Author: cjwright
Date: 2011-02-18 01:48
Once upon a time...
I used to play on really big reeds. I was always trying to get bigger and darker reeds, so I'd play on bigger "looser" reeds and just bite down hard on them. This led to serious TMJ which forced me to stop playing for 4 months during my undergrad. Because I always bit down hard, my body could only take so much for so long, and I never really did develop a lot of endurance, despite playing for some 10 years straight. 1992-2002)
I took 6 years off, and came back to the oboe. Recalling my difficulty with big flat heavy reeds, I decided to swing the opposite way and began to play on really light reeds, while using an embouchure that pulled the corners way back in a "smiling" kind of way, with a flat chin. This worked a lot better, and I was able to develop a substantial amount of endurance, depending on how light the reed was. The idea of the Philadelphia style reed is that the reed does more of the responsibilities than the player, and holds the tone together, is stable in pitch, and allows the dynamics to be controlled with the air. In other words, the reed is very, very compact. This worked pretty well for a good amount of time, but I still always had some endurance problems, and had difficulty with excessively long phrases. (2007-2010)
After studying with Martin, he helped me realize that my small reeds which allowed me to play a pppp low D just weren't able to withstand the amount of large air of which a 6'4" healthy grown man wants to blow and so the tone would warp, and I'd eventually hit a ceiling as to how loudly my reeds could play. Because I didn't want to overblow the reed, I would always get old air bottled up for too long, despite careful breathing plans, and therefore tire out just from lack of oxygen. He encouraged me to build bigger reeds with more airflow, and to adapt a more covering embouchure with more lower lip to muffle the reed. I can now say that I have some of the best endurance of my life, and have no problems play 6-7 hours a day with my mouth.
So, to summarize:
1. Play on reeds that are stable in pitch, and tone.
2. Depending on your embouchure, play on a reed that holds the tone together so it doesn't spread so that you don't have to work your embouchure to keep it sounding good.
3. Find an embouchure that you're comfortable with and allows flexibility rather than "the crocodile bite" as Tabuteau would call it.
4. Match the strength of your reeds, and the opening of your reeds, to your physical attributes. If you're a healthy young man, learn to make bigger reeds or order some. If you're an elderly grandmother with less air, order reeds that don't require large amounts of wind so you can easily control them.
One more tip, if you're looking to build, learn to practice on reeds that are "a size too small" from what you CAN do. Just because you can control a bigger reed, doesn't mean it's right for you to try to play all of the time.
I view building endurance as like training while running.
1. You can't just run 10 miles one day and then have huge amounts of endurance the next.
2. You usually want to start very small, and gradually add a lap or two every couple of days.
3. You don't really feel your endurance "building" persay, but one day you'll wake up and run for a couple of miles, and tell yourself, "Hey, this is a lot easier than a month ago".
4. Just because you CAN run 30 miles in a setting, doesn't mean you should, and usually you shouldn't or else you'll hurt yourself. If you max out at 30 miles, and 20 miles is an excessive workout that you "could do" but "it'd take a lot out of you", then just run 18 miles.
Hope this helps.
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
Post Edited (2011-02-18 01:54)
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