Author: d-oboe
Date: 2007-03-11 14:41
Elkwoman 46
I would follow these guidelines, but add a few things:
1. Make sure you are using your abdominal muscles to support the tone. You compress the abdominal wall inwards and upwards to increase the velocity of the air going into the reed.
2. Get real reeds. Even though you are still a beginner, you deserve real reeds. They don't have to be the most wonderful singing things, but they have to satisfy three things:
-they MUST speak. this is non-negotiable. If the reed doesn't speak properly, adjust it, or find someone who can help you adjust it.
-they MUST let you play in tune. After you have checked that you are supporting properly with the abdominals, play the reed in the oboe. Even if your tone is still "young", the reed should let you play easily in tune. Which brings me to my next (controversial) point:
- use the crow as a secondary piece of information. You should start right now learning to trust how you feel when you play the reed in the oboe. Play a few scales, some long tones, and a short piece. How does the reed feel. Do you really have to bite it to get in tune? Do the low notes consistently thunk out?
Once you have figured out what you don't like about the reed's performance *in the oboe* then you can go back and say "hmm what could I do to fix this??" But, if the reed feels comfortable when you play it, and lets you play all the notes easily in tune, then the reed doesn't need any more adjusting.
Stability:
I kind of include that in with pitch - usually an unstable reed will not play in tune in the high register. So usually, if I have a reed that plays in tune everywhere except the upper register, I will scrape to stabilize, rather than actually shorten the reed.
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