Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2012-05-20 15:31
Hey Drew,
Remember that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.... more to the point, what you hear coming out of your instrument is not necessarily what the other oboist hears, and it is not what the audience hears either.
Hall acoustics play a HUGE role on how your instrument rings, the reeds do to. For example, one oboist I respect highly over here had a sound to fill the Grand Canyon when I heard him in recital at the university stage, but in a Mozart concert at the National Arts Center, his sound "blended" so well with the orchestra I had to strain to hear his solos.... from the ground floor! From one of the top-level boxes (empty spots, so I moved after the break), his volume level was "just right", though still humble to my taste. Another difference, at the recital, I was sitting such that I could see inside his bell and get the reverberation from the hardwood floor.
Some instruments are naturally bright and ring notes well, but they might be more fussy with tuning! So any choice of instrument is always a compromise: you might want different "personalities" for different repertoire anyway! Also, yes if you are used to making reeds for one instrument, the individual characteristics of another instrument (even the same maker) can change reed requirements.
I would suggest that you choose the instrument that you feel the most comfortable with and, over time, figure out how to make it sound the way you want. Reeds are one part, but there is also embouchure and breathing... this can be discussed until Kingdom Kom, but it's experience and confidence that are the key players in your sound.
Best of luck!
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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