Klarinet Archive - Posting 000045.txt from 1994/10

From: Timothy Tikker <tjt@-----.ORG>
Subj: Re: Other woods: Violet wood
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 1994 11:48:01 -0400

Here's an excerpt from an article in _The Double Reed_ (vol 17 no 1
Spring 1994 pp 17-18), an interview with Oboe maker Rigoutat:

NORA POST: I'd like to talk about materials and wood for a moment. In a
very interesting television production about grenadilla wood shown
throughout the United States by National Educational Television, Hugo
Schreiber of Schreiber Bassoons predicted that unless major efforts are
made to replenish the African forests, there will be no grenadilla wood
available for instrument making in twenty years. None. What is your
opinion on this situation?

PHILIPPE RIGOUTAT: Well, I'd have to say I don't know much about the
situation in Africa. What we have found is that the quality of wood is
not as good as it used to be. We throw out more wood than we used to.
You have to look at a piece of wood very carefully before you make it
into an oboe! In the old days, the quality was higher, and you just took
a piece of wood and it would usually be fine.

NP: You also make oboes in bois de violette -- violet wood. How would
you find this wood compares to grenadilla wood?

PR: I am very positively surprised by the quality of our violet wood.
However, there is one precaution. We have found that you must oil the
bore of these instruments every day! This prevents the wood from
changing. Two or three drops of sweet almond oil on a feather at least
every two days for the life of the instrument. Each customer who does
this is wild about their oboe. Each person who doesn't do this is very
angry at me! It really works. Violet wood is a special wood that
absorbs everything like a sponge, so it can change a bit, and this is the
dnager. You oil the instrument just before playing, and then the water
just can't penetrate into the wood. It protects the wood, and the sound
becomes better and better.

NP: Fascinating. I've had some rather bad experiences with violet wood,
though part of that, I'm sure, is the dry and excessive heating -- with
absolutely no humidity -- during the winteres in the US. It's a killer
for this wood.

PR: Absolutely. Violet wood can change quite a bit, and this is the danger.

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Isn't Violet Wood what is also knnown as Purple Heart? Anyone out there
know?

- Timothy Tikker