 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2016-11-21 13:13
I've recently come across an article entitled "Coming to Grips With the Oboe' by David Goza (Director of Orchestral Activities) at the University of Arkansas. Here is an extract from that article concerning Oboe reeds.
“The best cane, from the most reputable suppliers (who grew it in the right kinds of soil, allowed it to reach full maturity,harvested it selectively and cured it thoroughly), ends up in the hands of professional oboists in the world’s top orchestras. You and I will never see this cane. The second tier of cane is commercially available to other players generally, and can be purchased from a number of domestic sources. (If you examine such a supplier’s price list, you’ll see a fairly wide range. Don’t bother with the less expensive material.) The worst stuff is sold to the companies that manufacture oboe reeds, in huge lots at bargain-basement prices. It’s not quality cane, and it cannot yield good reeds: garbage in, garbage out. If you buy a reed out of a display case, garbage is exactly what you’re buying”.
How true is this ? That is concerning "You and I will never see this cane" ?
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Author: jhoyla
Date: 2016-11-21 16:48
I have had good results with cane from many suppliers.
I doubt the best oboe cane suppliers would "shoot themselves in the foot" by back-channelling the premium cane to professionals only. However, it is likely that professionals make more reeds and are more vested in the results, so are more likely to pay premium prices for truly excellent cane. Thay are more likely to know who's cane is good in any given season, just through their strong contacts in the oboeing world.
If you look at the website for (say) oboecane.com (an outfit based in Germany that provides cane all over the world, at a price), you can see that they allow you to specify absolutely everything about the cane you order - gouge thickness at the middle and at the sides, hardness, curvature etc. etc. Hard to see how they could "cream off" the best stuff when everything is so carefully measured and gauged, especially since the "Hard" cane is sold at a premium price. Nick Deutsch set up oboecane.com with this flexibility and accuracy in mind. I have no idea of the extent of his involvement with the company today and I have no vested interest, but I once bought ~100 pcs of gouged cane and roughly 90% of it was exactly what I ordered. They also threw in enough extra cane to make up for the occasional dud piece.
J.
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2016-11-22 02:13
Hi Jeremy. Yes. I think that what you have stated would be the more realistic situation with the supply of Oboe cane out there. I think there is a bit of exaggeration in the David Gaza article.
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Author: ckoboe777
Date: 2016-11-24 01:17
I know a student of a principal oboist of in one of the "Big Five" orchestras who gets his cane from someone who goes to cane farms and picks out cane. Likewise, his teacher probably does this or goes to France to directly choose his cane.
-ckoboe777
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Author: veggiemusician
Date: 2016-11-26 10:20
Not true!
However, some havest years are better than others and once oboists know a batch is a good one it gets sold up quite quickly. We also tend to buy more cane and store it to mature for a few years.
The situation is different for processed cane and reeds... once cane goes through machines its easier to tell the overall quality of the cane. Student reeds are often the exact same reed as a pro reeds; it didnt meet the standard once tried on an oboe.
Jerome Broun
Principal Oboe UAE NSO Symphony Orchestra
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Author: Wufus
Date: 2016-12-01 18:48
I am actually in the cane business in the US. I have also visited cane providers in France and offer a wide varity of cane from around the world. I have not really come across the practice of professional players getting private stocks of cane. If it does exist, I can't imagine that it is widespread. I agree with jhoyla's assessment.
Not all of the popular cane we get is actually cultivated. There are large plantations of cultivated cane and smaller operations that have fields that have been use for many generations. It may be surprising to know that some major brands actually harvest wild cane from riverbeds. High quality can come from any of this producers.
The variety of cane available today is amazing. It is not just the Var region of France any more. There is very fine cane coming from Spain, Turkey, Argentina, China and even Mexico. I'm constantly on the hunt for new sources. If you have some leads, please let me know.
Frank Swann
Capitol Cane
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