Author: Bobo
Date: 2007-11-30 19:28
"So my plea is - stop worrying about tone y'all and just find the music!"
I strongly agree that focusing on tone to the exclusion of or in preference to other elements of musicality is crazy. However (and I think we actually agree on this), a search for a particular timbre that pleases is an important part of one's development as an oboist. My theory would be that we are heavily influenced by our most influential teachers...we become conditioned to associate their tonality with excellence and we strive to mimic it - so much of the initial learning process, and I'm talking years here, is just mimicking our teachers, isn't it? Later, we might incorporate ideas about tone from other oboists we come to admire. So, when you hear an oboist obsessing about tone who has no chops as a musician, it's not a good thing. But in my opinion tonal differences are real, can be described quite objectively, and it's impossible not to develop preferences. On the other hand, I also believe it is quite possible as you seem to suggest to aspire to deploying an array of different tonalities to suit the music - perhaps a brighter tone for baroque, a darker tone for more romantic music - this can be done by using different reeds, different oboes (Royal vs. Regular Loree for example). I often find myself selecting reeds based on the demands of the music.
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