Author: vboboe
Date: 2008-06-16 00:01
hey there folks, forgive my blog, just thought you'd like to know what's happenin' to another amateur oboe player
3 community orchestra concerts down as OB2, getting fairly good in 4 sharps, can do better next year, everyone's on vacation now, but i'm gonna be practicing that 4 sharp number this summer
community band still in session until end of month, no concerts, just for fun last couple of weeks -- and ohsusan, i've been filling in some flute parts on oboe, band has no flute at the moment, it's been quite challenging to bring those flying ledgers down an octave, and there i was mistakenly thinking director wanted me to change to flute, nyah
well, today ... i just don't believe this, but y'all can {:-} heh-heh
Saturday, cool day, overcast, good home practice, everything sounding fine
Sunday, started sunny, day warmed up fast ...
... got to oboe practice late warm morning after essential chores
... wot's this?! wot's goin' on!!! -- where's the low E or D (etc) on my oboe?! F# & F's OK, E 's weak, D's hard to get ... how could it go out literally overnight?! (can't think what I might've done putting it away yesterday)
Cig paper tests
Yup, the F# resonance was soft for E & D
MacFarlane's book sure came in handy to find & tweak the right screws
oboe's playing now, but can ya believe this crazy weirdness?
(y'all nodding, right ;-)
And, to add insult to injury, one old winter reed kept balking at exactly the same low notes ... and that was *after* adjusting the screws ... and again, it continued balking there after dusting a bit of excess wood here 'n' there
Another old winter reed squeaked at every 2nd octave D & E and balked every Hi D / Hi C#
A younger spring reed proved to me i wasn't going stark raving nuts, it breezed through all D's and E's and Hi notes like a charm
Two old geezer reeds ... RIP
Should mention i'm going through all my old reeds at season's end to cull them
Time to get cutting summer reeds -- hot weather's finally arrived
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