Author: oboeidaho
Date: 2007-03-24 14:51
Hi Oboe53, Glad you are taking lessons and learning the oboe now. Please remember that unless you have very sophisticated recording equipment, the sound you record is going to be different than what actually comes out - and placement of mikes etc makes a huge difference. A good recording engineer can make (or NOT) you sound like a superstar!
However, good tone takes a while. Do you have good reeds? This is usually the biggest problem I have with new students, they are playing on terrible reeds! I had two jr high girls I gave a "masterclass" to, and their band director had put them in the back of the band by the tuba! I asked why and he said they were louder than the whole band, he was just trying to balance the sound a bit. Of course, they had these nasty store-bought reeds. I gave them two of my reeds to play and they immediately sounded great! Of course their range and flexibility on the instrument was still limited, but they could make a beautiful tone right then.
But I assume your teacher has taken this into consideration, does he/she have fabulous tone? You might ask them to try your reed (I use disinfectant mouthwash and water before I play students' reeds). That will tell you a lot! I would guess if you have been playing at least 1/2 hour a day for a year, you should have built up a decent embouchure, maybe you are just being too hard on yourself.
Is there a beginner/senior orchestra in your area? There are several in my area which is not exactly a huge metropolitan center, so you might check it out. Most would be delighted to have an oboe player, even a beginner, and more playing time (even once a week) especially where you are playing with others, really helps develop tone.
Good luck , Jill
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