 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: JRJINSA
Date: 2008-01-18 17:13
Hi all. I would love to see other oboists on this board do videos. I just made my first two last night...got a camera finally and learned how to Youtube. It's rough stuff but you can check me out at:
http://www.youtube.com/jrjinsa
I took up the oboe as a hobby in mid 2006 and have been at it diligently for a year and a half now learning from a local pro. I just recently got me a new English horn, too! How am I doing for having played that long? Would love your input. I can see from my own videos that my right pinky needs to settle down...my breathing a bit more diaphramatic...could loosen up a bit, be less red in the face (can that be helped???). I just started learning vibrato so I know that needs tons of work. Anyway...would love to hear from you guys as well as see you guys play.
Thanks all. 
Jay (San Antonio, TX)
Post Edited (2008-01-18 21:55)
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Author: JudyP
Date: 2008-01-18 23:14
Hi Jay,
I think that you're playing the oboe rather well for the time you've been playing. I've been playing the oboe for about the same amount of time, and I think that you're progressing faster than I am. Of course, I've only had about 8 lessons.
I'm now playing 2nd oboe in our Eugene Community Orchestra, and it's a completely different experience. I'm not sure that I like it yet, but I'll keep trying. This orchestra is symphony size, having at least 70 members in it. The number of music pieces we have to learn is rather overwhelming for me.
Keep up the good work.
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Author: JRJINSA
Date: 2008-01-19 03:08
Judy, thank you. You have made my weekend.
I only wish I could find peers. I have no friends who play instruments so I'm relying on my MIDI piano and computer. LOL. You just hang in there with that orchestra you are playing in, the Eugene Symphony? You are lucky to have that group to play with. WOW! How cool that sounds. What a neat thing to be involved in. I've asked my teacher if such a thing exists in this city and no such luck.
I truly appreciate your input and hope to hear from others. I'm driven to learn this instrument and hoping to be "good". I'm using Nielsen Reeds still...working on making some of my own but haven't quite found consistency. That's another challenge. Thank God I have patience.
Have a nice weekend.
Thank you,
Jay
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Author: JudyP
Date: 2008-01-19 03:35
I just want to make it clear that the orchestra is a community orchestra.
Eugene has a Sympony which is professional. It performs at our music center called the Hult Center. Our Eugene Community Orchestra meets every week at a local high school music room, and performs once or twice in the Fall and Spring. It performs at places such as retirement centers, and once performed at our community college in their theatre.
If you live in a medium to large city, there is probably a community orchestra somewhere near you. You might check with a music store or a school of music in a college.
Keep up the good work.
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Author: sylvangale
Date: 2008-01-19 08:14
Hi Jay,
That's really very good playing for such a short time. You should definitely look into joining a community group as it can only improve your playing and can be quite fun.
The Boerger community band list has a great many community bands across the US listed.
Look here for your location and jot down the band names:
http://boerger.org/c-m/commUSA.html
Look for the band names here, many have websites or contact info:
http://boerger.org/c-m/groups.shtml
♫ Stephen K.
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Author: vboboe
Date: 2008-01-20 18:36
Hey jrjinsa, good for you, what machismo you young uns have to post your early efforts, love your E-horn video, great playing :-)
also much enjoyed your Gek oboe video, good energetic tone, good inner metronome, nice phrasing, pleasant sound, very good at 18 months ... until the Big Gasp crashed you [:-[
so here's (hopefully) some constructive input re: your Gekeler 2:2 (a Barret!) -- your video is an excellent demonstration to all of us beginners and not-so-new beginners alike about one of oboe's toughest challenges -- efficient air management
we oboe players really have to deliberately work on 'air management'
yes, you had lots of 'air' inside and you have lots of 'chest' for long breath carrying capacity to play continuous phrases but you weren't replenishing enough oxygen in your air mix so stale air with too much CO2 did you in you were in oxygen crisis at that part where you accelerated and you crashed when oxygen deprived fingers fumbled, CO2 will do that to you and hoboy have we all been there? Yes we have, many times!
now read that long para above out aloud and use it as an example of the most important difficulty all oboe players have just trying to keep their air at the optimum O2 & CO2 mix *for the oboe* and the player alike
then punctuate that long para with commas and such, and practice little exhales and inhales alternately with the punctuation
the subtlest first warning sign came when your notes began to sag-off in the early second section, and that was soon followed by a whimper in one of the the slur-offs before hitting high C
you didn't seem to make a full breath exchange at the very beginning before you started playing, you just started blowing from the air already in your lungs, need to change that too-casual approach
you topped up your air by at least two inhalations, but until the Big Gasp, there doesn't seem to be an attempt at any exhalations (although i think you did puff out a tiny bit in one place) -- so you need to focus on where exactly in the music you will do enough exhalations to get rid of stale air CO2, and enough inhalations to replenish your oxygen O2 (staggered breathing)
At the 1/8th rest after High C and top G you tried to blow on through it without doing anything for your air, but your body already desperately needed more oxygen right there
you speeded up because your body was instinctively cuing you to hurry up and get this finished before running completely out of breath
finger fumbles could be you're still unsure of the sequencing, but it's also very likely fingers were in asphyxiation crisis -- the tiny capillaries in your fingers are too small for red blood cells to get through except one at a time, every red cell's oxygen is vitally important to revitalise the muscles there, and once the CO2/O2 mix falls below par -- fumble fumbs
There are 1/8 rests and 1/4 rests in this etude and each one of those can be used for air management, but the reality is there aren't enough of them to carry us beginners to the end, especially in the dynamically demanding second section !
Yes, you can hold your breath well, but you haven't yet pumped up your CO2/O2 exchange skills, need more exercise at that
So, ask your teacher about breath management techniques, you need to know about breath exchange and staggered breathing to get you through Gek 2:2 victoriously
youtube it again sometime later, OK?
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Author: JRJINSA
Date: 2008-01-20 20:31
Oh my! What great input from all of you. I truly appreciate it. I would love to play music with others instead of my MIDI piano and CD recordings and am going to make a concerted effort to find a group here in my city -- San Antonio, which has 1.25 million people (of which probably 1.20 of them don't know what an oboe is...LOL...I shall educate them). Vboboe, I know my breathing needs work...that has been the hardest part!!! Oh, if only all these songs had more rests in them at convenient spots.... I will read and reread your input, man that's a lot of food for thought to absorb but at first glance it does make sense to me. Thanks!
Would love to see all of you do a video too. If you need help let me know. I think we all could aid each other's playing to see AND hear.
Thanks again all!
Jay
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Author: oboesquirell
Date: 2008-01-21 03:22
I don't know if you know about this, but feb 13-16(17), there is the texas all-state clinica and convention at the henry B Gonzales convention center across from the riverwalk mall. i was there last year, and there are a LOT of booths there. you could probably look around for a community orchestra or band program there.
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