 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: HautboisJJ
Date: 2011-07-10 03:18
What brand and model of oboe do you play?
How long are your reeds and what pitch (e.g. A= 442) do you play at? For myself, 68-70mm gives good pitch to play at 442, and yes i play short scrape reeds too.
This is a very common problem with oboists and can be caused, mainly, by:
1. Reeds that are too flat in the first place.
2. The wrong staples.
3. Instrument.
4. Technique.
To correct (1), use shorter staples, if you finish your reeds at 72 with 47mm staples, simply use 45mm or shorter. Flatness especially during diminuendo can also come from cane that is way too soft, or where the heart of the reed is scraped off too much. If you find the rest of the oboe is sharp when you use shorter staples, unless it is 20 cents sharp or worst, don't give up and keep practicing on these new reeds, it could be that you have been pushing the pitch too high for the rest of the oboe all these time! Is low G also flat?
A good way to determine this is to play a low D in the most comfortable way, it should not be flat. Although on most oboes it is, i believe in a way of playing where if the D is in tune, then the reed will be high enough for the rest of the oboe and thus one can relax more and be consistent with the embouchure (playing everything high and low with the same relaxed and open embouchure like playing low notes).
To correct (2), use narrower staples (e.g. Chiarugi 1/2), bigger staples (e.g. Chiarugi 3/7) , though nice for the top register, gives a lot of problems for middle C and G and is especially true with some makes of oboes.
To correct (3), go to a very good oboe maker/repair person and ask for the C tone hole or C tone pad to be adjusted.
As for (4), i think you the answer to that and i find it most unlikely to be a technique problem unless you are an absolute beginner!
Hope this helps!
Howard
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marcosoboe2 |
2011-07-09 20:12 |
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Re: Central b and c diminuendo problems. new |
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HautboisJJ |
2011-07-10 03:18 |
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jeremyreeds |
2011-07-10 03:47 |
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The Clarinet Pages
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