Author: my58vw
Date: 2006-04-15 20:24
I have played just about everything in the coventional band setting, most brass, flute, clarinet, sax, percussion, etc; and I agree that each instrument has it challenges... try mastering the slide posistions on a trombone for example. Double reed instruments are more of a formable challenge though for quite a few reasons, and generally it is these reasons that make it so hard to play. Here are the things that I find more difficult that anything else I have tried...
1. The reeds... no other instrument (other and bassoon, and maybe clarinet at times) has such problems as oboe/english horn/oboe d amore. Each reed needs to be perfectly scraped, tuned, etc, and unlike someone for example with a clarinet that can almost play on a store bought reed without scraping, try that with an oboe. We have to deal with the opening, the tips, the scrape type, etc.
2. The nature of the instrument. Each instrument has notes that are characteristly flat or sharp. On the oboe, this is quite exagerated, and quite a few notes are very out of tune, expecially the high register (very much like the clarinet). Due to the way the instrument is played in the first place, it takes a very long time to get a good "oboe" tone, and because of this a bad oboe player sounds, well, really bad!
3. The way the oboe is played. Blowing though double reeds is very different that many instrurments. On a double reed instrument you use air speed versus air volume, making the oboe quite hard and different to learn to play.
When it comes to most other things, like fingerings, etc, there is not much in the way of advantages or disadvanteges to oboe over any other instrument...
BTW I believe basoon is the hardest of the woodwind instruments to play...
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The Oboe BBoard
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