Author: Bobo
Date: 2007-06-13 15:30
I've been told that the reason Lorees are more reed finicky is that the tone holes have a greater degree of undercutting...according to this theory, the reason why Lorees have never been popular in France or Europe, where they are manufactured, is that the European scrape does not afford the flexibility to control the dynamics presented by this physical property...on the upside, and a possible explanation of why Lorees remain popular in the U.S. among the pros (in addition to sheer inertia and blind brand loyalty (snobbery?), of which there is undoubtedly a strong dose), the American scraped reed permits the player to finely control the tonal nuances of the instrument...in my opinion, the Royal, by making the wood thicker, trades away some of this advantage for a rounder, darker, more reed friendly sound that may be more conducive to playing large scale orchestral works. The fact that it is more reed friendly perhaps also explains its growing popularity with oboists who need to be at their best on a high stress continuous basis. It may also be telling that the Royal was developed, I believe, by Loree in tandem with Hansjorg Schellenberger, a leading German oboist...that would make sense - develop a Loree for the European market that works with Euro reeds! Ironic then that most of the players using it are Americans. But maybe not when you consider that Laubins are popular here partly because they are very reed friendly (read: forgiving), and there are clearly some former Laubin orchestral players who are switching to Royal.
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
