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Re: Tuning on the Oboe

Author: TorusTubarius
Date: 2003-07-22 03:57

I'm confused about this whole French scrape thing. What do these long French scrape reeds you're talking about look like? Also, are these the same type of reeds used by French players today?

It's true that the American scrape is a variation on the French cut reeds, however this is far from a simple marketing tool. When Tabuteau came to America in 1905, he created this scrape after searching for a reed that was able to project well enough to be heard in the larger American orchestras. I don't know that I've ever specifically heard an oboist playing on a long French scrape reed, and I'm curious how similar the sound is to that of an American. However, I was under the impression that the sound Tabuteau eventually ended up with was actually quite a bit different from the sound of his French contemporaries (i.e. the other students of Georges Gillet), despite their similar pedigrees. Indeed if you listen to modern French oboe players, they sound nothing like Tabuteau, and certainly nothing like modern American oboists.

I'm also intrigued by your comment that you can only go so far before and oboe no longer sounds like an oboe. Do you mean to say that the Tabuteau style of playing no longer sounds like the playing of an oboe?

Really if you listen to some of the top oboists in the US today, you'll notice that the American sound has drifted slightly away from the sound of Tabuteau and his original cadre of students. Personally, I prefer the way they sound today; I'd much rather have a tone like Kathryn Greenbank instead of John de Lancie for example. Taking the sound of French oboists today as a reference, if Tabuteau's sound is a certain distance away from them, then it sounds as if modern American players have moved even further away, to the chagrin of some, and to the delight of others (including myself). I only say this because if you are indeed saying that Tabuteau went too far, then what do you think of his modern-day descendents?

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