The Oboe BBoard

The Oboe BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Re: The "Flexibility" of Oboes, Tone Color, Reeds and the Player

Author: mjfoboe
Date: 2009-10-12 18:55

Author: mjfoboe

Cooper,

I fall into the category of wanting a very personalized reed. I am there to create the best musical line possible. Since High School I have always made my own reeds.

I agree though the real skill comes from the use of the air stream, the vibrato, and analysis of the musical line all in service to make the reed sing; that is where the real music is made - the reed is just a tool.

As for the discussion of staples, cane, gougers, and oboes; I see this in the spirit of trying to maximize your playing objectives - that is to communicate a meaningful and beautiful musical line. If any change/adjustment can achieve this - then I am all for exploring all possibilities. As per Oboes - there are clear differences in the conception of sound among various manufacturers. I personally love the European warmth, ring and individualistic characteristics. I also love the depth and edge of the American sound. The direction one wants to pursue can be a difficult choice and I realize that your personal style will shine through no matter what instrument to play.

The Marigaux oboe I am trying out - has a wonder fluidity to its scale and the lower register sings effortlessly. I just played a rapid passage where I do down to the B quite often - the oboe responded beautifully!

I play 1st seat in two community Orchestras. I play approximately 12 concerts a year. One orchestra is a POPs orchestra and the other plays a full range of music from all periods and has guest soloists. I also do the yearly Messiah - where I play second Oboe next to a professional player. I also play in the occasional woodwind quintet and sacred music. At the moment I play an LW series Lore stand bore Oboe. I have been told that I play very expressively with a warm inviting sound.

I have played since High School with a twenty five year break in between. I have now played steadily for twenty years. I have studied the last 3 years with Terry Keevil.

On another note, the requests you receive to scrape a particular type of reed interests me. I understand the need for some beginning players to buy reeds; however, I could never understand why the need to buy reeds persists - A reed is so personalized. And many times a reed needs adjustment over time.

The problem as I see it with bought reeds is that a player may adjust his playing to a bought reed rather to their Oboe or conception of sound. A bought reed may lead to poor habits - since the player may not know any better or anything different. For someone to say - make me sound like "this oboist or that oboist" - from my point of view is an unproductive stance. A player should have a conception of a sound in their head and strive for it. For those who buy reeds and then adjust them - I can see the benefit.

Oboe playing and reed making and/or adjustment go together. It's hard for me to fathom how one can be an oboist and not make and/or adjust reeds; especially as a player progresses in their training.

The concept of a covered vs. flexible sound in my opinion is an oxymoron. Since – from my point of view the sound needs to cover and be flexible – why are the two mutually extrusive? The problem I believe lies in the player’s Oboe. Many instruments have problem scales – notes – and a less flexible reed tends to stabilize these problems while a more flexible one may accentuate them. So the Oboe dictates the reed! With a good instrument – the two qualities are not exclusive of each other.

I want my reed to be free blowing, flexible, in tune, stable, and the rest depends upon the characteristics of the piece of cane. My experience playing my Loree and the Marigaux has been very informative. The Marigaux has a more stable scale – which in a sense frees me and my reeds. I do not have to “cover” the idiosyncrasies of the instrument and/or for others - maybe bad habits.

Mark

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics