Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2004-12-13 12:26
Well, the dark - vs - bright thing is interesting, and not confined to a discussion of oboe sound only, either. The Klarinet List and Clarinet Board people have battered this idea to death -- some say there is no such thing as "dark" tone, others insisting that certain instruments or reeds or ligatures or mouthpieces structurally lend themselves to making a "darker" or "brighter" tone.
I can hear a *difference* in tone quality among a variety of excellent oboe players, and some of them have a lighter, or brighter, if you will, tone than others. Last week, I heard the Chicago Lyric Opera perform "Aida", and toward the end of the opera, there is a scene where the oboe and (I think) clarinet have extensive solo work -- sort of a dialog between the two instruments. I have to say, I was not sure at first whether I was hearing oboe or E.H. in those passages, so rich was the oboist's sound. *That* is what I would characterize as "dark" oboe sound --maybe "deep" would be a better word? Or maybe it was an E.H., after all?
On the other hand, the sound that I hear as being most characteristic of the oboe is somewhat lighter and "brighter" -- like what one hears in baroque music.
In my own playing experience, past a point, it is the reed that makes most of the difference. Once you have learned to make a sweet and free tone, the thing that I believe influences its character more than anything else is the reed. Some reeds just blow "darker" than others, and vice-versa.
Anybody else?
Susan
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