 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: oboist2
Date: 2017-04-22 10:17
Attachment: My Louis oboe.jpg (114k)
I am shortly going to be using a Louis oboe for my main instrument, to match my Louis cor. However it is fully automatic and Dual 123 system. Can anyone help me with a good fingering chart for it, along with an adjustment guide. I woould be most interested. Thanks
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2017-04-22 14:33
Hi Geoffery. So this Oboe has both the Thumb Plate as well as the Conservatoire fingering system I assume. It also looks like it has the left hand 'long ' F but no bottom C-B linkage, Is this correct ? The only fingering chart that I know of that deals with this combined system is Dr Downing's Professional Dual-System Oboe Fingering Chart. But it's just the basic fingerings. If it has the thumb plate I'd be using it as a TP Oboe and be using the conservatoire fingering for C & Bb when the situation suited it. As for an adjustment guide You'll have to 'wing' it I think. It doesn't look all that different from my Howarth S2 except that it has a functioning third finger ring on the top joint which means it would have a least one more adjusting screw to the top joint.
May I say that your new (old) Oboe looks to be in good condition like my S2.
Skyfacer
Post Edited (2017-04-22 14:37)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2017-04-22 18:13
Attachment: louiss4.jpg (189k)
Are you using primarily thumbplate or conservatoire system fingerings?
With thumbplate fingerings for Bb and C, use the 2nd 8ve touch to free your left thumb when using the thumbplate.
With conservatoire fingerings, you can use whichever 8ve key you want as they both do the same thing and will switch over automatically when going from upper register G or G# to A.
This oboe was probably made for the German or East European market or player as they were the standard model until the Gillet conservatoire system became the universal standard (with regional variations if you're of the English, French, Belgian, German or Italian schools of oboe playing). It's the same spec as a Howarth S4 which is a near identical instrument.
It has the low B-C link - see attachment.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2017-04-22 21:30
As far as adjusting the auto 8ve mechanism, it's one of those moments when you end up chasing your own tail. There's no room for error on oboe auto 8ves as you have on saxes, so they have to be set up perfectly in order for them to work.
That's why I decided a fair while back to design a much simpler auto 8ve mechanism for Howarth oboes with just a single adjusting screw (to regulate it with LH3) taking cues from the 8ve mechanism on modern saxes and inspired by the piccolo heckelphone's 8ve mechanism, so a reliable and simple auto 8ve mechanism can be fitted and won't go out of adjustment as easily as the usual types with far more adjusting screws.
http://www.howarth.uk.com/pic.aspx?pid=35123
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2017-04-22 22:29
Ah yes. Now that Chris has highlighted it I now see the adjusting screw for the C-B linkage. Hope to see you sometime Geoffrey and to have a close up look and hear your new (old) Oboe.
Skyfacer
Post Edited (2017-04-22 22:32)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2017-04-23 00:53
One thing you can't do with fully automatic 8ves are harmonic fingerings for upper register A or Bb as you can't open the top 8ve while LH3 is held down.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: oboist2
Date: 2017-04-23 02:01
Thank you Gentlemen for your replies above. I have the first two octaves sorted out , and I was a thumb plate player for the first 10 or so years of my oboe playing life, had a 10 year break and then bought a conservatoire which I have payed ever since. As I have always preferred thumbplate, I will probably ( as I do with the cor) play it mostly with conservatoire fingerings when the thumbplate ones are awkward. I am aware that I cannot play those harmonics, but it is a loss I was prepared to make. I suspect that both the oboe and cor were modified for the player who owned them, as she also had a Loree, similarly altered. She grew up playing in Australia, and it is a rarity. I know a girl who played Automatic in NZ, but she was of Dutch heritage and the oboe was purchased by her musician father.
I don't intend to adjust the mechanism myself unless I have an impending concert and no other choice, otherwise I would send down to Richard Craig, who I have purchased these instruments through, but it would be nice to know what to do in emergencies, hence the question. The fingerings I really need are all the third octave fingerings and alternate fingerings up there as I do enjoy playing some of the 20th Century repertoire. I do have a chart published in Germany, but it is not very comprehensive and I cannot get some of the fingerings to work. Hope this clarifies what I need.
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Author: oboist2
Date: 2017-04-23 02:03
Thanks Barry.....I will try to get up there sometime in May or June, and will be in touch before then. Cheers, Geoff
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