacrifice a certain
amount of stability in my reeds to get them to where they're not hard as
brick, sharp, and thin sounding.

On one hand, I tell myself that he's a sax player and doesn't really know
squat about the oboe. Obviously his idea cannot apply entirely to the flute,
where there is no ocave key and you have to change *something* other than
fingerings to get the differnent octaves. So, it's possible that along the
spectrum of wind instruments, parts of the idealism get lost.

On the other hand, I wonder if there are oboists who subscribe to a theory
like his. I already know what my own teacher thinks. What about you?

What about the person who wants their students to develop embouchure rolling
facility? Am I completely misinterpreting the point of that?

All discussion is appreciated. :-)

~Angela

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