 The Oboe BBoard
|
Author: vboboe
Date: 2005-07-08 19:01
Hi Ashley ... methinks you'll find an intermediate student oboe with low Bflat and left hand F will keep your techniques growing happily for several (6-7 years elementary & secondary school, first year post-secondary).
Junior to senior student brand names, such as maybe ... Fox, Yamaha, Howarth, Fossati ... only some examples ... sound good, keep their value, and give excellent general playability ... repeat, we're talking student oboes
If you want to get better sound in your playing in the long-term, it's probably a more practical plan to invest in higher quality cane for your reeds, and even go as far as silver tubes, before getting a prestigious brand name oboe with all the bells and whistles.
Talked to one of my band sax players a while ago, who has a rental sax, and was managing on an OK average mouthpiece and average OK reeds. Took the plunge, sax said, and paid mega bucks for a pro mouthpiece and pro reeds .... amazing, wouldn't believe how much easier it is to play, more responsive, wider dynamic range, less effort ... and better sounding ... reckon same idea applies to oboe ...
Yes, you can also find student models in prestigious name brands, but can you actually play oboe really well now to match up with the extra cost of name brand? (refined tone, durable & flexible embouchure, excellent air support & fingering technique, good projection, level 5 minimum ... etc.)
Seems to me it's a real bummer if only look good but sound awful ... you, dear player, need the applause of happy audience, not disappointed audience ... and the first audience you absolutely must convince you're good *** really good *** is your teacher / director, yes? (Really impressed teachers recommend exceptional students for scholarships ... or maybe, just maybe ... a pro oboe ...)
Some people like to trade in prestigious name brands (such as Loree, Marigaux, Rigoutat, others of course, etc.) for bucks, not necessarily playability ... but, as a budding musician, you need *** playability *** first.
Nothing's so frustrating for playability as one or two really bad notes that always have to be accommodated by extra lipping, resonated with additional keys, or have to 'oomphed' individually just a bit harder to get equivalent tonal sound ... or wishing you knew how to cut a reed just right for that particular oboe when all you've got are ready-made commercial reeds ...
If you're already there, and going on to post-secondary music studies, then why not get an advanced student model with full pro conservatory right away ... with 3rd octave key for certain ... but you don't need that option in high school, high E & F can be played OK without it, assuming any of the music you get needs them (OK, OK ... so you're standing in for flute ...)
If you really want (or more importantly, ready for) the additional split D ring mechanism, alt C banana key, extra articulations and trill keys etc. while in high school, to grow into advanced fingering skills, then suggest cost trade-offs by getting *** high quality resin *** oboe for durability, as the split ring mechanism itself adds approximately another thousand to the new price
More money goes for wood over plastic, but since wood takes a lot more maintenance ... dollar for dollar, there's less worry with the high density resin oboes (Yes, resin IS a plastic too, but it's heavier and denser,
not same as moulded plastic used for beginner student oboes)
What playing conditions are you likely to be in? If school band and if any outdoor work, resin oboe definitely more weather-proof, versatile and durable.
Also, if you have a good quality resin student oboe made carefully by oboe-savvy makers who take great pride in their product, so it has a nice even scale in the pipe already, you can always save up mega bucks to buy a top quality full conservatory NEW wood oboe when you're playing at a much more advanced level (Level 7 up) ... new wood needs to be blown-in, and you'll want new to get the longest number of playing years out of it before trading up again ...
KEEP your student oboe (and top quality reeds) ... as a back-up playing instrument while best wood pro oboe is being blown in, or when it's away for finicky adjustments, heavy-duty maintenance or repairs for the oh-no first joint crack! ... or worse, heaven forbid ... gets stolen just before your critically important year-end recital! ...
... on the down-side, resin/plastic oboes really drip a lot more ... wood absorbs some of the moisture you put down the pipe ... and of course, even wood-grain finished resin doesn't feel as warm to the touch or as subtly sensuous as real wood ... acoustically though, how many people, really, can tell the diff and can always recognize the sound of wood over resin? Very, very few!
... well ... hope my opinions and big picture overview are helpful ... weigh everybody else's too ... :-)
|
|
|
Ashley91489 |
2005-07-08 16:11 |
   |
Re: Looking to buy a new oboe, which are best? new |
|
vboboe |
2005-07-08 19:01 |
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
