Author: d-oboe
Date: 2006-06-10 20:34
"Do I need to apply more pressure to the sides to "hold" it open??"
- If you mean with your mouth, you can't actually "push" your lips together in order to open the reed. The muscles just aren't made that way!
Make sure that:
- you maintain an opening with your embouchure - a "whistling" shape.
- your embouchure isn't too "in". The reed should rest on the spongy red part of your lips. Because this is a very loose setup (which is good!) you will have to support your air much more.
-there is no "pushing" on the reed with the jaw. On clarinet, you might get away with it, because the reed is held against a hard unvibrant mouthpiece, but on oboe, any jaw-pressure RUINS your tone.
To strengthen/shape your embouchure, do reed-ups. With your mouth in whistling shape, and while buzzing the reed, roll the reed in and out, without help from your hands. To increase flexibility try to roll the reed out (still buzzing the reed!) as far as you possibly can.
Post Edited (2006-06-11 01:55)
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