 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: boboboe
Date: 2008-01-24 02:43
Hello i'm new to the Bboards, but i have been lurking around for awhile.
My life story is i play the bari sax in my high school band, i'm 15.
Since the day they allowed me to pick an instrument, 6th grade, my first pick was oboe, but my band derectors said no becouse there was not an intsructor avalable. And now we need an oboe player... so here i am today.
Thanks for this forum it has been most helpful.........
so here go's my contribution to questions.
My corruant two instructors have to opions on emboucure production.
1 says to need a relaxed eboucure with firm, and not tight corners,
the other says collect lips in center, like wisthenling, and have tight corners
What to do... I personally use the first opinion becouse the second makes me more tired..... the tireredness is i think form not using it as much becouse the first i've used for about a year, so i think it is mature
I have a nice tone from what i hear. i practice on long tones and slow peices very much.
I wake up go to School, then Band Practice, then Practice my Oboe, then Sleep..... The wake up and do it again.
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2008-01-24 04:19
I vote for #2. Definitely number 2.
Make the whistle mouth, roll it inwards, keep your chin down, and try to say "ah". Your corners will get very tight (firm?), like they should.
However, you don't want to have the center of your whistle all drawn and tight. Think of the center of your lips as a "pillow" upon which you cushion the reed.
It will make you more tired at first to do this, but over time, you will get used to it, and you will sound better.
But definitely, #2.
Susan
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2008-01-24 06:19
If you're going for the "American setup" I'd suggest a flat chin, tight corners. I have an old blog post that might assist you with pictures.
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Author: Dutchy
Date: 2008-01-24 13:46
My advice would be that at this stage, don't focus too much on what your "corners" look like. Some teachers can be fairly obsessive about corners, yadda yadda yadda, but really, if you just focus on a good embouchure, the corners position happens by itself.
Your mouth should be like a rounded, muscular cushion for the reed. In photos of people playing the oboe, it *looks* like they're clamping down on the reed with their lips, going "mmm", but what you can't see is that actually they're not.
Try this: put the reed on your bottom lip, resting lightly. Then say the word "home" as you roll the reed a little bit more into your mouth and at the same time gently wrap your lips around the reed. You should then find that your lips are forming more of a rounded whistling position than a clamping "mmm" position.
Are these two instructors both oboe instructors, i.e. are they oboe specialists, or are they just band directors or music teachers who happen to know a bit about playing the oboe? One of our collective pet peeves here is band directors who only know about playing the oboe what they learned way back in music college in the semester on "Woodwinds", and who then attempt to teach kids how to play the oboe.
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2008-01-24 14:17
While I do agree the embouchure should certainly be more of a "whistling" face than a "clamping" one, focusing on your corners in front of a mirror early and often is very important to keep the center of your embouchure flexible so that you can roll in and out specifically to prevent this clamping! Building your corner strength early will ensure the correct development to keeping your embouchure flexible in the middle without the sides of your lips falling out as you roll in and out.
Work on your corners early! It will save you a lifetime of bad habits!
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Author: kimber
Date: 2008-01-24 17:08
An instructor long ago told me to think of it as your lips with a drawstring - pull the string to tighten the lips circularly around the reed. No pinching against the reed, it just 'floats' in there. He was preferred as little pink lip showing as possible as it was to be rolled in the mouth.
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Author: boboboe
Date: 2008-01-24 17:08
thanks so much guys i love the tips and pictures they are really helpful and yes the 2nd option really look like the correct pictures while the one i was doing look like the incorrect picture.
my oboe teachers are band derectors, unfortunalty we really don't have any oboe people here
I wake up go to School, then Band Practice, then Practice my Oboe, then Sleep..... The wake up and do it again.
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Author: vboboe
Date: 2008-01-25 00:37
<<my oboe teachers are band directors>>
yeah, i've met three different band directors this year and neither of them do oboes in their bands, #1 because oboes are too difficult and too much trouble, #2 doesn't like the sound of oboe and #3 said we need more flutes and clarinets, would you consider switching over?
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2008-01-25 02:19
" . . . and #3 said we need more flutes and clarinets, would you consider switching over?"
And you said? (clean it up for the Board, of course!)
Susan
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Author: vboboe
Date: 2008-01-25 04:46
well, i wish i'd been witty enough at that shocking moment to quip a snappy retort, but alas nothing like that came to blanked mind when i most needed it!
thank goodness yoomiha came back no cracks, i was very vulnerable just then, if it had been cracked, i think i would have seriously considered changing to flute to stay in band, but "in reviewing the situation, i better think it out again" and no way jose! so i didn't return there, i'm band-less and practising *oboe* for my own recreational amusement
hey, after these many hard months working up embouchure from #1 formation to something resembling #2 formation, gotta keep going until get to #3 formation (can hold it gently just right while twitching in any direction and sound drop dead gorgeous)
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Author: boboboe
Date: 2008-01-25 17:06
thanks i swicthed over to the other emboucure i'll post pics hopefully later tonite
i'm going to persuade my band director to swicht next year. We aready established our competition music for this year and i must stay on the bari sax
we have a saprono sax playing oboe parts... pretty sounding instrument just not an oboe though
I wake up go to School, then Band Practice, then Practice my Oboe, then Sleep..... The wake up and do it again.
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Author: cowtime
Date: 2008-01-25 19:35
Great help here with these tips on embouchure development. Without a teacher, I can only hope that I am learning correctly. I know that my mouth wears out way before I want to quit practice, and my cheek muscles hurt by then(where dimples would be if I had them). I do say "whom" every time and concentrate on keeping that position while playing. I'm trying to get the note in tune with my mouth. I hope this is right.
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Author: boboboe
Date: 2008-01-26 00:41
now that i have a good concept of an emboucure how do i go about creating a consitanly good tone.
i'm awair of long tones and slow peices but i talking about more specific things like what to listen for and other little secrets
I wake up go to School, then Band Practice, then Practice my Oboe, then Sleep..... The wake up and do it again.
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Author: Dutchy
Date: 2008-01-26 12:45
Quote:
I do say "whom" every time
It's "home", not "whom". "Whom" puts your mouth in a long oooo, which is a different position from the ohhhh you get with "home".
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Author: boboboe
Date: 2008-01-27 00:15
anymore comments
and is there any site in wich i can use mail order enstaid of pay-pal and or credit card to buy cane becouse my parents arn't liking the idea of putting credit card info onto the internet
I wake up go to School, then Band Practice, then Practice my Oboe, then Sleep..... The wake up and do it again.
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2008-01-27 03:46
I think just about any website/oboe supplies dealer accepts personal checks. Some wait until the check has cleared, but they accept them.
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Author: boboboe
Date: 2008-01-27 04:02
okay can you name a couple of brands as far as cane
I wake up go to School, then Band Practice, then Practice my Oboe, then Sleep..... The wake up and do it again.
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2008-01-27 06:35
Do you know if you like medium soft, medium, or medium hard cane? What cane have you used previously that you liked?
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Author: boboboe
Date: 2008-01-27 16:23
i haven't tryed any out this is going to be my 2nd lesson. In my 1st lesson my instructor provided some cane.
another ebouchure ?ion
would you guys recommend walking around with a reed in your mouth to build up an embouchure
I wake up go to School, then Band Practice, then Practice my Oboe, then Sleep..... The wake up and do it again.
Post Edited (2008-01-27 16:42)
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Author: vboboe
Date: 2008-01-27 19:11
<<would you guys recommend walking around with a reed in your mouth to build up an embouchure>>
no, absolutely not
reed's fragile and any accidental jolt could cause you to bite down and crack it, or worst case scenario impale it in your throat, what a waste of an expensive good reed -- have respect for the hours of intensive labour that went in to making one of those and molly-coddle every single reed as if it was the last one on earth!
try using a 2 inch piece of drinking straw as a substitute for embouchure exercises, and use it only when you can give 100% mental concentration to the exercises you do on it
that's for maybe a couple of minutes several times a day, and not usually longer than 3 or 4 months from the time you began on oboe, these exercises only help to build up the major muscles of the face, neck and lips that hold the embouchure together, after that there's no substitute for daily work on the instrument itself
the thing to watch out for in the early days is blowing with pockets of air bulging around your gums, trapped between lips and teeth
your face muscles should fit snug around your gums so no air gets in there even when blowing with strong pressure
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2008-01-27 20:11
I'd agree with voboe. If you want to develop your embouchure with a reed, just sit in front of a mirror with a metronome and set it to 60 and gradually over a week increase the length of time on the reed and decrease the time resting in between playing periods. I know it's concentrated, and it's boring, but 10 minutes of concentrated practicing is more productive than 20 minutes of "loosey goosey tooting".
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Author: boboboe
Date: 2008-01-29 21:37
vboboe wrote:
> the thing to watch out for in the early days is blowing with
> pockets of air bulging around your gums, trapped between lips
> and teeth
>
> your face muscles should fit snug around your gums so no air
> gets in there even when blowing with strong pressure
no i used to have those problems but i worked those kinks out
I wake up go to School, then Band Practice, then Practice my Oboe, then Sleep..... The wake up and do it again.
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