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The "Flexibility" of Oboes, Tone Color, Reeds and the Player

Author: cjwright
Date: 2009-10-11 23:46

It seems that there's been a lot of interest recently on the oboe bboard about different oboe equipment such as different reeds, staples, oboe brands/models, and what benefits/drawbacks they might have.

One word that gets thrown around a lot is "flexibility" and I think it's important that the word be defined (or at least partially). For example, some people use the word "flexibility" to discuss pitch, while others might use the word "unstable" to explain the same concept. What this implies to the observer is that there are different levels tolerance regarding the topic of pitch stability, and once that threshold has been crossed, the reed or oboe goes from the "flexible but stable" category to the "unstable, period" category.

I think it is important to point out that the "flexibility of tone" also works similarly. Perhaps 40% of my reed orders state they want a tone that is thick, heavy, and covered all day, every day. (Usually they just simply write under the other comments section, "Just make me sound like John Mack.") Let's call these people Group A. Others want to sound covered 50% of the time, but might also want to sound brilliant, focused, and completely different. Let's call these people Group B.

Now, for the people in Group A, if someone hands them a reed and an oboe that is comfortable enough, and always makes them sound "dark" and "thick" and "covered", then that's all the flexibility that they require. They'll be happy all day as long as the reed is stable, responsive, and the tone holds together, and as long as the oboe is in good working condition. Give them the Mozart, they'll play the Mozart. Give them the Hindesmith, and they'll play the Hindesmith.

However, if you give the same reed and same oboe to Group B, they won't be satisfied because it will only fulfill 50% of what they wish to do. This setup obviously isn't "flexible" enough for Group B, and therefore is considered not ideal, and therefore they'll probably go looking for something else.

The biggest reason why I love the playing of John de Lancie is his flexibility and ability to manipulate his tonal color. Just listening to the clip of the Marcello 2nd movement at this website, it's so clear that his control of color as you listen to the brilliant singing quality of the phrase from 11-17 seconds in, and then he changes the tonal color from 18-23 seconds to a more covered, sweeter tone. Finally, he once again opens up his tone to finish the idea until the 33 second mark. (De Lancie continues this rotation of sweet, covered tonal color to the more open singing color throughout the movement, another example is if you listen to the next phrase when the harmony goes into major and he starts on an E natural.) This isn't just a change in dynamics/vibrato, although these aspects are certainly involved with color, but it's the whole quality of the tone. It's also interesting to note that as oboists, we can always tell when someone is biting, pinching, or compressing the reed in some manner to quiet the reed, but de Lancie's tone shows no symptoms of this.

Flexibility is always improved by gaining strength in order to manipulate the air and embouchure. The better in shape you are in, the easier time you will have playing a true pianissimo on a "bigger" reed (i.e. a reed that has the ability to play FFF). The more finesse control you will have in your embouchure, the easier of a time you will have changing the tonal color by the manipulation of the placement of the tip of the reed on your lip (rather than merely biting/blowing more or less).

Flexibility is also always a teeter-totter situation where for whatever you might be gaining in one area, you are losing in other areas. If you're gaining more pitch stability in the reed, you might be giving up the ability to place the pitch on different levels on different notes on the oboe, which is necessary when playing in large ensembles. If you're gaining thicker tonal quality, you might be giving up response, or the ability to play a more brilliant tonal quality. If you are gaining the ability to play a quieter pianissimo, you might be losing the ability to play a louder fortissimo.

Why I write up this improvisational treatise is that I think it's extremely important for every oboist to be aware of how much "flexibility" in tone and pitch they desire and strive for. Nowadays I see many of these threads about different instrument brands or reeds or staples, and I wonder how much flexibility is demanded upon their own playing, and exactly what they are playing on. Obviously a college kid who rushes from Barber's Summer Music in WWQ rehearsal to a Mahler 5 orchestra rehearsal has different requirements than someone playing in a community orchestra once a week and church on Sundays. I think it'd be worth while for Mark and the administrators to add more to the "My Profile" tab at the top so that we could put more information such as:

1. Instrument(s) played?
2. How many hours a week do you typically practice?
3. Ensembles/Positions performing in regularly?
4. Do you make your own reeds?
etc. etc. etc.

I suggest this not to intimidate anyone, but rather that it may help us so that when we look at someone's profile, we can know if they have similar demands upon their playing that we have as well, and if their advice might be more applicable because they are in similar circumstances as ourselves.

Cooper

http://cooperwrightreeds.com/

PS. Anyone know how to edit their profile? I need to change my website in my profile.

Edit: Linked to the home page of Oboist's Gallery rather than to a specific clip.

Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra

Post Edited (2009-10-12 01:13)

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