Author: jhoyla
Date: 2008-06-06 06:29
Melanie - that's one great performance!
BTW it can only be viewed in UK - thank you, thank you BBC.. Fortunately, since I work for a multinational computer firm I can actually appear to be anywhere in the world, so I was able to view it.
[I VPN into my company's WAN and proxy out through whichever country I choose, if you are technically minded. Great for Pandora, etc.]
I think that you use french-style short-scrape reeds, so I'm not sure if this will help, since it is based only on my knowledge of American-style long-scrape reeds. If you feel adventurous, go ahead. I hope that short-scrape players will kick-in here if I'm talking rubbish!
Reeds DO GET HARDER after they have been soaked and played for a while. I'm not sure why this happens, possibly the water swells and stiffens the fibres in the cane. I find that reeds made at several sittings last a lot longer than reeds made quickly in one sitting. I expect that competent reedmakers know this, but it is very difficult to predict exactly how much harder a reed will get without playing it in for a couple of hours and going back to it the following day.
1. Try squeezing down, if the opening is too large. Kerry Willingham has a great little video clip on reedmaker.com showing how this is done. HOWEVER - since you are short-scrape - be VERY CAREFUL you don't crack the reed. You want to make the cane more pliable and a little softer, but you DON'T want to create weak-spots or crack the bark.
2. dust some cane from the sides and the corners of the tip. This will brighten the sound, but should make the reed a little more responsive. "Dust" is what you should remove - not flakes, not peels, not fibres. Dust. Dust four sides, and then play for a couple of minutes. Still too hard? Do it again. Count strokes of the knife and take off exactly the same amount of cane from each side.
3. STILL too hard? dust lightly the whole scrape, but make sure you keep the balance correct - harder/thicker in the middle, lighter/thinner at the sides and tip.
Do French-scrape reeds crow two octaves, the way American reeds do? If so, you should crow often, and make sure you don't drop below your crow-note (which is a C for American scrape reeds). Clip a hair from the tip if you do.
Evelyn Rothwell, the grand dame of English oboists, used an American scrape, so I could be wrong. In any event, reedmaking (as Martin Schuring writes in his superb website) is the oboists secret weapon. Take the time to learn how to make and adjust reeds instead of relying on bought ones. Cheaper, and you will ALWAYS sound better on a reed you have made for yourself, to suit the music/altitude/climate etc. Practice on old reeds and chew up new ones with abandon until you find what works for you. Write everything down. Revisit past decisions. Experiment!
And come back and tell us how you get on :-)
You are a superb young player. Hope to see you on the soloist circuit real soon!
J.
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