 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2011-08-01 20:07
Does anyone have a suggestion for making my high (just above the staff) C# sound better? It sounds muffled, flat, etc.
When I play it WITHOUT the low "C" key engaged, it brightens up, but also is way too sharp. When I add the "C" key, it becomes muffled and dull, flat sounding.
Something to do with my Philly "D" adjustment?
Susan
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-08-01 20:32
It could be both the RH2 fingerplate and the Philly D adjustment - back off the Philly D adjustment so RH3 remains open and adjust the RH2 closure (but not so it closes fully with the low C key) until the C# speaks easily, then adjust the Philly D so it closes or can be lowered to see if that causes any grief.
Is yor LH1 fingerplate screwed down almost closed or open standing?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2011-08-01 21:14
Hi Chris,
Well, I was fussing with LH1 to see if that made any difference, and I don't see that it did. It is rather more to the screwed down side than standing open -- which is how it was when I got the instrument.
I hadn't been having this problem before. It just cropped up. I did have the LH keys off last week, because I had to put in a new rod after I dropped the top joint and bent the rod, but it was working fine afterwards, as is everything else on the top joint, with the exception of the B nat to A# trill, which for some reason has never worked on this particular oboe.
I will try what you suggest and report back.
Susan
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Author: heckelmaniac
Date: 2011-08-01 21:35
Try the "English horn fingering" for high C#-
left: 2, 3 right 1, 3, C# (to trill to high D from this C#, just use F# key)
Easy transition from this "English horn C#" to "English horn high D" :
left: half hole, 2, 3 right: 2, 3, C# (easy transition to high Eb)
(note the "English horn high C#" works on most instruments, though not all)
And, as long as the subject is at the fore:
"English horn high C" :
2nd oct left: 1 right: 1, 2, 3, C#
"English horn high Bb" :
2nd oct. left 1, 2 right: 1, 2, 3, C#
"English horn high B resonance" :
2nd oct. left: 1 right: 3 (OR: 2, 3) (OR: 2, 3, C#)
English horn i"n staff Bb" resonance:
left: 1, 2 right: 1, 3 fork
With best wishes,
Peter
Oboes.us
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Author: johnt
Date: 2011-08-01 22:43
Hi Susan,
I remember a master class I attended years ago when one of the presiding experts talked about the little hole in the E key (middle finger of right hand) The hole tends to fill up with dirt to the detriment of the intonation of the high C#. To quote Carl Sawiki's The Oboe Revealed (page K-40 at the bottom): "The small vent hole in the center of the key should be cleaned out when dirt is evident. Dirt transmitted by the finger slowly collects in this hole. Thorough cleaning can be accomplished with a toothpick or a sliver of reed cane." When I clean this hole, I use a pipe cleaner soaked in 91 strength isopropyl alcohol & VERY gently ream out the hole. Works every time. Worth a shot to see what happens, at least.
Best,
john
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2011-08-03 17:10
Reporting back on the first attempt (relatively successful, thank goodness!) of fixing the stuffy high C#.
When I backed off the Philly D, I found that the small vent on the lower joint was standing completely open when activated (or not!) by the low D finger key. I have to presume this is the way it was adjusted at the shop, because I have done virtually nothing to this oboe since I bought it a couple of months ago, and it has been very playing well, except for the C#, (and oh, yeah, the forked F and the B-A# trill. Hmmm. Perhaps I should redefine "playing well") .
The other thing I discovered in this process is that the F res key was massively overadjusted -- I turned it back a whole turn before I began the other fix, and at that point discovered that it was still very much engaged. You KNOW your f res is overadjusted when you turn it a whole turn backwards, and everything still speaks as if nothing had happened (and it also grabbed the feeler gauge quite smartly).
Results with the C# are good. Even better are the results with the forked F, which was also impossibly stuffy before, and is just lovely now -- like I expect on the Covey oboes.
But all this leads me to consider that I should go over the entire instrument to see what else is bizarrely maladjusted. OTOH, if it ain't broke, I probably shouldn't try to fix it!
Thanks, Chris P. JohnT, I will also look into the idea of cleaning out the holes, too.
Susan
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-08-03 17:52
Also make sure your F vent closes properly along with RH2 if other areas are poorly adjusted.
To check it properly (and this often gets missed by some repairers), hold down RH3 to free the F vent and while doing that, press and release RH2 which opens and closes the F vent. Now check the closure of the F vent pad with the RH2 pad - both should close with equal pressure.
If this adjustment has been missed, you'll find you won't get much below low E.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2011-08-03 20:19
Chris, the striking thing about this oboe (an older Covey "Baltimore" series) is that the low notes -- in fact, the entire range of the oboe -- played with absolutely no hesitation from the first time I tried the instrument. That's why I bought it! And they still do.
But I am continuing to marvel that the F res could have been that far overadjusted, while still allowing the notes below low e to speak so very easily and fully.
I am wondering if the reason the B-A# trill doesn't work has something to do with mis-adjustment on the top joint? That will be my next exploration.
Susan
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Author: pliscapoivre
Date: 2011-08-08 08:58
Susan,
Do you have two screws on your low C key? If so, the upper one will regulate the high C# and D balance. I've had to spend some time with that adjustment on my new Moennig.
If you have worked out the C# problem already, what was the solution? Thanks.
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