Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-09-06 18:47
If you have cork pads (or any other pads for that matter), then ideally you want even drag on all of them on the main action and the other keys controlled by the main action (Bb and C vents, G# cup, F# and forked F vent, Eb and C# pads) though the three large pads (low C, B and bell pad)should be successively lighter in pressure going towards the bell pad, though still making full contact with their toneholes.
It is more difficult to achieve equal drag (though it's good practice), so sometimes allowances have to be made which is why some pads may need to be lighter than the ones controlling their closure otherwise the primary pads may end up being too light.
It's usually the top joint Bb and C pads. LH 3 closes the Bb pad with equal pressure, though the link from the Bb to the C may need to be lighter when closed by LH 3 than if it's closed by the link from RH 1 (the 'conservatoire bar' or 'con bar') due to the short barrel being slightly loose on the steel (due to wear or the barrel reamed out too large, or the steel being papered up over-enthusiastically) causing it to rock on the steel. So when both Bb and C pads are closed by the con bar only, they should both have equal drag (and LH 2 should have equal drag as the C pad when closed), though the C pad will be lighter when closed by LH 3 (with the con bar wedged down at the lower end).
The lower joint main action is much easier to regulate, though the F#, mid fingerplate (RH 2) and F vent are critical, and getting equal drag on all three pads will mean going round in circles. And on pro cors with the rocker mechanism this can be a headache for anyone not accustomed to regulating such a mechanism (and what a work of genius this design is!). The average jack-of-all-trades repairer found in a local shop used to working on school clarinets may not know how to regulate the F vent mechanism on an oboe, so I'd recommend anyone to have their oboes worked on by specialists. I've seen players struggle with the low notes due to badly regulared F vents where the repairer could see it was closed fully while RH 3 was standing open, though didn't realise it has to be closed by RH 2 while RH 3 is closed.
So it's a bit of everything - take the best advice from all sides.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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