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Re: Middle C bright sound

Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-03-04 22:01

That C is always a bright note with regular (conservatoire) fingering on the majority of oboes. I recently played an older Dupin oboe where this C had real character and quality that I've never experienced on any other oboe I've played.

Have you also added more right hand fingers to soften the bright C?

Just as an experiment, play B and then hold down the linkage bar on the right side down at the top end to get C and see if that's less bright. If that works, then consider having a thumbplate fitted so you can lift off the left thumb for C as you'd do on a flute. But the Bb with this fingering isn't as good as conservatoire Bb fingering and it'll be slightly on the sharp side.

Fairly often over here in the UK with dual system oboes (conservatoire with added thumbplate for Bb and C), players of this system will use the thumbplate fingering for C and the conservatoire fingering for Bb as the thumbplate fingering for C isn't as bright as the conservatoire fingering.

I've seen a Marigaux oboe fitted with a special mechanism to give the thumbplate system venting for C while still using the conservatoire system fingering.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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