Wide Reed Experiment/ation sur les anches larges

Heiko Frosh (Oboe-Shop.de ) put this picture on Facebook, claiming that it allows English Horn reeds to play in tune in a modern oboe (the picture shows an old Marigaux 901). Apparently, the 2nd oboe from a prolific European orchestra does this to help play softly in the low register. For years, I have tried to get English Horn and d’Amore reeds to play in my Lorée oboe, but have been frustrated time and time again.

Heiko Frosh (Oboe-Shop.de ) a mis cette image sur Facebook, affirmant que ça permet aux anches de cor anglais à jouer juste dans un hautbois (dans l’image, un vieux Marigaux 901). Paraît-il qu’un 2e hautbois d’un orchestre prolifique européen fait ceci pour faciliter un grave doux. Depuis des années, j’essaie des anches de cor anglais et de htb. d’amour dans mon Lorée, mais je me vois frustré presqu’à tout coup.

The sound is better in some respects and disappointing in others, but mostly, the difficulty in proper tuning and the loss of stability becomes maddening. But this image and its claims, coupled with some success using d’Amore reeds in New-York (see post ) make me want to try again.

La sonorié en est amélioré par certains critères mais décevante par d’autres. Surtout, la difficulté de jouer juste et la perte de stabilité est enrageante. Mais cette image et une mesure de réussite avec les anches de htb. d’amour à New-York (voir cet article ) me font vouloir essayer à nouveau.

Test Tune, work, weather and reeds: My apologies if being out of practice is an insult to the Strauss Oboe Concerto. I find this excerpt to be a fantastic test for a reed’s character. Cacked notes, messed slurrs, bad tuning and stuffiness are are precisely what I want to discover with the tests, so these recordings left them all in. There are no staccati, but it requires real flexibility of dynamics, feeling and super-dependable tuning and stability: The weather was rotten all week (recorded 2 weeks ago) I almost didn’t practice at all (too much work at my day-job). in 2 weeks I spent at most 15 minutes scraping these reeds (exept the purple d'amore used in New-York): half of them in one sitting, half of them in two. Because of this, the reeds mostly play flat. They will definitely get better over time, as they settle and with more finish-scraping, but even so early, a reed’s character can be found. Careful! The following recordings are experiments, not any claim of the right thing to do! As an hobbyist, it is very interesting for me to perform these experiments, but beginners or students risk wasting valuable time and fail to develop important skills by doing these. Professionals can decide for themselves if there is any value in performing such experiments.	RDG–1 / Chiarugi #3   KM 720 / Chiarugi #3 RDG #2 / Chiarugi 3	Pièce d’évaluation, boulot météo et anches: Mille excuses d’insulter le concerto pour hautbois de Strauss. Je considère cet extrait formidable pour trouver le caractère d’une anche. Les notes craquées, liaisons manquées, justesse foutue et notes étouffées sont exactement ce que les tests cherchent à découvrir, alors aucune cachotterie! Pas de stacatti, mais exige une vraie flexibility des nuances avec intonnation et stabilité sans failles: La météo était affreuse toute la semaine (enregistré il y 2 semaines) Je n’ai presque pas répété depuis 2 semaines (trop de travail au boulot). Sauf l’anche violette pour d’amour (utilisée à New-York), j’ai passé au plus 15 minutes à gratter les anches: la moitié à un seul grattage, les autre à deux grattages. Par conséquent, les anches jouent un peu (parfois beaucoup) trop bas. Ils vont absolument s’améliorer avec le temps et le grattage de finition, mais on y trouve déjà leur caractère. Attention! Ce qui suit consiste d’expérimentations, pas d’indications sur ce qui doit être fait. En tant qu’amateur, cette sorte d’enquête est captivante, mais un étudiant perdra son temps et risque de faillir à développer des habiletés importantes en répétant ces expérimentations. Les professionnels peuvent décider pour eux-mêmes s’il y a de la valeur dans la question.
Remarks Sharp reeds: offer full stability, but get extra sharp in the upper register (comparatively flat in the lower register) Flat reeds: tend to be unstable and more stuffy notes with flatter upper register comparatively to a “sharper” lower register. Pulling out sharp reeds to play at 440: just like Heiko Frosh says, creates instability. Wider shapes (7.3+ mm): easier to play pp and ff dynamics and also articulations. But they are harder to make well and tend to need more biting (not always). They sound more free and alive, but also clearer. Narrower reeds (±7.1mm): offer more of the creamy warm sound coveted today. Tied on open oboe staples, they can offer a more baroque-ish feeling. D’Amore Shape seem to play better on Chiarugi 7 oboe staples than on d’amore staples, especially for the 3rd octave. E.H. Reeds: these must be cut very short or they will be flat. The 3rd octave becomes very difficult. Conclusion: Obviously, a professional will get much better results than this! But there is sufficient success to try those reed rings with the d’amore and EH reeds. I really like playing wide reeds more (KM 750 or RDG 2) and they lean toward the sound that I like more. The use of d’Amore staples does provide a depth of sound I like from baroque instruments. Heiko Frosh suggests that Guercio EH staples might be very better suited with the rings. But perhaps “strange setups” are not suitable to Lorée, so I will have to try all these reeds again on Marigaux, Mönnig, Howarth, Püchner, Fossati and all the others at IDRS 2013!	RDG–2 / Chiarugi 7 Kunibert Michel 750 (ob. d’am.) Kunibert Michel 750 (ob. d’am.) KM 750 / Guercio d12 KM 750 / Guercio d12 Kunibert Mchel 860 / Guercio	Remarques Anches trop aiguës: pleine stability, mais aigü trop haut (grave comparativement trop bas) Anches trop basses: instabilité et notes étouffées avec aigü trop bas grave comparativement trop haut)  Sortir l’anche: faire jouer à 440 les anches trop aiguës cause de l’instabilité  Tailles larges (7.3+ mm): plus facile à jouer pp et ff et articuler. Mais plus difficiles à monter et gratter et ont parfois (pas toujours) besoin d’être mordues. Wider shapes (7.3+ mm): easier to play pp and ff dynamics and also articulations. But they are harder to make well and tend to need more biting (not always). They sound more free and alive, but also clearer. Tailles étroites (±7.1mm): sonorité plus crèmeuse telle que préférée de nos jours. Attachées sur tubes ouvertes, peuvent offrir une qualité ‘baroquescente’. Taille pour htb. d’amour: semblent mieux jouer sur Chiarugi 7 pour htb. que tubes d’amour, surtout au 3e octave. Anches de cor anglais: doivent être coupées très court, sinon jouent très bas. 3e octave assez difficile. Conclusion: Évidemment, un professionel aura de bien meilleurs résultats que ceci! Mais ça montre assez de mérite pour essayer les anches de CA et de htb. d’amour avec les anneaux. J’aime beaucoup mieux jouer les anches larges (KM 750 ou RDG 2) et ils tendent vers la sonorité que je préfère. Les tubes de htb. d’amour donne une sonorité plus ample que je remarque chez les instruments baroque. Heiko Frosh suggère que les tubes de CA Guercio pourraient mieux marcher avec les anneaux. Il est possible que ces “montages étranges” ne soient pas utilisables avec Lorée, alors je devrai essayer toutes ces anches à nouveau sur Marigaux, Mönnig, Howarth, Püchner, Fossati et tous les autres au IDRS 2013!

New (Contemporary) Music – Musique Actuelle

3 or 4 weeks ago, I tried to record a couple of impressionist tunes…. the weather had changed, turning my reeds to tire-grade rubber and perhaps the oboe too. I was very frustrated and my self-esteem had been thrashed. These 2 tunes by Kathryn Potter (www.oboebrilliance.com) from her publication “Arc en ciel”, 16 pieces for solo oboe. I felt these 2 would best help restore my recording nerves.	Il y a 3 ou 4 semaines, j’ai essayé d’enregistrer 2 pièces impressionistes… la météo avait changé et mes anches ont décidé de jouer comme des pneus mal soufflés! Le hautbois a peut-être été affecté aussi. Par conséquent, ma confiance en a été boulversée. Ces 2 pièces par Kathryn Potter (www.oboebrilliance.com) de son recueil “Arc en ciel: 16 pièces pour hautbois solo” m’ont paru appropriées à restaurer mes nerfs.
Lilacs (Kathryn Potter)	Peony / Pivoine (Kathryn Potter)
Kathryn had kindly dedicated “Lilac” to me and Peony was undedicated, so I felt it was fine to play it too. She dedicated many pieces to many oboists from near beginners to prolific professionals, all with our consent. I hope everyone will also record and post their dedicated tunes, to really show the evolution of the oboist along the different phases of development.	Kathryn a gentiment dédicacé un grand nombre de ses compositions à un grand nombre  de hautboïstes du presque-débutant au professionnel prolifique avec notre consentement; Lilas m’est dédicacé. Pivoine reste ‘libre’, alors j’ai cru bon l’enregistrer aussi. Je souhaite que tous les hautboistes dédicacés enregistrent leurs pièces montrant ainsi l’évolution du musicien au long des phases de développement.
Kathryn gives the performer lots of leeway in terms of performance requirements. For Lilacs, she wrote “delicately, gracefully” and for Peony, she wrote “freely” and “dolce”.  But in both, she indicates p-mp, requiring a soft performance. Peony could be played faster than I did, but tranquility must emerge.	Kathryn accorde à l’interprète une grande liberté d’interprétation. Pour Lilas, elle n’écrit que “délicatement, gracieusement” et pour Pivoine elle note “librement” et “dolce”. Mais pour les deux, elle indique p-mp, exigeant un jeu en douceur. Pivoine peut être joué plus rapidement, mais la traquilité doit en émaner.
Lilacs are busy flowers, being composite structures… even more so if you are a bee skipping from blossom to blossom, bumping into butterflies and ladybugs on the way! But take a step (or twenty) back that they appear like very delicate and soft flowers: high energy produces softness and tranquility.	Les lilas sont des fleurs vivantes et dynamiques, étant des structures composées… d’autant plus si vous êtes une abeille côtoyant des papillons et coccinelles! Mais prenez un pas (ou vingt) derrière et surgit une vue délicate de fleurs douces: l’énergie active produit une douce tranquilité.
Kathryn might not like my saying so, but I have loved Peonys all my life… and have never seen them without a colony of ants all over them! I might be wrong, but I think they live in symbiosis: the busy little ants helping the grand and pensive blossom to open.	Kathryn me disputera, mais j’ai aimé les pivoines toute ma vie… et je ne les ai jamais vues sans être couvertes de colonies de fourmis! Si je ne me trompe, je crois qu’ils vivent en symbiose: les fourmis occupées aident aux amples fleurs pensives à éclore.
Different Acoustics, Different Sound.	Changer d’acoustique ravive le timbre.

I did not do a video recording because I wanted to focus my time and efforts on trying a different acoustic location in my house. Recordings on the main floor (discussed in this previous post) are very lively, but tend to sound bright because of the hardwood floors and reverberation from the walls. I had noticed that in a smaller carpeted space sounds richer and softer and recordings sounded more like I hear myself, but the sound is dull.	Je n’ai pas fait de vidéo parce que je voulais me pencher sur la prise de son dans une acoustique différente à la maison. Enregistrer à l’étage principale (discuté ici) ont un son vivant, mais tend à la clareté à cause des planchers de bois franc et l’écho des murs. J’ai remarqué que les petites pièces avec tapis ont un son plus riche et doux: les enregistrements sonnent plus comme je m’entends, mais le son est mort.
The floor plan above shows a compromise between the two in the hallway of the second floor. I think the extra rooms with open doors add a little liveliness to the sound and the microphone, over the stairwell, is farthest it can be from most of the walls so the bright ringing is less important.	Le plan ci-dessus montre un compromis trouvé dans le couloir au deuxième étage. Je crois que les portes ouvertes aux atures pièces ajoute un peu de l,ampleur et que le micro, au dessus des escaliers, est le plus loin possible de tous les murs de sorte à atténuer la résonnance.
I also increased the microphone sensitivity pretty high for such a small space. This is why you hear my breath and keys even though I am playing softly. It seems that greater microphone sensitivity captures more of the low frequencies, adding more depth to the sound.	J’ai aussi augmenté grandement la sensibilité du micro pour une si courte distance. C’est pourquoi vous entendrez ma respiration et mes clefs bien que je joue doucement.. Je crois qu’augmenter la sensibilité capte mieux les fréquences graves, accordant la rondeur au son.
Amateur’s Choice	Le choix est à l’amateur.
One big advantage of being an amateur is that, whereas professionals must play repertoire they don’t always enjoy (they have to earn a living), the amateur can pick and choose what to play and can reject what s/he considers unpleasant. This is especially true when we play alone or with only a small group.	Alors que les musiciens professionels doivent parfois jouer du répertoire qu’ils aiment moins (on doit gagner sa vie), l’amateur peut choisir et rejetter à sa guise. Ceci est surtout vrai lorsqu’on joue seul ou dans un petit groupe.
In my student and short-lived pro-days, I used to abhor most music by living composers or having lived during the time of the 2nd World War. I disliked not only atonality, but the aggressive anti-melodic stuff that composers loved to analyze and explain, but rarely seemed to be enjoyed by people outside horror movies. In my university theory courses, I came to the conclusion that these composers cared only about innovating at any cost by designing systems of sound organisation: complaints of repugnance were accused of ignorance and closed-minds. Anyone who wanted to compose like the past greats were treated as cheap copyists.	À l’époque de mes études et très courte période professionnelle, j’avais horreur des compositions “actuelles” ou de l’après 2e guerre mondiale. Pas juste l’atonalité, mais des tendances agressives et anti-mélodiques… ce qu’on a appelé parfois “l’art comprends-pâs-rien” (au lieu de “contemporain”). On aimait analyser et expliquer ce qui semblait conçu pour films d’horreurs. Dans mes cours d’analyse à l’université, j’ai conclu que les compositeurs ne voulaient qu’innover à tout prix, concevant des systèmes d’organisation du son: toute critique était accusée d’esprit fermé et d’ignorance. Quiconque voulait composer comme les grands du passé étaient traité comme de simples copistes.
I am now happy to discover that many composers of the turn of the of the 21st century have returned to a sense of writing through inspiration rather than empty intellectual design. Many 20th century composers who continued in the late-romantic and impressionist styles are not becoming known and today’s composers are no longer afraid to mix traditional harmony with new sounds: novelty is again driven by a search for meaning… in other words, what jazz and hard-rock have known for generations is finally understood by “classical” music too!	Je suis heureux de découvrir que les compositeurs du 21e siècle semblent retourner à un sens d’inspiration, plutôt que l’intellectualisme froid. Plusieurs compositeurs du 20e siècle, qui ont voulu continuer les styles du romantique et impressionisme font surface et ceux d’aujourd’hui ne fuient plus l’incorporation de l’harmonie traditionelle aux sons nouveaux: l’innovation est à nouveau dirigée par la une quête d’expression… en d’autres mots, la musique classique semble enfin réaliser ce que sait le jazz et le rock-dur depuis des générations!
Although I remain a fan of the Baroque, Romantic and Impressionist styles, I have been happily surprised by many brand-new works for oboe ensembles, complete with multiphonics, that are really enjoyable. There is a lot of hope for new music: the rift between composers and audience might just be closing at last!	Bien que je continue à choyer le baroque, romantique et l’impressionisme, j’ai été agréablement surpris par des pièces flambant-neuves pour ensembles de hautbois, comptant même des “sons multiples”. Il y a donc de l’espoir pour la musique contemporaine: le gouffre avec l’auditoire semble enfin se refermer!

Reed Opening – Ouverture des anches

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Work Before Play… Software Engineers have a reputation of working long late hours. When I get home, I insist on doing 30-45 minutes of oboe, but with supper and the dogs, there’s no time left at all to do anything whatsoever…. my 8-9 hours sleep being vital to coping with fibromyalgia.	Boulot avant dodo… Les ingénieurs logiciel ont la réputation de travailler de longues heures. Quand j’arrive à la maison, j’insiste faire mes 30-45 minutes de hautbois, mais après le souper et m’occupper des chiens, il ne reste plus aucun temps pour rien… mes 8-9 heurs de sommeil étant vitaux pour contrer la fibromyalgie.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of spending time with part of the oboe class at University of Ottawa and then chat a bit with their teacher and principal oboe of the NACO, Charles “Chip” Hamann (fantastic player!). We discussed reed construction and preferences and I was really surprized at how open-minded he is: in my own experience, I had found that oboists in Canada and USA are very rigid in their views. Chip explained to my that his teacher, the renowned Richard Killmer of the Eastman school, was very flexible on matters of reed and performance styles insisting on the important issues rather than details of personal preference…..                      BRAVO to both of you!	En fin de semaine dernière, j’ai eu le plaisir de passer du temps avec quelques étudiants en hautbois de l’université d’Ottawa et de jaser un peu avec leur prof., Charles “Chip” Hamann, le hautbois principal de l’Orchestre du CNA (excellent interprète!). Nous avons discuté des anches, leur construction et nos préférences et j’ai été fort surpris de son ouverture d’esprit, étant habitué au dogmatisme à cet égard chez les canadiens et américains. Chip m’a expliqué que son prof., le célébré Richard Killmer de l’école de Eastman, était très flexible, se concentrant surtout sur les questions importantes en matière d’interprétation et de style…. BRAVO à vous deux!
Chip looked at my reeds (essentially French Hybrids) and remarked they are not so different from his (fully Philadelphia). But one thing he remarked on was the opening and the separation of the blades. Well, I don’t perform in front of hundreds of people every week, so I can afford to experiment more. In fact, the opening can be misleading depending on how it is soaked, and I like it more open so it will keep it’s “bounce” when it does close after the warm-up.	Chip a regardé mes anches (grosso-modo françaises hybrides) et a remarqué les ressemblances avec les siennes (pleinement américaines). Mais une chose qu’il a noté est l’ouverture et la séparation des lames. Enfin, je ne joue pas devant des centaines de personnes à toutes les semaines, alors je peux me permettre d’expérimenter. Mais l’ouverture peut donne fausse-impression selon son trempage et sans une bonne ouverture, elle peut perdre son esprit après avoir joué quelques minutes.
Opening vs. Separation vs. Sealing, Curvature vs. Flatness Opening means how far the blades are apart while keeping their curvature. Separation usually means the cane tube (canon) was not split to ensure flatness of the cane back. Separation does not air leaks, which are usually due to poor shaping and/or bad binding (tying). A flattened tip is when the blades loose their oval curve. Sealing is really important as air leaks will most certainly mean bad notes in the bottom register, bad articulation and bad dynamic control. Air leaks are usually gaps between the blades closer to the thread. Gaps higher up are either separation, flawed shaping or simply poor cane. I have a few reeds with very separated blades that play so well (after a good warm-up) that I insist on keeping them even though they look absolutely horrible.	Overture vs séparation vs. étancheté Courbure vs. applati L’ouverture décrit la distance entre les bouts lorsque la forme ovale est bonne. La séparation des lames veut dire que le roseau en canon n’a probablement pas été fendu de manière à assurer un dos plat. La séparation n’oblige pas les fuites d’air, qui sont souvent le résultat de taillage et/ou ligatturage inadéquat. On parle d’anche applatie quand le bout perd sa courbe.  L’étancheité est importante parce que les fuites vont très sûrement échouer les notes dans le grave et enfreindre l’articualtion et les nuances. Les fuites sont plus souvent des trous entre les lames plus près du fil. Les fuites plus haut que la mi-anche indiquent souvent un taillage inadéquat ou simplement de mauvais roseau. J’ai quelques anches avec des lames très séparées qui jouent pourtant très bien après quelques minutes de réchauffement (et un bon trempage). Elles sont laides comme tout, mais j’insiste de les garder.

 

The reed above is the experimental reed described in a previous post (). This one is not one of the good reeds that separate, but it gives the best pictures.(Click on a picture for a bigger size.) Its opening looks very wide open, but if the blades did not separate, perhaps it would be just right. Because it is made with an oboe d’amore shape on a huge oboe staple, it is difficult to know if the separation is due to curvy cane or if there is a pivot causing it. At any rate, there are no leaks as the binding is just right: when I put the reed in my lips, the separation closes and the seal is excellent.	L’anche ci-dessus est l’anche expérimentale décrite dans un article passé (). Elle ne compte pas parmi les bonnes anches qui séparent, mais elle donne les plus belles photos. (Cliquez sur une image pour la voir en plus grand.) L’ouverture paraît très grande, mais si les lames ne séparaient pas, elle serait peut-être juste bonne. Puisqu’elle est taillée pour hautbois d’amour et attachée sur un très gros tube pour hautbois, il devient difficile à savoir si la séparation est causée par un roseau courbé où s’il s’agit d’un pivot. Dans tous les cas, aucune fuite d’air une fois entre mes lèvres.
Weather! Effects on Opening  Hot, humid summer days tend to open reeds and exaggerate the separation, but the blades keep their nice curved aperture. This makes the crow much lower notes, but not necessarily harsher. So both tuning and stability are really compromised. Dry cold days tend to flatten the blades’ aperture but the reed also tends to close. Apart from making the reed buzz, stability just goes crazy. The pitch can be good, but dynamics become really restricted. Oddly, it does not help close separation at all.	Météo! effets sur l’ouverture  Le temps chaud et humide tend à ouvrir les anches et à exagérer leur séparation, mais les lames comme telles gardent leur courbure. Leur cri donne des notes bien plus basses, mais pas nécessairement plus rauque. Par conséquent, la justesse et la stabilité en sont fort compromises. Le temps froid et sec tend à applatir le bout des lames et fermer l’ouverture. À part rendre le son très nazillard, la stabilité part en peur. Le centre de justesse peut être bonne, mais les nuances sont grandement restreintes. Étrangement, le sec ne semble pas réduire la séparation.
Opening, Separation and Embouchure One can imagine that separating blades and open reeds mean a firmer embouchure is required and the mouth gets tired faster. However, I have found that fatigue in the lips usually comes with reeds that don’t crow the lower tones: they don’t preserve their harshness evenly as I crescendo/diminuendo. This is usually the case with reeds that close too much in the back (or simply of poor cane). My good reeds that open and separate (the reed pictured above might become one if I work on it) keep an evenly harsh crow. When well soaked, they will close after a few minutes warming-up and then play well for as long as I can play.	Ouverture, séparation et embouchure On peut imaginer que la séparation des lames et les anches ouvertes exigent une embouchure plus dûre et fatigue la gueule plus vite. En fait, j’ai trouvé que la fatigue vient avec les anches qui ne crient pas les notes graves ou qui ne gardent ps leur aspect rauque avec les nuances. C’est habituellement le cas des anches trop fermées en arrière (où simplement de roseau inadéquat). Mes bonnes anches qui séparent (l’anche ci-dessus pourrait en devenir une si je la travaille) gardent un son rauque constant en les faisant crier. Lorsque bien trempées, elles ferment après quelques minutes de réchauffement et jouent bien pour le reste de ma répétition.

Comparing many oboes!

University of Ottawa Oboe Event

People don’t usually think of Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) as a hub of oboe activity (compared to Toronto, Montréal or New-York!), but U.of O. professor and principle oboe at the National Arts Centre Orchestra Charles “Chip” Hamann organized a really fantastic event. With the additional sponsorship of Lorée and Gary Armstrong Woodwinds and the presence of very noteworthy guest professionals, this turned out to be quite a memorable weekend.

This is intended as an annual event, it took place last year and before, and will hopefully take place again next year: I really recommend people to attend! There were 3 principle focus points: U.of O. students, local amateurs and fostering a spirit of “oboe community”. Normally, these events focus almost exclusively on the first point, and it’s a real credit to Chip and co-organizer Angela Casagrande for having the broad vision to incorporate the rest.

Many oboes to try!

There is SO MUCH that can be said about the event – especially a striking concert by all professionals who participated – that it would be too easy to ramble on for hours. For this post, I’ll limit myself to a precious opportunity afforded by the event: trying and comparing over a dozen oboes! Gary Armstrong Woodwinds of Toronto came over to offer repair services and exhibit some of their stock for sale. These consisted of mostly Lorée (used and new – including 1 Royal), a good number of Howarths (new – including 1 XL), a used Strasser, a used Buffet Green Line, a used Covey and 2 new English Horns, a Fox and a Lorée and even 2 oboes for youngsters!

Reeds, weather and Climate Control

I had purposely brought some good and mediocre reeds because I wanted to see how these instruments handle the varying quality. On the 1st day, that went fine and I made some observations that I wanted to confirm on the 2nd day…… problem, on the 2nd day all reeds had 2 phases:

1. In the morning, they were all rock hard, didn’t crow, didn’t wheeze, just hard!
2. After some warming up, they seemed to behave reasonably the same: near concert grade! This made it difficult to really make a clear difference between one oboe and another.

Furthermore, the hall where the exhibition took place seemed to play a huge role in how these instruments were behaving: on the 1st day, I had tried and was really impressed by the tuning of almost all instruments…. then I tried mine as a standard…. mine was playing much more in tune and with better character than usual! So here’s a case where a favourable hall for performance makes it difficult to find the faults in the instruments!

Observations: Lorée afresh and other wonders

The following are my own opinions, highly coloured by my lack of experience and lost mastery of the instrument. Other people can have very different opinions which are fully valid. I’ll limit my observations to the positive attributes, because I don’t think I had enough time with the instruments to really qualify any flaws. The new instruments (Lorée and Howarth) were all easy to play in the altissimo register). None of them left me with any “super sensational” feeling making me want to rush out and change my instrument.

1. Lorée:
   1. All Lorées on exhibit seemed to … this is not a flaw at all … “frame” the sound. It is favourable to a consistent tone quality among different players. But it also makes me wonder why people feel they have more “freestyle expression” with it.
   2. There was an A-series and a C series: their legendary reputation is well deserved! Light weight yet full body sound. Not the most beautiful thing to see, but who cares! Really easy to play. Absolutely worth the trouble to rejuvenate the mechanics, these instruments deserve to be heard in public!
   3. The standard bore oboes were new or younger than the year 2000. Their tuning and stability were far improved compared to mine (1985).
   4. There were used and new AK bores: these exhibit much less restraint on blowing while maintaining the Lorée character.
   5. Royal: heavy, but that’s OK because it really “sits” its sound solidly. Extremely free blowing but dependable tuning throughout. It is superior to the standard models, but if money is an issue, the AK is really nice.
2. Howarth:
   1. All of them were very free blowing: no feeling of congestion anywhere or at any time.
   2. The little finger keys are especially comfortably positioned: I did not realize this had such an impact. You must try and compare to fully grasp the implications.
   3. The XL has all the good qualities of the Lorée Royal – choosing a favourite between the two is not easy at all.
3. Covey:
   1. A pleasant enigma. The repair work was fine for reselling, so everything played well, but more work on rejuvenating it would prevent misconceptions.
   2. At first, I did not like a sense of resistance from it. But the more I played, the more that sense gave way to a kind of restful feeling.
   3. It has a beautiful quality I don’t know how to explain: it very gracefully transitions between notes with more fluidity than any other instrument I have tried to this day.
   4. Very light, yet fine sound and comfortable to play.
4. Strasser:
   1. This was a very pleasant surprise. I was expecting a flawed “junior” model, but I really have no criticisms against it whatsoever…. and I tried many tricks to make it sound bad: it never did.
   2. The one word that characterises it is “comfort”. Comfortable to blow, comfortable to hold, comfortable mechanisms.
   3. My hands are big, this instrument might be designed for smaller hands. Nonetheless, I think I could play it very happily.
   4. I think it is the ideal model for both beginner and serious students because you can sound fully professional with it.
5. Buffet Crampon Green Line:
   1. I fully understand why people like this instrument.
   2. I remember, on the 1st day, remarking that this instrument is very forgiving on reeds: my mediocre reeds played very easily and in tune.
   3. Lorée players might not like it: difficult to explain, the 2 instruments “blow differently” – switching (alternating) between the 2 is not an easy task.
   4. This one is the very definition of “free blowing”.
   5. The tuning is fully dependable and it can sound almost any way you want.
6. Children’s oboes
   1. There was a Cabard “petites mains” and a Howarth Junior oboe.
   2. Both had exquisite sound and flawless tuning.
   3. These are proof positive that oboes are NOT impossible instruments!!!

Surprize: instability on different notes!

Those of us who became solid players around the 1980’s and 1990’s were accustomed to special fingerings on most brands of oboe for the F# and G (sometimes the E-natural) with the 1st octave key. Some notes with the 2nd octave key might be flat or sharp or even unpredictable, but they would not “wobble” in the middle of a crescendo.

Strangely, some of the instruments I tried, I was very surprized that this “wobble” happened on either the 2nd octave key A or the “normal” F with the 1st octave key. Because my reeds all played more consistently on the 2nd day, I was not able to reproduce it, and I forgot which instruments. I just remember it was not the Strasser, the Royal or the XL.

Nino Rota Duet for 2 oboes (1/3)

 20 000 visits to the blog!

Last week marked well over twenty thousand visits to this blog, from 78 countries – in less than a year!
I am really thrilled at this, and I still find it extraordinary to see Google searches that point specifically to my posts!
Thank you so much to all visitors!

 

Nino Rota: much more than movie music!

Tre pezzi per due oboi (1/3) : Vecchia Romanza

A few months ago, Michele sent me sheets for a rare duet for 2 oboes by Nino Rota. I say “rare” because I had never heard of Rota writing chamber music, but perhaps Italians play this all the time? At any rate, I take it as an honour to perform these and play both oboe parts using the multi-track recording system on my recording device.

This is a set of 3 duets written specifically for 2 oboes, and I actually wanted to wait to record all three at the same time, but I have to celebrate 20000 visits! The duets are not difficult BUT the first oboe requires good control of the altissimo register (3rd octave key) and the 2nd and 3rd movements are really tricky in term of rhythmic ensemble. I need more time to get it right. This is not the first time I am pleasantly surprised with Rota, but I’ll mention that with the next recording. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy!

Facebook International Oboe Groups – Michele Mancaniello

The groups on Facebook that join oboists and bassoonists from all over the world are simply fantastic. Apart from sharing videos, news, performance information, and many, many questions, the international exposure really expands our horizons.

A few participants have distinguished themselves as particularly generous with their expertise,  and resources. One such notable participant is Michele Mancaniello, a professor of music in Montemilone, Italy. Whenever anyone in the world is looking for music sheets of known or obscure pieces, Michele is quick to reply in the wonderful group Oboe in the World. Michele studied music and composition with Nino Rota before completing his formal training as a composer and oboist in Italy. Michele has amassed a considerable library of solo pieces and study repertoire for oboe and is fully eager to share (as permitted by law) with anyone who asks, anywhere in the world. He very humble and friendly: he is Italian, but I would like to see more people like him in Canada too!

 Romantic dog…

This one is called “Vecchia Romanza”, an “old romance”. As I practice it, the music seems to tell me what it wants…. and I don’t hear much romance there… UNLESS I don’t interpret it as “old tune of romance” but rather “old people feeling romantic”. As I get older too, everything in the tune makes sense: it’s not just about hormones, but they are there – it’s not just about passionate feelings, but they are there – and it’s just as much about the memory of romance as it is about feelings today.

This recording was not intended to be the one for You-Tube: it was a warm-up rehearsal and has notes out of tune and errors in rhythm. But if you listen closely, on the last note you will hear a faint howl: that’s my Chihuahua/Maltese dog Popcorn (on the left in picture below), lying on his side and singing with me! When that happened and I heard it on the recording, I HAD to keep it!

Winter reeds…

In a previous post (click here ), I had given 2 pictures of many reeds and said I would comment on them. The picture above is the one I used for this recording.

Winter is only beginning to show up here: the worst will come in 2 months. But the effects on reeds is already starting to show: it was worse last week, but they are closing and the crow is much too smooth for my own liking. The reed I use here is shaped on an RDG –1 shaper (using my own gouge at ±0.60mm) and bound on a Stevens #3 thin-wall staple (46.5mm). The staple is very similar to Chiarugi 2+ and I find it really opens-up the expressiveness of the shape. I find (my experience – may be different for others) the RDG shapes can play with a really mellow tone, but the upper register gets much clearer: that is, the sound in the registers change a lot regardless of how the reed is scraped.

The ragged tip you see in the picture actually comes from using an old grenadilla plaque (bellied) which is worn-out: when scraping, the cane is not evenly supported and nicks happen that way. It plays really well nonetheless, only slightly resistant, but I don’t want to make it easier and loose the sound colour.

Reed Life Cycle (part 1) : long-term cycle

O.K. a little over a month of intense computer work is now over!
Back to the oboe, if fatigue and a sore back doesn’t get in the way!

The bad season for reeds and reed making is coming quickly, so I have to try to finish as many reeds as I can as soon as possible before weather just confuses the difference between good and mediocre reeds.

It’s a reed’s life…

I’ve “irked” more than one professional and/or amateur oboist by saying that making oboe reeds is easy! I stand firm on that, but I must explain that a lot of the complaints I read are mostly due to misunderstanding how reeds behave over time. Reeds have 2 definite life-cycles and you can’t expect them to behave “perfectly” when they are not in the performance phase! The short-term cycle describes with the reed’s behaviour during one day and the long-term cycle describes it’s entire lifetime from first scrape to final rest. The short-term cycle MIGHT be more apparent in Euro (short) scrape reeds because the windows in American scrape theoretically eliminate the reed’s springy bounce-back. But the long-term applies to all scraping styles.

In my student days, I had a reputation of being able to scrape a blank in 15 minutes and be able to play a good performance on it. Nonetheless, the best reeds take weeks to scrape (having been tied months before). In a nutshell, my best results commonly follow this pattern:

• On the first scraping, the reed should play all the notes relatively easily, nothing more. Trying to improve the sound or responsiveness at this point can very well ruin the reed.
• A few days later, the reed will open much more to the point where it is almost unusable. At this point,
  • first: close the reed with proper soaking and squeezing;
  • second: the reed can be softened over a few days for sound quality and responsiveness (remove more bark in the back and/or reduce the tip, sides and heart), but not too much as this can make the reed very unstable.
  • Note 1: squeezing the reed is more important than scraping for a few days. Playing the reed a little bit each day helps determine how much can be scraped.
  • Note 2: at this point, the reed can tune the oboe very flat. I don’t fix that yet because I have found that the reed will naturally rise in pitch within a week.
• Less than one week after the first scraping, the cane’s character should begin to show itself. The difference between concert grade, practice grade, strength builder or just plain no good!
• About a week after first scraping, I will sometimes make dramatic changes to the reed: change the back, back-up the heart, chop the tip by as much as 2.5mm – sometimes, no change at all. The dramatic changes often take reeds I thought were awful and turn them into concert-grade reeds. Sometimes, even small adjustments take near-concert grade reeds and ruin them irreparably!
• More than one week after the first scraping (a week and a half or 2 weeks), the reed will be at its best. This is where the final touch scraping can be done. A reed that needs scraping or any adjustment after 2 weeks (in MY experience – other people will have different opinions) usually means it is just no good.
• The reed is actually best for performance after about one month after the first scrape. Reeds should be used at least every 2-3 days for 15 minutes to an hour to keep them ”alive”.

This kind of use typically keeps my reeds in concert grade for another couple of months…. but then again, I don’t play anywhere nearly as much as students or professionals!

I know the reed is at the end of its life when it becomes “too” easy to play, the sound brightens and becomes buzzy: dynamics will become more difficult, the pitch will rise (or drop) and articulation will become sluggish. No scraping will help anymore. Sometimes, cleaning with hydrogen peroxide and pipe-cleaners will extend the life for a few days to a week, but it is not a full restoration.

wimpy [ weather cane mouth | reeds ]

For those of you who have done Linear Algebra, the part on matrices, you’ll recognize the equation:
wimpy weather + wimpy cane + wimpy (tired out) mouth =  wimpy reeds….
By wimpy reeds, in this context, I also mean wimpy sound!

Many of you in the U.S.A. are experiencing weather that we, in Eastern Canada, take for granted: lots of snow and dry-cold weather. Well, over here, the weather is about as expected (between
–5 and –15°C…. sorry, I don’t do Farenheit). But that doesn’t really matter as the heating in the house keeps it at a comfortable 19°C. What is the killer, for the sound, is that the humidity in the house has been dipping below 28%…… in the summer, it goes as high as 93%, before we turn on the air conditioning, then it stabilizes at 55%.

My reeds that were playing soooooo nicely a month ago just went wimpy last week, with undependable stability. For the past few days, the sound that was sooooo mellow a few weeks ago just turned to into a buzzaphone!

One thing I have noticed regardless of the weather, though, is that when my lips get tired, I tend to bite instead of support with my gut and the sound goes (relatively) sour. Relatively, because a reed that played warmly and darkly will still do so, but will add a definite buzz to it.

Ah well, I guess I’d better leave the repertoire alone for awhile and just concentrate on long tones! Also, we can expect worse in terms of humidity with the temperatures falling to –30°C in late January and Februrary, so I’d best work on the power humidifier a bit!