Author: HautboisJJ
Date: 2006-04-14 19:02
Mr. Richard Woodhams came to Malaysia with the Philadephia Orchestra years ago and they played beautifully, but honestly it felt like the legend which i have always known through articles and well, forums, didnt project and play as well as i expected, much to the dissapointment of many in the crowd of oboe players. I love the late John De Lancie, at least in a recording of his of the Flower Clock by Francaix and the Strauss Concerto, although i do not favour the American style of playing, but might it be that a live experience would be a total change of image?
Maybe different styles of playing are measured differently and because of that it is often misunderstood that one method will work for almost everyone and students do not try to experiment with what might work better for them. I remember reading Ledet's reed style book and he mentioned in a big paragraph that reed style and the general teaching in embouchure (+how much reed is taken in) is influenced by the basic few things:
- Lip pressure of particular player.
- Effort in blowing. (Air speed + volume of air)
- Concept of sound, whether it be ensemble playing or solo playing.
Australian Bart Schneemann, a student of Han De Vries has a terribly dark and warm sound, much to the preference of today's international orchestras in the trend of ultimate blend of sound. He complained in an interview that the traditional Dutch style reed had so many disadvantages such as of lack of ease in controlling dynamics and articulation and so forth, but if that is so how do legends like Han De Vries manage them? I guess it all comes down to how one approaches the sound of the oboe. Mr. Bart strives for the baroque oboe sound in his quest for the ultimate tone.
German players are traditionally taught to play with a sort of 'smiling' embouchure, which is technically necessary for the authentic style of reed making over there because it requires so much lip pressure to control those reeds. And like d-oboe said they do take in more reed that usual, because of the pitch standards (A=445 in the Berlin Philharmonic, flautist James Galway had to make a custom head joint just for that years back.) incoporated into their style of playing, essential for their concept of reed making. Dark sound, but cutting off flexibility?
After reading extensively on articles and books regarding the American style of reed making, i think the reed roll in-out concept is logic because the authentic way of making reeds in the American style tends to produce reeds that are easily in tune in the lower register but goes flatter on the upper. Of course the variables that might exist among different reed makers i shall not discuss today but that leads to the fact that Susan's teacher advocates another form of making reeds that pushes her to play with more reed in the mouth cavity.
I myself play at the very tip (yes at last back to the topic) of the reed most of the time, and i find that it works for my reeds, and that they truly vibrate better and sound more resonant in this way for me. I do not aim for a particular tone, since i am still such an amateur in this, but i strongly believe that tone is color, and color should contain all the shades it requires for a painting to shine. e.g. If a bright sound is required somewhere, and taking in more reed helps but sacrifices intonation, i counter that in some way. I believe in the homogenious of tone color throughout a phrase but till what extend does this apply to in music?
d-oboe said:
"BUT what most often happens is that players get into habits of correcting unnecessarily."
This was what happened to me years ago. Truly unfortunate. Until a student surpasses the level of 'intermediate', i think it is advised to not touch this particular topic of tone color too vastly. When a student grows to achieve the standard of playing he requires to alter creatively, then he will naturally be able to play with different colors, and he will strive for that. Simply said make them play at the tip =), and to encourage a uniform tone throughout the whole register.
I give my utmost respect to the different schools of playing and i truly believe that we can all learn from each other and apply what we feel is good for ourselves. Good thread =)
Howard
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