Author: oboedrew
Date: 2009-01-30 16:35
There is no consensus amongst professional oboists, oboe-makers, and repair technicians on the issue of instrument "blow-out." Some believe it is a real phenomenon, others believe it is imagined. Some even believe it is a disingenuous ploy used by oboe-makers to push sales of new instruments. Amongst those who believe blow-out actually occurs, there is often disagreement over the cause. This is one of those issues where everyone has an opinion, based mostly on anecdotal evidence, yet all too often opinions are asserted with unwarranted conviction.
If blow-out occurs, it happens over time. You don't just wake up one morning and find that your oboe is blown out. An argument can be made that good players will easily adapt to very gradual shifts in the intonation tendencies of their instruments, and that they might have more difficulty coping with the very sudden changes of intonation tendencies caused by switching to new oboes.
My suspicion is that some players constantly switch oboes for the same reason that some reedmakers are constantly trying out a new staple or gouge or shape. We want to believe there is some "trick" we're missing, that there is some new item that will suddenly take our playing or reedmaking to a whole new level. More often than not, the better solution is to practice a few more hours, or practice more efficiently, or sharpen the knife, or refine the scraping technique.
Anyway, I know oboists who buy new instruments every year. That's not a typo. EVERY YEAR! Some of them always sound like they're playing on new and unfamiliar instruments. Others seem to adapt very quickly to the new oboes and always play wonderfully. I also know oboists who have been playing on the same instruments for decades, and who still play at an exceptionally high level on seemingly decrepit oboes.
To each their own.
Cheers,
Drew
www.oboedrew.com
Post Edited (2009-01-30 16:39)
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