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Re: The

Author: cjwright
Date: 2009-10-12 19:41

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On another note, the requests you receive to scrape a particular type of reed interests me. I understand the need for some beginning players to buy reeds; however, I could never understand why the need to buy reeds persists - A reed is so personalized. And many times a reed needs adjustment over time.

I think what you take for granted is the fact that you already know more about reedmaking that a good 60% or 70% of the oboists out there. A surprising amount of people manage to get through college without ever having to make a reed, and many adult amateurs who pick up the oboe later in life just never are interested in investing their time in learning how to make a reed. The fact that you go one step further than many professional oboists and gouge your own cane further shows your dedication to this craft.

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A bought reed may lead to poor habits - since the player may not know any better or anything different.

I think a badly made bought reed may leed to poor habits. I personally stand 100% behind my product and believe my reeds encourage the correct setup.

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For someone to say - make me sound like "this oboist or that oboist" - from my point of view is an unproductive stance.

I couldn't agree more to this statement, but it's their money and I just do my best to make the customer happy. Sometimes when there are inconsistencies in their survey, I'll negotiate some points, (like if they want a real wide shape but want absolutely no biting or embouchure manipulation), but I do my best to satisfy the customer.

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Oboe playing and reed making and/or adjustment go together. It's hard for me to fathom how one can be an oboist and not make and/or adjust reeds; especially as a player progresses in their training.

Again, I think you take for granted that you have obviously had good training and know much about reedmaking already. I don't think reedmakng is a must for most amateur oboists. I often get surveys from my website where someone will tell me how they got by without making reeds. Many times, I think amateurs are more interested in just making music and enjoying the process rather than making large strides in their playing and improving by leaps and bounds. Alex Klein is wary of incoming freshmen who are completely reed proficient because they become too reed-dependent in their playing rather than focused on what their physical setup is.

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The concept of a covered vs. flexible sound in my opinion is an oxymoron. Since – from my point of view the sound needs to cover and be flexible – why are the two mutually extrusive?

I'm not trying to state that they're opposite of each other. A flexible player is able to play both covered AND brilliant.

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The problem I believe lies in the player’s Oboe. Many instruments have problem scales – notes – and a less flexible reed tends to stabilize these problems while a more flexible one may accentuate them. So the Oboe dictates the reed!quoting

I couldn't disagree with this statement stronger. I believe the problem lies in the player, secondly the reed, and last but not least the instrument. A good player (Richard Killmer, John Mack, Joe Robinson to name a few) can/could pick up any terrible oboe/reed and make it sound great, even if it was out of adjustment. Even the reed dictates more flexibility than a reed. I have seen several professionals pick up crappy selmers, put their reed into the the instrument, and sound as lovely and flexibile as they would on their own.

Cooper

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

Post Edited (2009-10-12 19:46)

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