Author: MikeC855
Date: 2018-05-04 00:18
...especially in close anticipation of end-of-life.
It happened *again* - everything is fine warming-up in the practice room. I go to the stage with two or three playable reeds, continue the pre-rehearsal warm-up, rehearsal starts, and... and... what the heck? Come to the exposed tutti in the second piece for the night and suddenly I'm a half-step sharp! Daggers from the conductor, of course.
He stops the ensemble. I fidget with a reed change (with tuner), and the backup reed is just as bad. I fear the worst, upper joint crack, muttering "Something is really wrong here." "No kidding", says the director. He resumes practice without me, and once I get to the third reed, everything is suddenly kosher. In tune, more or less, but given the weak tone there was a reason it was my #3 for the night.
Like I said, I've had this before, and once in a concert - everything copacetic in warm-up, come to the point where it really counts and it's a disaster. One reed died completely in mid-solo. Not a peep from then on.
It's the worst in concerts. 2-300 warm bodies in the auditorium changes the climate. How do you anticipate the effect? Or can you?
Any pointers? I keep 3-6 reeds with me on stage, but once something goes south "live" there's no rewind button for a reed change. Or will this remain as I have become accustomed, the hard life of an oboist?
[Paraphrasing a friend's assessment, "Playing the oboe is an ongoing series of frustrations, punctuated rarely by moments of mild satisfaction."]
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Confounding band directors since 1964.
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