 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Dutchy
Date: 2007-12-20 16:28
I've been playing along with a whole collection of CDs for nearly three years now. A lot of the method books come with a playalong CD, and I've been making my own accompaniment CDs using MusicMasterworks with JetAudio to convert the mp3 files to .wav files so I can burn them onto a CD (I've got the second part to the first 8 Barret on my own CD)...
And I've never had problems playing in tune with any of them. When I was just starting out, flatness issues were obviously a factor of embouchure and technique non-development, which tended to self-correct immediately as I figured out how to make the thing "go", and also as I started spending money on better reeds.
But it's been smooth sailing ever since, pitch-wise. Until this week.
...when I received this CD, along with the oboe part, and started practicing, only to find myself dismayingly and obviously at least 6 cents flat in the lower register, and a few cents flat in the usually sharper upper register.
And no amount of biting, lipping, or rolling seems to help. This is way beyond "roll it up to pitch" territory. That low Db on the "All Who Pass This Way" just groans miserably every time it comes around, making me sound like a fifth grader who just picked up the instrument last week. ![[right]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie8.gif) ![[mad]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie9.gif)
So I wondered if anybody else has this CD, and if perhaps the Bethlehem Singers & Players tuned themselves to A=442, back in 1998.
What do you do, if you walk in and discover that everybody else in your ensemble has decided to tune to A=442?
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Author: hautbois
Date: 2007-12-20 17:40
Ah, that happens too often. Recently I was hired to play a concert with a touring German string orchestra. The concertmaster politely introduced himself at the first rehearsal, and informed me that A was 444. The lowest that I have been asked to tune was to 435 (that is where the church organ was). Usually I have slightly sharper and flatter reeds in my case, and a bocal for my d'amore which permits a lower pitch. The rest of the adjustment is by embouchure until I can get home and make an appropriate reed.
When playing regularly in one orchestra, I have felt free to negotiate with the conductor and concermaster about a reasonable A. Some master agreements actually specify what A will be. But there is always the sharp piano to adjust to or the violin soloist who requests a higher A...
Elizabeth
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2007-12-20 23:01
Ouch. When I was in Korea we played at 444. Did you have a reed which permitted?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-12-20 23:47
It's fairly common in Europe to tune to 442Hz, and in Germany and Austria to be at least 443-444Hz.
With a easy playing reed (European U scrape) with a thin tip and narrow aperture it is possible to play at 442Hz or higher.
Also, temperature will affect the overall pitch.
I'm not sure how stable/inflexible the American long W scrape reeds are in terms of making them play sharp - the U scrape reeds we use here (in the UK) will allow a lot of freedom in tuning flexibility, sometimes too much so embouchure control is important.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: hautbois
Date: 2007-12-20 23:59
Hi Cooper -- "Ouch" was the operative word for that 444 rehearsal. And the tone and ability to create much in the way of nuance suffered with the added embouchure strain. For the concert I had a sharper reed.
Chris P might be correct in suggesting the longer scrape American reeds are not very flexible with respect to raising the pitch. Of my reeds, the ones which are more flexible suffer from lack of stability. For a sharper reed I generally use a shorter staple (or file down the cork end of the staple if I want to considerably sharpen an existing reed).
Elizabeth
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