Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2004-07-08 23:18
d-oboe:
I would describe the sound from my new reeds as bright and sweet. Sounds like French, to me.
You have hit the nail on the head here -- the trouble I was having with the reeds I was buying (supposedly "hand made", from Forrests, usually) is that they were just really, really hard to blow. I have read elsewhere on this board that perhaps the Yamaha oboes are a little more resistant than some others (I have a 411), but I wasn't able to get a "singing" tone without thinning out the tips. It bothers me to pay a lot of $$ for a reed, and then immediately have to go at it with sharp objects in order to get it to work.
I was beginning to get a complex about this, actually, because I am a fairly accomplished clarinetist, and my breath control is really quite adequate. The reeds I was getting were either too soft and very blatty, or too hard. Maybe "unresponsive" is the better term, because I could blow them, but it was way too much work, and the tone quality was sounding very forced, and the high notes thinned out unpleasantly.
With the new (French scrape?) reeds, my tone is very pretty, and at last, I have got dynamic control. I read somewhere that French scrape can create intonation issues, but I have a good (maybe great?) ear, so that is less of an issue to me at this point than just being able to get a satisfactory sound.
I have been using Jay Light's book, "Essays for Oboists" as my Bible, and I am playing Barrett (which is a lot like taking vitamins). I am using a "round" embouchure, and playing right on the tip, minimally touching the reed. I can tongue like crazy, and flip up and down from high tones to low tones on 16th notes without "breaking" -- I love Telemann and Handel. I'm breathing low, and keeping everything as relaxed and open as possible.
My biggest issue is with long, sustained lines -- but I think that is par for the course for someone in their first year of oboe playing. And the Barrett melodies certainly address that issue! With the new reeds, I can enjoy playing the Delibes "Flower Duet" from Lakme -- ALMOST completely smoothly (still occasionally blip on the downward interval from C# to B).
Thanks for your very insightful and helpful information!
Susan
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