Author: Bryanwalker
Date: 2010-12-04 01:35
Since a number of you have expressed interest in Albrecht's new oboe I will share my experience of trying a bunch today.
Today I went up to NYC to meet the guy that makes the Moennig oboes, Ludwig Frank. He along with Tong Cui, from Innoledy, were exhibiting Moennig instruments. They brought along about 8 Albrecht Mayer model oboes, 2 Albrecht Mayer d'amores (the ones with the straight bell) and 3 english horns. I was curious to see why Albrecht would want to switch off his Buffet, since he played that oboe when he "rose to international fame". Herr Frank said Albrecht came to him and wanted 3 things in an oboe. Flexibility, a rounder, deeper tone and more even intonation. It was said that the Buffet was too "straight" and Albrecht wanted an oboe that was "flexible but with [stability]."
Secondly, I asked about the "ridge" in the bell (this was the thing I was most interested in). Herr Frank, stated that having a two step bell gives you two things, stable pitch and a big sound. The bore is smaller from the tenon to the resonance hole and there is a vertical drop and the bore is much bigger. I was really surprised to learn that Albrecht himself designed this and came up with the idea. The smaller bore from the tenon through the resonance hole gives you the stable intonation and the everything after the "ridge, or cliff" gives you the big, round sound.
A note about the AM model d'amores. These horns were originally designed for Ingo Goritzki, but one day Albrecht's trusty 30+ year old d'amore was stolen and he needed a new d'amore. He tried the d'amores and didn't like them, but he was determined to help redesign them. The straight bell design, according to Herr Frank, allows the horns to have much less resistance in the upper register, which is great if you are playing Bach, but you need to be careful in the lower register since the horn feels different with the straight bell. The straight bell concept was again the brain child of Albrecht. On his old d'amore, the one that was stolen, he played a straight bell. He made the straight bell himself. Not out of wood, but paper and glue!!
I really enjoyed playing these oboes today and I really thing Moennig is one to something. If you are in the market for a new oboe or just curious. You should defiantly try them out. Apparently, Matt Dine is now playing one of these oboes with Orpheus. Also, Herr Frank is making some adjustments for the american market. These include a smaller diamond in the half hole and bigger holes in the octave vents. This was suggested by Burt Lucerelli.
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