 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Jaysne
Date: 2024-10-26 02:05
I have a really great EH reed. It blows freely with a nice full sound. Only trouble is almost all the notes are between 5 and 10 cents sharp.
I see two ways to correct this:
1) Buy a longer bocal
2) Pull the bocal out until the notes are in tune.
I'd prefer #2. But is it good form to do this? Something tells me that the cork end of the bocal should always be pushed all the way in (and then you make necessary adjustments with your embouchure and oral cavity).
I pulled out about 4 mm and all the notes were beautifully in tune with no change in the tone quality that I can detect.
Looking for thoughts from the experts out there. Thanks.
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Author: oboi
Date: 2024-10-26 08:46
Buy a longer bocal or adjust your reeds. Pulling out the bocal will cause a gap in the reed well that will mess up your tuning. Alternatively, you can buy EH-sized spacers that will fill up that gap if you do have to pull out your bocal. I have a set for my oboe but I rarely use it because it's extremely easy to lose. It works when you're desperate to be a little flatter (the first two sizes are good, but the larger rings mess up the intonation too much).
I have multiple sizes of bocals. Since the reeds I make aren't entirely consistent (with EH, almost anything plays), I do choose bocals based on the reed I have for pitch considerations.
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Author: mschmidt
Date: 2024-10-26 09:16
I thought I had this problem about a year ago, and I was going to solve it by going to wider shapes on my reeds. Even the slightest increase in width made the reeds too flat. But my reeds gradually evolved. Now I don't have the problem anymore.
While you are waiting for the reed that plays in tune, just pull out your bocal. Lots of people claim to know what "should" happen when you do this; they will worry about the non-continuous nature of the bore when there is a gap, or they will tell you that you will not change the tube length proportionally for all notes. But only you can tell what really happens. You do the experiment. You say that ALL the notes were beautifully in tune. FINE! That's all that matters.
People who study the acoustics of wind instruments will tell you that there are lots of things that "shouldn't" work according to simple considerations. But the acoustics of wind instruments are not simple. There are discontinuities in bore diameter already existing. The toneholes aren't arranged symmetrically. Acoustics is still an empirical science--and if you have evidence that something works, go with it.
Mike
Still an Amateur, but not really middle-aged anymore
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Author: mschmidt
Date: 2024-10-26 09:22
You say there will be a gap in the reed well "that will mess up your tuning." But Jaysne said that all of his notes were in tune. Maybe he was unknowingly compensating with his embouchure. But, if he can compensate with his embouchure, there's not a problem. I would be curious to see a well-controlled study proving that the rings help. I'm sure the company that makes them and sells them has submitted such a study to a peer-reviewed acoustics journal. (Sarcasm).
Sorry for seeming caustic, but the older I get, the more fierce an empiricist I am.
Mike
Still an Amateur, but not really middle-aged anymore
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2024-10-27 14:40
Instead of buying a longer crook or worrying about the 4mm gap created by pulling the crook out, have a spacer made that fits in the reed socket. Have it made from plastic (like ABS or delrin rod) with the outer diameter a tad smaller than the reed socket (which will make it easy to fit and remove), the inside diameter the same diameter as the crook bore at the widest end and to a height of 4mm. Or have several made with different lengths (2mm, 3mm and 4mm) so you can pick the one that works best. Leave it in and that will guarantee your crook only goes in as far as is necessary.
Or if you happen to find some soft polythene tubing that's approximately the ideal inner and outer diameters, chop that into spacers with a scalpel.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Jaysne
Date: 2024-10-27 19:26
Thank you, Chris. I like to do things as simply as possible and for me the polythene tubing sounds like the way to go.
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Author: Jaysne
Date: 2024-10-27 19:40
Mike, thanks for your observations. I am also a person who likes positive results no matter how you get them. I was once on a flute discussion board and a woman was asking if it would be okay to use harmonic fingerings rather than the "correct" fingerings in a difficult high passage. I pointed out that the harmonic fingerings are there for a reason--to make difficult passages easier--and there's no reason to think she had to use the real fingerings. (At the same time, others were posting that she needed to use the real fingerings, just start slow and gradually increase the tempo with a metronome.) I also said that playing a musical instrument is hard enough--why make it harder than it has to be?
Anyway, I have always been told that unlike single-reed instruments, one does not pull out or push in to tune up; rather, you adjust with your oral cavity and/or embouchure. In this case, it seems like I can get away with pulling out to make the reed work; the notes are in tune and the tone quality remains good. The "well" that oboi speaks of was what was concerning me. Based on what I know about physics, having that additional area between the end of the receiver and the end of the bocal should lessen the strength of the sound going into the bore and result in a weaker tone. But I'm not finding that.
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Author: Jaysne
Date: 2024-10-27 19:45
oboi, thanks for your suggestions. I should have mentioned that I don't know how to work on reeds--I'm more of a doubler than a fully fledged double-reed player.
Yes, initially I thought that the gap would cause a host of problems. But that hasn't been the case. I do like the idea of the spacers, though, and will look into them. It will be interesting to see if adding the spacers makes a perceptible difference for me.
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Author: oboi
Date: 2024-10-29 08:24
I use these tuning rings occasionally for oboe:
https://www.oboe-shop.de/en/oboe-accessories/tuning-rings/
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