 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: kenabbott
Date: 2003-03-31 11:42
Great news! I hope it will borrow framework and operating principles from the Sneezy board which IMHO is the finest instrumental board on the web.
KA: I will try.
I also hope that your oboe board will include information for us old clarinet/sax players who would love to learn oboe, particularly answers to questions such as:
Do modern oboes come with different fingering systems such as the German systems and Boehm systems for the clarinet?
KA: there is one basic system used, although tere was an attempt (failed) to popularize an oboe with sax keywork in the 20's.
Can I get a kit for making my own oboe reeds? (I already know how to make clarinet and sax reeds)
KA: Lots of kits exist. Check out the links on http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~clc5q/oboelinks.html
Also, see the usual ww retailer suspects
Do commercial ready made oboe reeds come in various strengths like soft, medium, hard?
KA:Yes
Are there good low priced oboes similar to the Yamaha, Vito, and Selmer plastic clarinets and student saxes? Or do we have to spend $3M to buy a decent oboe?
KA: Decent student oboes can be had for $500. A major difference between clarinet and oboe, however, is that oboes CONSTANTLY need adjustment. The standard orchestral oboe is a Loree (think R-13). It goes for north of $3000. There are PLENTY of decent instruments for less than that (think Selmer 9 and 10, Yamaha, etc.).
Is the oboe air stream like the clarinet air stream? (I already know how to play double lip)
KA: Completely different. Like fish and bicycles.
Is oboe vibrato done with the lips? vocal cords? diaphragm?
KA: Diaphragm.
Do I use the same lip pressure to play the low register and the high register?
KA: No. One constantly adjusts one's embouchure.
Thanks for any help you can give us. I THINK I know the answers to many of the above questions. However, I have learned to rely less on my own assumptions and seek out advice from those in a position to know from actual experience.
KA: I hope I have helped. I have been playing oboe for 1 1/2 years after 30 years on clarinet. It's way hard.
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Author: Bucky Badger
Date: 2003-04-30 02:13
Actually there is a guy in my town who has a loree oboe with saxophone fingerings. He will not sell the instrument however.
You can buy a basic oboe reed making kit of a knife, plastic round block to cut the tip of the cane straight, and a handtool to hold the staple (cork and metal tube the cane is attached to). You can buy folded cane. Sprinkle has an oboe book found in most music stores about making reeds. The folded cane is about $1 USA and you use the staples over and over. You also need nylon thread to wind around the cane.
Problem with making your own reeds is you have to spend a lot of time at it to get it right----take too much off the cane and you have to start over. If you want to go cheap and easy you can get fibercane reed (plastic type). It lasts a long time and keeps you playing. You have to get the reed strength right. Only down sides of the reed is it doesn't quite sound like the real wood ones, and eventually the plastic will suddenly turn non-responsive; so you best have a back up ready.
I started on oboe in the orchestra in high school and college, sax instruments also in high school/college. Played oboe in grad school. I also play some brass instruments currently---2nd french horn in the city band, Bari sax and valve trombone in a 1940s dance band.
With oboe you have the problem of playing the instrument but having air left over you have to purge or pass out. With french horn and sax you never have enough it seems.
jim buchholz
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Author: Bucky Badger
Date: 2003-04-30 02:27
I forgot to answer some questions on fingering systems. The less expensive instruments usually have two octive keys, more expense instruments sometimes have 3 octave keys---the third for notes above high C. also some differences my Cabart has an alternate F played with left hand finger (somewhat like the Bb clarinet alternate side B or C# keys) used for some passages to make smoother transitions. Also my instrument has an extra resonating pad that opens so that the forked F sounds more in tune.
However I would say if you gave a student grade instrument to a well trained oboist, the player through practice would make the instrument sound great.
When I trained in college I made reeds in both cuts German and French. My instructor was French however so I have gone to the french cut.
Vibrato can be both lip and diaphram but it has to be controlled and many players use diaphram since you don't want to have the reed moving around too much in your lips---you are asking for missing notes.
jim buchholz
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