Author: schurch
Date: 2010-11-30 12:32
And the winner is...
I was indeed fortunate to corral two Howarth XL and two Marigaux 2001 oboes to choose from. Going into the shoot-out I was *totally* favoring the XL over the 2001. Each day for about a week, I had 15-30 minutes sessions trading off between them all – playing long notes, low notes, high notes, scales and yes...even my favorite musical excepts. *I would have loved to included a Bulgheroni Opera, Patricola S7 Evoluzione and a Yamah 841-LT but I just couldn't find and/or arrange them all at the same time, but will at IDRS in June.
Ultimately, I love them both...yikes! They are very different – the XL is flexible, silvery, bold and free blowing, while the 2001 is a bit more restrained, warm/round and very stable. I actually knew after the first session of playing them both that my heart was starting to fall for the 2001 and I became more and more "attached" to it as the week went on.
I also rotated about a dozen of my reeds through them, for whatever reason with my reed making abilities (or lack thereof), the 2001 was *always* in tune, every note up the scale (with very minor adjustments in my embouchure to help the "issue" notes). Although I am sure with some changes to my reed making I could adjust to the XL (and for what reason I don't know why), but they played a little sharp for me. So as I played musical passages, the 2001 required the least effort (not to be confused with lazy though) and facilitated more confident playing because I always felt that what would come out would be warm and on pitch. Again, I did have "wow" moments with the XL, but I didn't' fall in love with these particular examples the way I did with the 2001 this time around.
This is going to sound sappy, but I really did consider all the things shared with me by so many knowledgeable folks, and tested each instrument accordingly. But ultimately, it became an emotional decision. For whatever ineffable reason, I fell in love with that particular 2001, when I thought it would be the XL to make me weak in the knees ;-) I was taken aback, but undeniably in lust.
It's great that we have so many choices to find our "perfect" oboe from – not only makers (Howarth is a very accessible oboe maker, as their team is very friendly and knowledgeable), but a couple of amazing retailers (like Midwest Musical Imports and RDG) that are well-equipped to help us in our quest. Of course your experience may (and likely will) be different than mine, so please don't take anything I have written as the gospel – ultimately I had to experience each for myself to really understand what works best for me.
So thank you to everyone that helped, and hopefully my post can help others looking for a new oboe – I kept a very open mind, reached out to some very kind people and found the oboe that was meant for me (this time around). That being said, there *is definitely* an XL in my future as it has it's own "magic" as well!
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