Author: HautboisJJ
Date: 2010-05-30 03:22
Robin, i think i see where you are going here on this conversation. Indeed, it is true that the best players seem to work around handling a variety of situations very well, but unfortunately for many others (like me) out there, who is either a struggling student or even a professional, have much trouble searching and trying to achieve consistency. Consistency is a big word, at least to me in oboe playing.
For example, your statement that "an old superstition seems to hold true in Montreal and Ottawa: 70-71mm total length seems to give reeds that are easier for stability and high register." have proven again and again to be true for my reeds, with 47mm staples corresponding to 71mm length and so on, provided that the reed does no overlap and that the lay is no longer than 11mm. Of course, you are right to say that "Its probably more a matter of cane length in proportion to the reed width." Which is why there are people like Mark who uses 42mm staples with a very big shape and a long scrape, because such a porpotion results in the similar pitch level as compared to a longer staple with narrower shape and shorter scrape, but feels different with the breath and the lips. You seem to suggest that even if you always make the reed with the same measurements, the results will be so significantly different anyways that we shouldn't bother so much with how it would be like at the end of the day and just play on it. And this has been something that has troubled me for a significant amount of years, because, that results in a different technique of holding and blowing the reed every single time.
Sometime ago, i had some reeds ordered from Le Rousseau de Chantant. The quality of their staples and cane have long been 'legendary', and i have in the past played reeds from them which were excellent if not a bit heavy for my taste. But this batch of reeds that i ordered for myself...were extremely heavy, overlapped and without wire meaning that the blades slip again and again, and possibly to 'compensate', had a length of almost 74mm with a 47mm staple. I tried working with it for a reasonable amount of time before i gave up and started scraping and changing the lengths, to disastrous results....Is it my playing, or what is it?
Regards,
Howard
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