Author: vboboe
Date: 2004-12-12 21:05
Hm... when I first saw this post I didn't really understand what people meant by "dark" tone ... my first thoughts were, what do they mean, oboe definitely isn't dark, it's resonantly bright or piercing or ringing in the upper register, resonant and mellow in the lower register ... I could perhaps descibe E-horn as "dark" though, since its lower notes vibrate at a lower speed than oboe's treble
... well, after reading all the comments it appears "dark" is being interpreted as meaning RESONANT
... so, speaking as a former choral singer, resonance comes from the deep (slower) vibrato generated by the diaphragm, pulsing the air flow to harmonise with faster vocal cord vibrato ... combined result is enriched blended sound with various harmonic frequencies, under- and over-tones ... not a pure note ... compare a clear (bright?) boy soprano voice with a melodious (dark?) operatic soprano ...
... on the oboe, however, the mouth cannot open between the jaws as widely as for singing, but the lower jaw certainly can be dropped enough to create a resonation chamber behind the reed
... the oboist's diaphragm & vocal cords can both produce vibrato AND the reed itself produces its own vibrato ... presumably then, the slower these three sources of combined vibrato rates, that's what could be described as "dark" oboe tone
... or, the oboist could turn off vocal cord vibrato (being higher & faster, especially for females, by completely relaxing the throat) and breath only the slower and deeper diaphragm vibrato into the reed
... bottom line -- easier said than done! -- experiment with "oo-ah-oo-ah" or "drumming" the diaphragm at various speeds while adjusting your vocal cords tighter and looser (soundlessly) and feel the different pulsing vibrations in your sinus cavities ... then project that pulsing air through freely vibrating reed and on down the pipe ... takes ab muscle, doesn't it?
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