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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000076.txt from 2007/06
From: "Ed B. Flowers" <flowerse@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Re: Elizabeth Koch, ASO Principal Oboe
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:56:31 -0400
Phil,
I recently traded that standard AK Loree you guys from Forrests Music
sold me because it was too bright and stood out too much. In particular,
it's high notes had a thin, piercing tone didn't sound good with the
flute. I traded it with Margaret Noble (NYC, 59th Street) for a very
lyrical, used, Loree Royale that sounds good with flutes, and superb
with both my trio and my quintet.
If you're interested in tones that will cut through the crowd, Margaret
Noble currently has about 8 new AK Lorees in both standard and Royale
models plus my almost-new, super-bright AK. I played all of these oboes
one day and compared them to my dark-sounding standard bore Loree and my
very dark Royale. The AK Loree that I traded was the brightest of the
lot. My standard and Royale Lorees, being superb oboes (from Forrests
Music) and already broken in, sounded better than any of her new Lorees
including the darker toned ones. The new Lorees all had a crisp sound
that the broken-in oboes didn't have. You'd have to guess as to how they
would ultimately sound once broken in, but still, you could get a pretty
good idea of how they would end up sounding.
I have concluded that for chamber music, which what I do, almost
exclusively, the darker Lorees are much better because they sound better
with the other instruments. For orchestral play you might like an AK
Loree, just because the tone would stand out. Or, like in the ASO, you
might want the entire oboe section to have the "singing" Loree sound--a
vote for consistency of sound.
If I only played alone, the AK Loree would be my choice, because it's
tone is more malleable than that of the darker Lorees which damp the
oboe sound and smooth it out.
If you play a dark Loree with a chamber music ensemble, the audience
will say, "That's a beautiful sound; beautiful music." If you play an AK
with a chamber music ensemble, the audience will say, "Listen to that
funky oboe tone."
Edward B. Flowers (ob, EH)
New York City
philfrei@-----.com wrote:
> Is it possible for the brighter of two sounds not to project or cut
> through an acoustic environment. Sometimes, it is the lower or middle
> formants that are filling an available space, or are "most
> characteristic" of a sound.
>
> The journalist is probably doing their job. My reading of this is that
> the ASO folks are prejudiced (perhaps justified, perhaps not) against
> the Yamaha 841. Their expression of this prejudice may or may not be
> articulated in a scientifically accurate manner. Acoustics are
> complicated! (And so are musical politics.) Also, the press often
> resorts to reducing things to levels they deem "the public" will be
> able to comprehend. For example, a TV news interviewer requested the
> MD I work for, the head of a Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant
> department, to wear a white coat and stethascope during the interview,
> so folks would "get it" that he is a doctor. He's never worn either,
> the whole time I've known and worded with him.
>
> I don't know that one can make a reed that makes a Yamaha 841 sound
> more like a Loree. IMHO a Yamaha 841 is close to a Loree in quality,
> and I might not be able to judge the difference in a blind test, but
> when I'm playing them there seems to be a difference. Hard to say
> exactly what it is, but I like the Lorees better. Just an opinion.
>
> We've chewed up the discussion on oboes getting "blown out" or not
> before. I don't envy the reporter the task of trying to judge what is
> folklore or not, in this regard.
>
> Herb's comment reminds me of a great old song on Pretenders II: "Waste
> not want not."
>
> I'm one of those who sticks with a single horn, but we have high level
> pros that come into Forrests regularly, checking out all the new
> oboes, who do seem to feel a replacement is needed after only a couple
> years. A lot depends upon what you can afford? I hardly feel qualified
> to second-guess those who have achieved so much (even though I do have
> my doubts).
>
> - Phil Freihofner
>
>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:38:13 -0700
>> To: "doublereed@-----.org>
>> From: herb fawcett <herbgosia@-----.net>
>> Subject: Re: [DR-L] Elizabeth Koch, ASO Principal Oboe
>> Message-ID: <C2971165.1A7A1%herbgosia@-----.net>
>>
>> So much of the time the sound is a matter of concept; if the horn
> sounds
>> different than the concept, time allows for the correction of the reed.
>> A good horn is a good horn; the player makes the sound (within
> reasonable
>> parameters!). Is this not true of oboes?
>> Herb
>>
>> On 6/14/07 12:54 PM, "BssnRX@-----.com> wrote:
>>
>>> In a message dated 6/14/2007 3:00:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>>> herbgosia@-----.net writes:
>>> "Exactly what wears out in a good oboe? Surely a silk swab cannot
> alter the
>>> bore in 3-5 years.
>>> Congrats to Ms Koch!
>>> Herb"
>>> Hey Herb,
>>> Oboes don't get "worn out" any more than bassoons do. They do go
> through some
>>> changes with age and use, just as bassoons do. Its just that, for
> whatever
>>> reasons, a lot of oboists don't like those changes in their oboes
> whereas we
>>> bassoonists like the changes in our bassoons. Having said that, I
> know a few
>>> oboists that have been playing the same oboes for over 20 years and
> sound
>>> fantastic on them.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ************************************** See what's free at
> http://www.aol.com.
>
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