Author: vboboe
Date: 2004-12-04 23:03
... GOOD IDEAS ASIDE, AGREE THAT PRACTICAL DEVELOPMENT IS ELUSIVE
need a synth reed developer, who's out there up to it?
... GOAL is to get more young people going and staying on oboe, good for business ... penetrate that 10 to 1 clarinet popularity!
... how do you like the name synth reed rather than plastic reed?
... since oboe reed is the singer it should be more predictable & durable for novices, more economical for parents, and less frustrating for band directors
... synth reed ideas primarily focused around beginners in elementary or high-school or community bands, where standardization would be better tolerated and perhaps welcomed to enable novices acquire basic oboe-playing skills
... could have more oboe players in marching bands if there was a durable, rugged, reliable, waterproof synth reed available which didn't distort, crack or break to marching stride or swing ... a loud synth reed could play along well with umpteen clarinets, saxes and brasses ... beginners can't play the cane necessary for strong sound, another argument in favour of developing a playable synth
... disagree with objection re multiple sizes, don't see any reason to emulate the variety of cane reeds, so long as synth staples fit any standard model oboe most likely to be used by beginner-intermediate students
... think synth standardizations could revolve around quiet (domestic practice), bright (indoor bandroom & concert use), loud (outdoor marching band use) and soft-medium-hard textures for all of above to suit weak, medium and strong embouchures still under development
... actual synth reed length or width would depend on the physics involved with the design of the internal vocalising filaments necessary to crow in C and there I'm totally stumped at both theoretical and applied science
... the enclosed filament idea might be responsive to embouchure adjustments necessary to tune errant notes on a wide variety of oboes, but there's an acceptable range of slightly flat or somewhat sharp in school bands anyway
... synths would sing right out of the box, perhaps coarse or harsh in comparison to cane, but no essential fixing needed ... don't need to learn reed-making skills right away with synth, one more obstacle levelled for beginners
... specialized & variety oboes could still use cane reeds ... which could then become the delectable carrot for keeners to continue playing oboe ...
... more advanced & experienced oboe students could get on with the refined details of classical oboe playing, where cane reed variety, basic reed-fixing skills, exquisite embouchure management, greater physical restraint, and exposure to wider variety of oboes would be the new challenges ... producing those refined & beautiful tones dearly beloved for pro playing
... although it doesn't sound right to my soul using standard mellow for example with Sibelius, Prokofiev, Wagner, Beethoven ... let's not lose the bittersweet, astringent or savage tonal qualities of oboe by setting too mellow and sweet a pro standard ... so there could be a pro market for synth in modern compositions, especially with the more technologically engineered (and more standardized) oboes now out there ...
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