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Re: Refine Tone

Author: oboedrew
Date: 2009-09-05 17:39

Hi, Mark. That's an excellent question. One of my students recently came to me with the same question: "How can I improve my tone?" He already had an exquisite tone, so I suspected he meant something else. We got out a recording he had made recently, and we spent the lesson listening to it and analyzing it. By the end of the hour, he agreed that control, not tone, was his issue.

Control shapes our perception of tone. Control issues are often mistaken for tone issues. If articulation is heavy and obtrusive, if intonation is slightly off, if vibrato is unstable or inconsistent... all these things are easily mistaken for unrefined tone. So I recommend recording yourself and then doing some critical listening. Are you concerned with your tone itself, or with your control of that tone?

Having said that, there are a few things that can be done to improve tone. It all starts with the reed. The taper of the tip is critical. It should taper vertically and horizontally. The sides should be thinner than the center, the corners thinnest of all. Leaving the tip unfinished is a remarkably common mistake. In my experience, even many advanced players/reedmakers believe their tips are finished when they are actually nowhere near thin enough. Try making a reed without ANY windows in the back. If you can get the sound you want before adding windows, your tip is likely thin enough. If not, then you're likely relying on windows as a crutch because of unfinished tips.

Once your reed is refined and balanced, all you have to do is let go and let it vibrate freely. Form a round, puckered embouchure that cushions the reed without crushing it. Blow moderately fast, but not too hard. I don't believe there are any "tricks" to refining tone. It's all about fundamentals. Make a great reed, form a great embouchure, move the air just right, and the sound will happen. It's like magic!

Cheers,
Drew

P.S. I love your signature about "good enough" reeds vs "great" reeds. That's the spirit! Too many oboists settle for "good enough" when they could achieve "great" with a bit more scraping.

www.oboedrew.com

Post Edited (2009-09-05 17:43)

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