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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000043.txt from 2004/12
From: PhilFrei@-----.com
Subj: [DR-L] Re: key adjustments; was Left thumb (oboe)
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 08:34:27 -0500
I'm going to go out on a limb and say there should never be any wiggle and
there should never be any dead play (key moves up or down before it opens) on
any key. And that goes for closing keys, too. I was having a terrible time
trying to get the A-flat to B-flat smooth. Finally, I looked at the key work and
realized the A-flat key had to go down a couple mm before it even started
raising the pad off of the oboe. Any wonder there were always glitches there??
(Ended up adding some cork so it engaged right away. Now, the interval is
consistently smoother. And I thought the problem was me!)
I was thinking that I could improve the keywork by lightening up all the
springs to make them the minimum. But it seems that keys that don't have fingers
holding them down will leak if the springs are too weak. I had to tighten back
up several keys to stop all the leaks that had sprung. I then came on the
notion of INCREASING the spring pressure on a few of the lightest keys, even
though they didn't need it. The benefit was that the keys became closer in pressure
to the keys that required more pressure. I now am of the opinion that too
great a degree of unevenness can throw things almost as much as keys that are too
stiff.
I'm not sure I'm reading this correctly, but I think the folks that place the
thumb lightly on the oboe just south of the octave key and roll it are doing
the same motion as that done by clarinetists, as described by Ed Lacy. I
recall Ray Still saying he used a rolling thumb technique, and always released the
thumb for the second octave notes. I like the idea of releasing the thumb for
the second octave key, because I find going up to c# or d (third octave) much
easier without the thumb engaged.
It has been interesting reading all the comments.
One of the passages that motivated this question for me is the Britten
"Bacchus" or "Dionysius" (I can't recall which was the name) from Metamorphosis, the
quarter = 132 section where there are some running broken thirds. I don't
think I could "anticipate" a rolling action at that speed. Maybe on passages like
that, leaving the thumb lightly on the octave key makes more sense. Just for
the exercise, I am playing everything, the last few days, with the thumb
always on the key. It is starting to feel a little less wierd and to wander off
less frequently, and does seem to help, even if it isn't something one would want
to do all the time. I seem to be able to get a good half-holing position with
this grip, too, but the low B and B-flat are tough to play this way (a good
time NOT to use the technique?).
Phil Freihofner
In a message dated 12/12/2004 12:15:26 AM Pacific Standard Time,
doublereed-digest-help@-----.org writes:
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 18:01:19 -0600
To: <doublereed@-----.org>
From: "Miriam Williams" <mwquacker@-----.net>
Subject: key adjustments; was Left thumb (oboe)
Message-ID: <002301c4dfdd$b5a3e4c0$6401a8c0@DELL>
Speaking of adjustments, how much wiggle should there be on the L F key;
none, or just a bit loose. I think mine is quite loose and should have it
tightened up more. There is also a bit of play up and down; I can press
down maybe 2 mm or so before the key opens at all.
Miriam
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Weiss" <weiss440@-----.net>
To: <doublereed@-----.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 2:39 PM
Subject: [DR-L] Left thumb (oboe)
> Another suggestion would be to make sure the spring tension of the thumb
> octave key is as light as possible. Stiff springs (anywhere on the horn)
> make it all the more difficult to achieve a fluid technique.
>
> David Weiss
>
>
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