 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Loliver
Date: 2011-06-10 10:33
Hello
I need some help tuning my Cor Anglais, as it is kinda tricky...
Tuning to concert A, so I play top stave E, is fine, and is very easy to get in tune.
But, the one finger C in the stave, its a thumbplate model, is horrifically flat, sometimes registering as a sharp B natural, while the other notes below it arent too bad. If I tighten my embouchure or add more breath, the pitch rises, but the reed starts to 'wobble' when it vibrates, resulting in what sounds like insanely fast tounging. The only way I've found to try and rectify the problem is by pulling the bocal out nearly as far as it goes, and clamping down like a vice on every note that isnt a C...
At the moment the problem only seems to occur on the C in the stave and the one above it, so I'm guessing that its something to do with the gap between the bocal and the top of the inner bore, but I don't really know...
Thanks
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Author: Loliver
Date: 2011-06-10 10:38
whoops- meant to say that the C above the stave is sharp as a knife, and the C on the stave is very flat.
Sorry
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-06-10 11:48
What make and model is your cor?
Have you tried playing top C while putting any RH fingers down to flatten and add resonance to top C?
Also try out different crooks to see if they help.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Loliver
Date: 2011-06-10 14:06
Its a Boosey and Hawkes....I'm assuming its not one of the Malerne ones, as it doesn't have left F or some of the trill keys ( I do believe it is same spec as Howarth S20...), so I'm guessing Kohlert/Amati? It also has an unusually wide crook well at the top, so I have had to have the two crooks I have repadded.
Putting down RH fingers with high C only seems to slightly sharpen...
I do have two crooks, the two that came with it, but the difference between them is negligable...
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-06-10 15:25
B&H did make some cors - the Imperials were built in-house and were ring key thumbplate, ring key thumbplate with auto 8ves, ring key conservatoire and ring key conservatoire with auto 8ves (both the atter could be made as dual system and some with LH F and long C#).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Loliver
Date: 2011-06-10 15:36
Yes, it is an Imperial, I was just dubious of the 'Made in England' stamp...and yes it is a ring system,namely the LH middle and RH ring fingers.
I'm beggining to think that it may be due to the bocals, both of which I was told are the originals to the instrument, and the reeds seem to fit quite badly, with spit slowly dripping down the underside of the crook.
This may also explain why the 2 'C's have a hissing subtone to them.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-06-10 16:52
Try either a Howarth No. 2 or Loree No. 2 crooks to see if that helps.
The owner of a Markardt cor I recently serviced called me in a panic as she couldn't get most of the upper register on it when she got it back. She then tried some new crooks and that solved the problem. The only significant change I made to her cor was replacing the 8ve inserts and wells as the originals were pretty grim and I thought that might have caused it to play up (although it played alright when I tested it), but I was relieved to hear it was problems with the original crooks rather than anything I did that caused it to misbehave.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Loliver
Date: 2011-06-10 17:31
I don't know how I would try crooks, as I am nowhere near anywhere I know that sells them...I'm guessing the nearest place would be in Howarths in London.
Also I should imagine that it would be hard to find one that fitted the well it goes into, but I'll look into it.
Thanks
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-06-10 19:24
Howarth will send crooks out on approval if you contact them, so that way you have the chance to try them in anger over a week so you can see which one (or ones) you like best.
If they're too loose in the socket, you can always wrap paper or masking tape around the cork for the time being so they fit, but then have a thicker cork fitted to the one you like so it's a good fit in the socket on your cor.
I've got an older Marigaux cor (4-figure serial number) in for some keywork alterations and my crooks won't even go in as the socket on my cor (a late '90s Marigaux) is much wider than most as are the crook corks. Howarth, Loree and others have a pretty much standard diameter reed socket, but Marigaux ones are that much wider so most crooks rattle around in them. Same with my Marigaux d'amore which has the same diameter reed socket as my cor, so the d'amore crooks have pretty thick corks on them.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Loliver
Date: 2011-06-10 22:08
Wow - sounds like good customer service if they are willing to send things out for people to try. And to make my crooks fit, I made sleeves out of postit notes.
I guess I'll have to email them then...
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-06-10 22:58
Post-it notes are probably better than plain paper or tape as the glue is so weak, so no danger of it coming undone too easily or sticking.
You can always call them (in London) and arrange it over the 'phone which might be quicker.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: mcf
Date: 2014-11-17 02:04
Hi. I caught your message regarding the owner of a Markardt cor anglais whose bocals were not working out. Could you plewase let me have her Email?: I am interested in buying them if not already sold. Thanks. Otherwise, you could simply give her my Email address: mcf123@verizon.net
Michael F.
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Author: mschmidt
Date: 2014-11-20 02:51
Chris P wrote:
> Howarth will send crooks out on approval if you contact them,
> so that way you have the chance to try them in anger over a
> week so you can see which one (or ones) you like best.
>
Obviously a typographical error there--what did you mean to say? Or do you really think anger is a good frame of mind in which to try cor crooks?
Mike
Still an Amateur, but not really middle-aged anymore
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-11-20 18:12
No error there - it's a colloquialism for playing or trying anything in its intended setting to see how well it performs.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: mschmidt
Date: 2014-11-21 09:32
Must be a UK thing! I've never heard it.
Edit: A Google search turns up the phrase mostly on UK and NZ sites. Given the internet, it will probably be global before long....
Mike
Still an Amateur, but not really middle-aged anymore
Post Edited (2014-11-21 09:37)
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