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Re: tone

Author: jhoyla
Date: 2008-05-22 07:46

Hello EaubeauHorn,

Everything you mentioned is important in sound production. In order to take the instrument and the reed out of the equation, be sure to ask your teacher to play some passages to you on your instrument and with your reed. It could be that your expectations from these are too high.
Also, don't forget that you hear differently when blowing your own horn - the pressure in the oral cavity can affect how you hear. Take a good-quality sound recorder to your next lesson, and compare your sound to that of your teacher objectively, after the lesson. Don't play into the microphone, but put the recorder some distance away from you and your teacher (there are acoustical reasons for this, BTW).

Obsessing about tone is a big danger with the oboe. We get tied up in our sound production, to the detriment of our music. Music first, tone second. It is possible to play great music on a harmonica! That said, here are some pointers.

1. Regarding reed control, aim to seal gently around the reed with your lips, flexible but firm. Flat chin. Pucker your lips at the corners, relax in the centre. Play against the natural resistance of the reed, and keep lip-control to a minimum.

2. Control of airflow should come from the bottom of your lungs all the way through to reed, with no obstructions. The oboe is the highest pressure orchestral wind instrument, but pressure is the wrong concept. Think "intensity" and "focus" of wind, not "air pressure".

3. If you tighten your throat to try and control the air, you will sound tight and over controlled, so keep your throat as open and relaxed as possible. Since you say you are small you should have no difficulty singing into your reed as you play. Try it!

4. Keep your tongue down and let the roof of your mouth expand upwards as high as possible with the air pressure. Open your jaw as far as you can without losing control of the reed. Your oral cavity is an elastic balloon - try and maximize its height while keeping your cheeks in. (BTW - tongue position will need to change drastically for agile passages, double-tonguing etc. - but we're focusing on tone right now).

You can practice this feeling of the elastic oral cavity using just the reed, and blowing a pppp - ffff - pppp crescendo decrescendo. All the wind control should come from the bottom of your lungs (inaccurately referred to as the diaphragm), and this is especially hard on decrescendo, where there is a tendency to tighten the throat/lips.

Hope some of this helps,

J.

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