Which oboe?

I’m amazed that this little self-glorifying blog would attract over 1000 visitors from a dozen countries in less than a month… WOW, thanks people!… yes, I did exclude my own visits! For sure a lot of it is due to my wife’s photographs of the reed cases (her flickr here): easily the most popular post (click here).

I’ve been receiving e-mails directly with comments and questions: I really like these because it jogs my ideas. It gets me to organize what to write.

For example, in a previous post [Back to my (blog) roots!] I mentioned being enchanted by the oboe d’amore and also my appreciation for Ludwig Frank and the Gebrüder Mönning manufacture. Well, this started a really good e-mail exchange with one reader who gave me very encouraging information about both the instruments and how they care for their customers.

Funny thing is, I never played a Frank or Mönning nor have I ever so much as touched a d’amore! I have only owned the same Lorée oboe for 25 years. I have played some Yamahas, many Lorées, a Selmer or two and some (Lorée) English Horns, but apart from the under $300 beginner-model 1921 Pan-American I got from E-Bay last spring to practice in my truck at lunch time, my good old Lorée is it!

Who can argue with sound?

The first few times I heard Albrecht Mayer on Internet Streaming radio, I thought: “Hmm, half decent sound for a baroque oboe.”  but then I discovered he plays on modern instruments!…. I mean, talk about being happily surprized! Then I started searching him on You-Tube and found some of his clips playing the d’amore: pure extacy!

Listen, Albrecht Mayer is not the only fantastic player… more for another post. But his productions really do open a lot of doors. More on this notion later… Thanks again for reading and please continue with the e-mails. But don’t be shy to leave a comment either!

Cheers!

Back to my (blog) roots!

I had lost this URL during a SNAFU with Google services – not their fault, nor even mine fully – so I started another one (having "hautboys" - with a y - in it) under the impression that I had lost this one. Luckily, I got this one back! Everything from the temporary one (and more) is here now.

The URL name is important to me because the nick-name Robin Des Hautbois has followed me since my high-school days: I considered it a sign of predestination! Robin des Bois is French for Robin Hood (Robin of the woods or Robin of Sherwood) and the spelling testifies that I remain with the modern instrument (the y was the spelling for the baroque/classical instrument).

The SNAFU is kind of funny, because I really do find the sound of the baroque instrument far superior to the modern instrument in a few ways:

1. It is usually darker, deeper and mellower.
2. Though it has less projection, it has a larger feeling to it. 
3. It has a built-in echo quality that I compare to the deep honk of the Canada Goose, but without the honk! 
4. It is best approximated by the modern oboe d’amore: I have wanted one since the age o f 15, when I first saw one in an encyclopaedia!

But at this point in life and looking forward, I don’t want to give up the ease offered by the most modern keywork and to learn a new set of fingerings (most of which are rapid forkings) could very well cause a relapse of tendonitis….. one of the reasons I had to quit so long ago. I still consider this state (non-musician) to be a purgatory. Besides, with Albrecht mayer’s recommendations to Ludwig Frank and the Dupin Imperial’s classical bore (played by Christoph Hartmann), the sound of the modern oboe is moving back to its origins while keeping its modern benefits!

Happy Holidays to all!