Author: d-oboe
Date: 2006-08-04 17:41
I will add once again -
The air is the most important thing. You just have to find the balance.
The problem with the oboe is that it doesn't readily accept air. The instrument is already quite narrow. So in order to compensate for this, you should build your reeds so that it doesn't aggravate the already-restricted air flow innate to the oboe.
The thing is, if your reeds work well with a good amount of air, you can always get out of trouble (i.e. intonation, pitch) by blowing a little more. If your reeds allow for "perfect" attacks and pitch, but are small and restrictive, you won't be able to adjust. One instance where this is very common is chamber music - a quieter volume is used, but if you start playing, and the pitch of the small group changes a little, and your reed is small and stuck at whatever pitch level, it will be a painful rehearsal/concert.
Instead of getting too caught up, just try a few things:
-stretch well before playing, focus on expanding the lower body, especially under the ribs.
-stay very relaxed while playing. If something hurts, figure out why, and fix it.
-if you're blowing like crazy and you're still out of tune, you're blowing wrong, or the reed is bad.
-If you feel like you're blowing a lot, but it sounds gorgeous, then...well, remember how it felt, and do it the next time!
D
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
