Author: Hotboy
Date: 2018-05-09 02:23
Professional player and teacher here for 40+ years. It sounds like you are playing concerts on reeds that are too old.
In general, I classify my reeds into the following categories:
1. NEW - Just starting out, often too open, stiff, bright, resistant, and/or unstable, need to be played in and adjusted.
2. YOUNG - Somewhat played in, stable, good sound but still not flexible enough for long playing, need to be played in more and adjusted.
3. PRIME - Nicely played in, stable, flexible, can play a reasonable amount of time without tiring. My 20-capacity reed case usually has 4-5 of these in it.
4. OLD - Very played in, starting to get darker sound, lose volume and stability, but still decent tone and very flexible.
5. DEAD - Past its prime, sounds fine for a few minutes but unstable and collapses under hard playing.
Reeds progress through the five stages through a combination of play time and micro adjusting at each practice session.
For concerts, I play almost exclusively on PRIME reeds except when playing marathon works or programs, in which case I will play on OLD and have several of them ready in case one chooses that particular time to become DEAD.
For rehearsals, I often play YOUNG reeds, switching off with PRIME and OLD depending on how demanding the program is.
95% of my home practice is on NEW and YOUNG reeds.
For chamber playing, I often prefer OLD so I don't have to work so hard to control volume in a small ensemble.
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MikeC855 wrote:
> ...especially in close anticipation of end-of-life.
======================
I am guessing that your situation involves playing on reeds that are often DEAD. That is likely because the younger reeds you have are too resistant, open, or bright, such that you only feel comfortable playing on OLD and DEAD reeds for concerts.
I find that reeds go from stage 1 to stage 5 in 10 to 20 hours of playing time. If you are playing on your reeds longer than 20 hours, you are playing on dead reeds.
Here are four possible solutions:
1. Adjust (scrape) your reeds so that they blow more easily when younger. You will be able to play these reeds in concerts when they are in PRIME condition. If you don't know how to adjust reeds, you need instruction and practice.
2. When they are newish, close your reeds by squeezing them a bit near the string (only when soaked) so that the reed opening is more closed up. This makes the reed easier to blow. Don't overdo it, or you won't be able to play loud or in the low register.
3. Practice at home on NEW and YOUNG reeds until you are FULLY fatigued at the end of each practice session to build your facial musculature. When your muscles are stronger, you will be able to play concerts on younger reeds that will not collapse. You must practice until fully fatigued to get any improvement in strength and endurance. "Fully fatigued" means that you force yourself to play until your face feels like rubber and you have difficulty articulating words clearly. Do this every time you practice, and you will soon have greater strength and endurance.
4. I assume that you buy your reeds. You can buy reeds that are darker in tone so that you can order them with less resistance to start. RDG has a large selection of reeds, many of them quite dark in tone.
The wild card in all of this is that concerts are often in an unfavorable environment, that is, hotter and more humid than normal. Humidity will make your reeds more open and resistant, and heat will use up your endurance at a faster rate. in addition, your adrenaline can cause you to bite down, which closes the reed and raises the pitch.
When this hot environment is likely, I make sure to have a PRIME reed ready that is slightly more closed or easier to blow in case my other reeds start to stiffen up due to the humidity.
There are no easy solutions...they all take work and commitment.
Somebody once said that "playing the oboe is like running a marathon while lifting weights," and I find this to be generally true.
Dane
Dane
Bay Area, California
Post Edited (2018-05-09 03:06)
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