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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000041.txt from 2005/05
From: PhilFrei@-----.com
Subj: [DR-L] Re: thin oboe sound
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 22:17:48 -0400
Hi Sameer and everyone -
I'm so sorry with the way I worded the feedback to Sameer. I didn't say his
tone was thin, but did use the word in one of the sentances. Words like that
have a way of jumping out and overshadowing the words around them. I should have
taken a more "almost full" approach (in terms of the glass being half-empty
or half full). Rookie mistake on my part, as a not very experienced teacher!
The tone on the samples he sent of his playing sounded quite good, and he is
very musical in the way he shapes his sound, too. I think he's doing quite
well in that department for the amount of time and the conditions under which he
has been playing. Heck, my sound is often thinner than I'd like it to be, and
I've been playing for over a dozen years.
So Sameer - I think you can relax about the tone. You've accomplished a lot
there! In the meantime, I think it will be more beneficial to think about ways
to keep what you have going, through both rising and falling intervals, rising
and falling dynamics. And don't neglect the fact that fingering problems can
disrupt the sound also. I swear, at this point, a huge amount of my practice
is just trying to keep the fingers down and relaxed over the many problem
points ("black keys," crossing the break, low-notes, cross-fingerings, third octave
fingerings). It's a bear. But working on these things greatly expands the
amount of repertoire to which you can bring your musicality.
Best wishes,
Phil Freihofner
In a message dated 5/21/2005 12:15:28 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
doublereed-digest-help@-----.org writes:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 12:23:20 +0300
To: doublereed@-----.org
From: Sameer Al-Abdullah <simsim29@-----.com>
Subject: thin oboe sound
Message-ID: <5e77141805052102236c0fabed@-----.com>
Hello everyone :) is everyone there?? been too quiet lately and I have
a question that i might have asked before so I thought I ask anyways
and get some emails going in this list.
I was wondering if anyone can talk a little bit about how to improve
my oboe sound. Phil told me that I sounded a bit thin which I agree.
I'm interested in hearing what some of you might have to say about
developing a fuller sound.
The style of reeds I use (goodtoneguild.com) reeds, require me to take
in a little bit more reeds in than most of you do as i'm assuming most
of you follow the Philidephia style. My reeds are American scrape as
well but I dont hold the oboe at a very low angle yet not so high as
the French way plus I take in a tiny bit more reeds in my mouth.
I'm wondering if maybe i'm biting a little bit too much?? or is it
something else?
Also, I know that the center of the lips should be a cushion for the
reeds as they vibrate. But sometimes I do find myself having to bite a
very tiny bit just to warm up the sound as sometimes (especially when
it's new reeds) the sound is too bright and loud. Is this OK?? is
little biting ok? or must the center of the lips be 1000000000% not
pressing against the reeds at all? in other words, only the corners
are firm and the center is merely padding the reeds? I played on some
heavier and darker reeds and found myself keeping the center tension
free but that was only because that way I could blow on such heavier
reeds.
2 questions enough for now..... can't wait to get those great responses :)
PS: Phil if you are reading this I hope you are not offended as I lost
your email and moreover I am interested in getting more feed back on
this issue.
PSS: Did anyone see those sexy shots of Saddam?? ......kidding.....
--=20
Sameer Al-Abdullah
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