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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000009.txt from 2008/01
From: "Miriam Williams" <mwquacker@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] musing about breath/bite
Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:09:29 -0500
I've played on (oboe) reeds like that rarely & try to avoid that situation.
I find that embouchure adjustments that severe tire my lips out quickly and
would avoid having to do so, especially for a concert. Of course, some reeds
will require a bit of squeezing or rolling in to allow the high notes to be
in tune.
If anyone knows a really reliable way to produce effortless high notes,
please send me the formula! I gave a reedmaking lesson yesterday & got
around to talking about windows (in the back). I had saved one of my best
reeds from yrs ago to observe the structure. I soaked it up to see if it
would still play. It did! Then I remembered what I really liked about that
reed - effortless high notes. The other ranges were good, too, and it had a
nice tone. (Sigh)
Yes, theoretically, I suppose your proposed method would work, Phil, but
practically, it sounds rather dangerous, at least in my oboing experience.
My $0.02,
Miriam
----- Original Message -----
From: <philfrei@-----.com>
To: <doublereed@-----.org>
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 10:57 PM
Subject: [DR-L] musing about breath/bite
> Starting off the New Year with some radical (nutty?) notions.
>
> I was thinking about the whole breath/bite relationship, and how the
> dynamics of the oboe tends to be more limited at the highest and lowest
> pitches than in the center of the oboe range.
>
> Suppose one had call to play a very loud note or passage in the top
> octave. It seems to me that one could theoretically play a half step (or
> quarter-step fingerings if one knows them) above the written note and use
> a more relaxed embouchure than normal. This should allow the pitches to be
> much louder than they would otherwise. Of course one would have to
> practice it in order to be able to do something like this and keep it in
> pitch and with a decent tone.
>
> But it seems theoretically plausible.
>
> The reverse seems less workable, but maybe it would work for some reeds:
> on really low notes, finger a half-step (or quarterstep) below the written
> note, and use more embouchure than one would normally. This might allow
> one to play notes much quieter than one might be able to otherwise. Though
> it seems to me it is generally easier to play very flat than very sharp,
> so this seems less likely to work.
>
> Anyone ever experiment with this?
>
> Less radical, making a reed that crows sharp (allows more open embouchure
> for louder high notes) or flat (more closed embouchure for quieter low
> notes) that allow one to do the given task.
>
> Phil Freihofner
> Albany, CA
> More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! -
> http://webmail.aol.com
>
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