 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Diego J. Garcia L.
Date: 2020-09-10 03:51
Hello Oboe friends, i want to know if there are any full-auto oboe players here, i have a few questions for you! (semi automatic oboe players give me your opinion too)
-first, do you use the german fingerings for middle C# to middle D#? (with these fingerings you don´t use the half hole you just lift the the index altogether)
-if so, do you use it all the time or just as a resourse for some passages where it´s more convenient? (by all the time i mean all the time, practicing all 12 keys using these fingerings, maybe with the exception of sluring the same note from the octave below upwards as it sounds more precise,like in the solo from Don Juan)
-what´s the highest note you can play without using the teeth and what´s the highest note using them? (maybe if you can share those fingerings that would be great!) mine is altissimo Bb6 and C7 using the teeth
-Would you go back to playing a semi automatic oboe or do you think that would be a downgrade?
I ask all this because i´ve been recently changing my fingerings for middle C# to D#, i´m re-learning all 12keys using the german fingerings, i feel it´s way more fluid than the more common fingerings especially when playing things outside the regular oboe repertorie like some jazz tunes
I think the combination of the automatic octaves + german fingerings for middle C# to D# makes the oboe much more agile and easy.
let me know your opinion!
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-09-10 15:48
Open C# can be used on any instrument where LH1 fingerplate opens fully - it's not just a German thing. I've seen an Italian player use the open C# in the opening of the Strauss concerto on a semi-automatic conservatoire system oboe.
There are German spec oboes where the LH1 fingerplate isn't linked to the linkage bar from LH3 to the 8ve mechanism and they can either be set to fully open or can be screwed to barely move as on most oboes.
B-C# is much easier to do simply by lifting LH1 (as on saxes) with the top plate opening fully (or A-C# by lifting LH fingers 1 and 2) and the tone quality of the C# is nearer to that of the B, although C#/Db to D#/Eb is far easier to do with the usual C# fingering (oxx|xxxC#) as you only have to release that to get the D#/Eb which automatically opens while holding the LH Eb key down.
I'm not even sure how playing open C#/Db to upper D#/Eb is easier as it'll be more lumpy and uneven in tone what with the tonal change from bright and lacking substance in the top part of lower register to full and dense in the lower part of the upper register. Yes it's commonly done on saxes, but even so there are fingerings that can be used either using the palm/high keys as a substitution or other fingerings to give the open C# more substance and better tuning next to any upper register note and to make it more fluid than all fingers off for C# to all fingers on for D, Eb, E, etc.
The only note some fully automatic oboes will have trouble with is altissimo F if the G# key isn't linked to the 8ve mechanism where only the lower 8ve vent opens for the F. For some reason, Yamaha have removed that linkage on their more recent fully automatic 400 series oboes and there are plenty of Chinese oboes with fully automatic 8ves that also lack that link from the G# key. It may be a cost cutting measure, but it has significant limitations for the player. Even fully automatic Howarth S20c oboes have that link in a more basic form (a wire soldered to the perforated LH3 fingerplate that's lowered by the G# key as you'd see on older ring key automatics), so it's a relatively easy thing to add to intermediate level oboes without the expense of extra mechanism.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Diego J. Garcia L.
Date: 2020-09-10 22:13
i haven´t noticed much change in color using those new fingerings rather i feel D speaks better without the index finger, C# sounds a little less focused but i think the difference is minimal.
I use a Yamaha 422 with full automatic octaves and it does have a g# link.
i do use the regular fingerings if i´m playing solos like tchaikovsky 4th or the solo from Firebird in order to keep the color of the notes more uniform
so far the only drawbacks i have found for the automatic oboe is that i can only use one fingering for A6 Bb6 B6 and C7, but usually i only practice up to Bb6
and btw i have the L.H.1 key set up to 0.7mm that way it also allows me to do high c# and d also without the left index finger
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-09-10 22:57
0.7mm is far more open than I set the top plate for players who lift LH1 off instead of rolling down for middle C# to Eb and the lower altissimo and it alos depends on the size and shape of the aperture in the LH1 fingerplate. Similarly with the lowering of the RH2 fingerplate by the low C key depends on the diameter of the hole in the middle of it.
0.7mm is a typical size for an 8ve vent.
The Yamaha YOB-422 has the link from the G# key to the 8ve mechanism, but not the 432 that replaced it - that also appears not to have the low B-C link either:
https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical_instruments/winds/oboes/yob-431_432/index.html
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2020-09-11 00:35)
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Author: Hotboy
Date: 2020-09-16 22:56
"-first, do you use the german fingerings for middle C# to middle D#? (with these fingerings you don´t use the half hole you just lift the the index altogether)"
I learned to play holding the spatula down for HH notes. However, when I need to slur from a HH note down to something much lower, I fid that the response on my Loree is better if I lift LH1 entirely and the transition seems to pop much better.
When I do this, the intonation of the D doesn't suffer, the Eb is somewhat sharp, and the C# is wildly sharp. The height of my HH key is set based on the response/intonation of the altissimo C#, so I cannot change the height of the HH key.
The only time I lift LH1 on a C# is when I need to slur down to the low C#, as the amount of additional embouchure opening I use to lower the pitch of the higher C# I find beneficial for helping the lower note to smoothly speak.
Dane
Bay Area, California
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Author: Diego J. Garcia L.
Date: 2020-09-27 21:25
That´s one of the first things i noticed when i started to use these fingerings, slurring from c#/d/d# to the lower g an below is easier, the response is quicker.
i´ve been playing like this for two months now and i think it´s worth the effort, for comparison i´ve been practicing an excerpt from some skunk funk (michael brecker) with the old fingerings and with the new fingerings and i think it definitely adds more fluidity especially if you´re using an automatic oboe
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