Author: kroboe
Date: 2005-11-25 08:09
First, your band conductor needs a spanking for his less than understanding attitude. Second, your best option is to get someone experienced to help you. At present you have to depend on others to make your reeds, but in the long run you will be richly rewarded by learning the craft yourself. As you have already experienced your reed is the one limiting factor that determines the qualities of your instrument. This will remain so for the rest of your musical life. So, at your age you should get someone to teach you how to make reeds. You will demand more and more from your reeds as you gain skill on your oboe, and the process of making them is the only way to get under the skin of things and learn the secrets. So much for that. Your present problem may stem from an unexperienced embouchure, but from what you describe it seems also that your reeds are too soft or light. Such a reed will, if at all possible, demand a very experienced embouchure to produce the warm sound that you want. Perhaps you should try out a medium strenght reed, or of course, a reed made from smaller diameter cane. Anyway, reeds closing during playing is not uncommon, and need not indicate a malfunction. Especially when left alone for a while after playing it is quite common for the reed to loose aperture. Sitting in the orchestra after a long count down, the oboist always have to check his reed for opening before he starts to play. And what you do to regain a nice opening is to moisten the outside of the reed with your lips and perhaps, as I do, suck vigourosly through the reed to make fresh air dry out its inside. Both these actions work to regain the curvature of the reed. This makes sense as you know that wood is a living material which expands and contracts by more or less moisture. There are other ways to open a reed more permanently as I have described in an earlier post, but at your stage I think we should leave it at that. But the bottom line remains, Get A Teacher!
Good luck!
Kroboe
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