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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000011.txt from 2008/01
From: David Lurie <klingsor@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Oboe - flat second octave key notes
Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2008 14:07:37 -0500
At 10:29 AM 1/5/2008, you wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>Its been a while since I have written and I hope that everyone had a
>wonderful new year.
Hi Shawn
Thank you and same to you.
> I have a college student who for some time I have been puzzled by her
>problems. No matter what I do or say, she always goes extremely flat
>on the second
>octave key notes (A, B, and C).
My first question is does she actually HEAR that she plays flat? Or
do you have to tell her about it for her to realize that is the case.
If she can't hear it for herself - which is not all that uncommon -
then perhaps she should consider that the oboe is not for her. I know
this sounds tough, but if it is so, then there is not much point in
continuing such an arduous struggle.
2ndly, have you played her reed in her oboe? If so, what happened?
Intonation OK or no? What about your reed in her oboe, or her reed in
your oboe?
> I have tried every analogy I know to get her
>to open up inside her mouth and keep enough firmness against the reed (short
>of biting) to keep them up to pitch with no success. I wish I had a tool to
>see inside her mouth and throat while she is playing, to identify what she
>might be doing wrong. She has even switched oboes from an older
>Marigaux to a new
>Fossati Artiste. I have tried many different reed styles with her, and
>nothing seems to work, short of her biting the heck out of the reed
>on that note.
>She has some minor pitch issues all around the horn, but nothing that is out
>of the ordinary that we don't experience on the oboe (low D, high c and c#,
>etc..)
Sounds to me that if she can hear the flatness then perhaps - as
others have also suggested - she' s just not giving it enough breath
support. What happens when she is told to blow harder when going up
there? Then there is the possibility that her reed is too easy to
blow. That would certainly make the high notes flat, particularly if
there is inadequate support. An absolute essential for playing those
problem notes in tune is a sufficiently resistant reed. Another
thing - and I don't have any idea if this fits or not, but I was
taught to play with a flexible embouchure, such that my reeds are
deliberately designed to be ever so little flat in that register,
which not only forces me to give it adequate support but also to take
in slightly more reed. This combination together gives a good tone in
perfect intonation. Naturally the amounts of flatness in the reed and
roll-in of the embouchure are tiny.
> I am puzzled -- any suggestions?
Hope this helps.
David
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