Doublereed Archive - Posting 000021.txt from 2005/04

From: PhilFrei@-----.com
Subj: [DR-L] springs and finger tension
Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 20:30:20 -0400

Hi again -

Different topic.

I went through with getting stronger springs put on the A and G keys. So far,
no springs have broken or fallen out and all the notes still play. I'm
crossing my fingers for luck and keeping an eye out for loose rods, etc.!

At this point the cross-fingering keys are pretty even in terms of tension.
So far it is working out okay. I think I like it and am going to keep it. It
will probably be a couple weeks or months before I'll know for sure.

(For example, the experiment of resting the thumb on the octave key lasted a
couple months, before going back to the "rolling" technique, once I realized
that adjusting the height of the octave key and weight of the octave spring and
increasing the A and G weights eliminated the need to be so much on top of
the key to get it down in time.)

I found there is a lot of resistance to the idea of even touching a spring,
let alone trying to make them stiffer. It seems logical that one would want
them lighter, particularly if one has the experience of struggling with a stiff
A-flat or D-flat key on a student oboe. But I believe those keys (Ab, Db) can
be brought down in tension to a properly set F#, and G and A brought up to F#
without making those notes harder to play. After a certain point, increased
stiffness would certainly slow things down, but matching the F# seems to be well
below that level.

One objection I've heard from several sources is that the fingers have
different strengths. As true as this is, it seems to me we learn from childhood how
to exert exactly the same amount of pressure with each finger despite the
differences in strength. How else could a waiter, for example, hold up a serving
tray with one hand?

It seems clear to me that if a finger exerts more pressure on it than the
others, it will be slower to rise. This can be seen by doing a simple scale,
e.g., C-D-E-F#-G-A-B-A-G-F#-E-D and repeating (sextuples). If one consciously
places more weight on any finger, that finger's note will tend to sound longer
when you start getting up to a decent speed.

So my theory is that if the springs are set up so that the key pressure is
even, then it will perhaps be easier to train the fingers to use an even amount
of tension, aiding technical execution. We'll see how it goes. One still has
to train the fingers, there's no avoiding that. But perhaps it will be easier
from a starting point of even tension, rather than working out a system of
compensations for the different keys.

There are also arguments that the technicians at Loree know best, and to just
accept that. But I think my reasoning is scientifically sound and at least
merits a tryout. We are so used to being told how awkward and difficult the oboe
is. But maybe it doesn't have to be so. Maybe the flute, clarinet, sax have
an easier time playing lots of notes because their keywork is pretty much even
in tension. I know the flute is very even, but I wonder about clarinet and
sax. Do they have keys as widely differing as our G and F#? Or do they tend to be
even?

Anyone who's in the area and wants to come over try the oboe is welcome to
drop me a line.

- Phil Freihofner

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