 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: oboi
Date: 2012-12-20 04:14
Since I began making reeds, I've always been on the hunt for guides that give me the differences between the ginormous varities of double reed supplies. There isn't much to go on out there. Sure, you can ask your teacher, but it's not something codified and not necessarily something that your teacher knows every single thing about. Why aren't there more of these guides somewhere?
Midwest just posted this about tube cane. Was useful because I recently and randomly bought some Glotin cane to try out. So now know if I like it or hate it I can potentially attribute it to these properties.
http://www.mmimports.com/2012/12/tube-cane-guide/
So why isn't there a very extensive list out there for (or is there and I am not aware?):
- characteristics of cane from different fields (brands)
- characteristics of staple brands
- bore characteristics of different oboes
- staple bore/diameter and oboes with bores most resembling it
- properties of shaped cane - not just numbers, but descriptors in qualitative terms
- quantitative/qualitative info of cane that already comes shaped from the cane growers
- qualitative info on shaper tips
Acoustics and General Play Characteristics due to:
- gouges and thickness tendencies wrt climate, altitude
- staple material/thickness, shape
- bocal lengths/brand/material
- general shaped cane shape and its acoustics
- oboe model general characteristics
Now I know that some of that is out there, and some of it is extensively discussed on these boards, and some of this is a matter of opinion, but something like that tube cane list above I think makes a whole lot of sense. Each cane field has its own unique characteristics. Each staple has its own unique tapers/openings. Some of that might not be useful when I first learned (teacher's advice probably best), but now, at my stage, I am starting to experiment, but I don't have 30 years of experimentation and know-how so experimenting is just a crapshoot..... because there is not much codified info out there. I have a decent idea of what works and doesn't work in terms of *brands* for my oboe/reed, but I don't really know WHY in most cases. I suppose if I had a very accurate caliper and lots of time to stare at my cane/staple/oboe that I could measure out the exact numbers, but I'm trying to play music here, not become a draftsman.
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Author: mjfoboe
Date: 2012-12-20 11:49
WOW!!!!
I don't know if there is an easy answer here.
When I switched from my Loree to my Mariguax ... all the reed variables needed to be re-examined.
The Oboe was tuned/adjusted, the staple make and length and taper changed, the scrape adjusted, the curve of my gouge blade changed, as well as the tie point. So..................................... I even tried different shaper tips; although I stayed with the original one. (Still looking though).
This occurred over a year and a bit more.
I guess you need a foundation first ... before the trial and error point; however even that foundation is learned the old fashion way ... by experimentation in conjunction with written guides and advice from teachers and colleagues.
Good Luck
Mark
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Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2012-12-20 19:46
I think it's a great idea, but what works for one person might not work for another, so the only way to do this justice is to provide only dimensions, micrometer readings, and perhaps diagrams, as well as a 'hardness' (density) grade for the cane...
If whoever were to put this together were to use 'fibrous' or other descriptive words only, it wouldn't be of much use.
I KNOW there's a lot out there, and I also know I'm 'with' many others on the board who say 'find out what works best for your needs and stick with it'.
GoodWinds
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Author: oboi
Date: 2012-12-24 00:33
Yup, for sure each setup is different for each person. But I think a guide even in the VAUGEST sort of way is better than utter crapshoot experimentation. I'm slightly better now, but at the beginning, I really felt disabled that there was so little to go on. Maybe it's because I'm a scientist, but I didn't like to go about it without an educated guess. :-P
The other day I asked my teacher about cane and a brand came by as a passing thought.... Teacher: "that's an unbelievably hard cane I can't play on" ..... then came the sudden realization that ... Me: "duh, that's probably why those reeds don't work". You may ask why I didn't ask my teacher first, that's because it was for the baroque oboe, and I was just going on recommendation. But had I known that this was unbelievably hard cane (from a list) I would have nixed the idea of buying this type and gone for something I think might have been better for me.
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Author: huboboe
Date: 2012-12-31 01:14
The problem with cane is that it's an agricultural product, like wine, and is different from year to year, even from the same plantations. Your best bet is to try small samples from a number of suppliers until you find cane that feels right and then trust that they will be able to maintain the same qualities from year to year.
As for the rest of your wish list, it certainly would be nice to have such a list, but assembling it would be at least a master's thesis amount of research. Most of the information you mention is out there, but in widely scattered sources.
Music performance is, and has been, essentially an apprentice trade and as such, most of us have started with our teachers, futzed about a bit as elder apprentices and arrived at something that works well for us. After we have arrived in a comfortable place we play with the variables we feel least secure with, fine tuning our situation.
So there's little motivation to do the huge amount of work necessary to assemble a list of basic variables - except perhaps someone like Martin Schuring at Arizona State, but he's got a department to run and students to teach, and...
It's really just a research project. Lots of pieces of your puzzle have been published in the IDRS Journal (and there's a master index there), lots of it is on the web. Why not coordinate it yourself, with members of this list contributing, and publicize it on the IDRS website for more help. The oboe network on Facebook would be useful as well... I'll bet you could put together the majority of your list in a couple of months.
Just some rambling thoughts... I've had good luck with David Weber's cane, by the way.
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
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