Strength in unison. / L’unisson fait la force.

I started this blog 3½ years ago, just as I was starting my journey to overcoming chronic pain and chronic fatigue. Despite my 8 years in the army, I have literally been tired non-stop since the age of 7 and my entire body hurts for no apparent reason all day every day for the past 12 years or so. The really irritating part about fibromyalgia is not really the pain, but rather that nobody can see anything to justify the pain: no shrunken arm, no peg-leg, no portable dialysis machine... and even those visible conditions don't usually cause the relentless fatigue that just slows us down even though our minds are overflow of creative imagination and our hearts are exploding with entrepreneurial drive. For most people, physical fitness is necessary to maintain health. The joke is, this is also true for sufferers of fibromyalgia except that increasing muscle mass also increases the pain! So we suffer like everyone else from the pitfalls of weakness, but we also suffer extra pain from athletic activity.		J’ai commencé mon blogue, il y 3 ans et demi, au moment même où j’entammais la lutte contre la douleur et fatigue chroniques. En dépit de mes 8 ans dans l’armée, je suis littéralement fatigué sans arrêt depuis l’âge de 7 ans et mon corps entier a mal toute la journée et chaque jour depuis environ 12 ans sans aucune raison apparente. Ce qui est vraiment agaçant est l’absence de justification visible: pas de bras rétrécit, pas de jambe de bois, pas de respirateur ambulant… et même ces signes visibles ne causent habituellement pas la fatigue qui m’afflige sans relâche malgré mon esprit créateur et coeur d’entrepreneur. Pour la plupart du monde, l’activité physique est nécessaire pour maintenir la santé. Ironiquement, c’est aussi vrai des affligés de fibromyalgie, mais accroître la masse musculaire accrôit aussi la douleur! Alors nous souffrons comme tout le monde par la faiblesse, mais nous souffrons aussi de l’activité physique.
Proper care really paid off! When I began the blog, I had to wear knee and wrist supports and still had bad pain from just walking my dogs, I could barely play with them without severe pain to the arms and I had to use ice-packs and heat-packs to get through the day at computer work. Since then, I found a physiotherapist who got me in good enough shape to go to the gym. This was very helpful, but I could never get back in shape without encurring more pain. The physiotherapist continued to do great work and Tai-Chi just did wonders in restoring my ability to walk, stand and generally do everyday house, yard and professional work without needing any braces or special clothing… in fact, my need for pain medication has reduced by at least 75%.	My/Ma Physio. Great Trainer Excellente entraineure	L’effort en a vraiment vallu la peine! Quand j’ai commencé le blogue, je devais porter des supports aux genous et au poignets et je souffrais quand-même juste à marcher les chiens. Je ne pouvais guère jouer avec eux sans douleur sévère aux avant-bras et je devais me donner des compresses froides et chaudes juste pour faire ma journée de boulot en informatique. Depuis lors, j’ai trouvé une physiothérapeute qui m’a remis en forme pour recommencer le gymnase. Très bien, mais je ne pouvais quan-même pas me remettre en forme sans grandes douleurs. La physiothérapeute a persévéré et le Tai-Chi s’est avéré presque miraculeux: la marche, me tenir debout et généralement l’ouvrage autour de la maison et du jardin font maintenant monnaie courante… en fait, ma consommation d’anti-douleurs a diminué par au moins 75%
So Tai-Chi and my physiotherapist (I really need both) are working hand-in-hand to make my life pretty much normal, now. I can pretty much do anything I want to do. Physiotherapy alone only gets rid of the biggest pain problems, it does not strengthen the body at all. Tai-Chi alone solidifies the structure, but it does not prevent the underlying pain problems from returning: these are neuropathic issues and the physiotherapy is specially designed for that. Over the past few years, I have increased my flexibility and strength enough to begin serious body building or even aim for Kung-Fu. It is the number of free hours in a week that will decide what I end up doing.	Tai-Chi Blog	Entre le Tai-Chi et la physiothérateute, ma vie est presqu’à la normale, je peux faire à peu près ce que je veux. Seule, la physiothérapie raye les douleurs et blocages, mais ça ne rend pas le corps puissant. Le Tai-Chi solidifie et stabilise le corps, mais ne raye pas le retour des problèmes sous-jacents: ceux-ci sont neuropathiques et la physiothérapie est conçue spécialement. Au fil des années, ma flexibilité et ma force se sont renforcés assez pour que je puisse viser l’altérophilie ou même le Kung-Fu. Ce n’est le nombre d’heures libres dans une semaine qui limitent mes choix.
Oboe tuning with full dynamics needs strength! In Montréal, in both classical music and the eclectic repertoire of the military bands, we lived by the motto "If buddy is playing out of tune, it's my fault: I should be compensating".  For this reason, we all learn to bend the notes as necessary so that everyone is responsible for proper tuning and blending of the entire ensemble. But even with a professional grade instrument, controlling the sound quality and tuning can be very demanding and drain a person's stamina.		Justesse du hautbois exige la vigeur! À Montréal, en musique classique ou le répertoire polyvalent des musiques militaires, nous vivions le dicton : “Si l’autre fausse, c’est de ma faute pour manquer à compenser”. Nous apprenons donc à bouger la note de sorte à ce que tous soient responsable de la justesse de l’ensemble. Mais même avec un instrument professionnel, contrôller la qualité du son est une tâche exigente qui peut draîner ladite vigueur.
North-American oboists make their reeds in a special way to ensure Lorées can play dependably in tune, but also to restrict the sound so it blends in the orchestra without ever sticking out. As it is becoming clear by my You-Tubes, I favour the European aesthetic where pp means really soft but ff means really loud! I want the oboe to do what I want it to do, not want to be limited by the instrument: to be heard distinctly does not mean overshadowing anyone else, so I appreciate the lively sound of the oboe without straining.. I think I am well on the way of re-mastering my Lorée and making it sound the way I want it to – it is really proving to be my “Ol’ Faithful” ally in music. But to do this requires a lot of effort.	American	L’école nord-américaine ajuste les anches de hautbois pour que les Lorées aient une justesse stable, mais aussi restreignent le son de manière à se mêler à l’orchestre sans que le hautbois ne vole la vedette. Comme il devient clair avec mes You-Tube, je préfère l’esthétique Européenne où un pp est vraiment doux, mais où un ff veut dire vraiment fort! Pouvoir clairement distinguer les instruments ne veut pas dire écraser les autres, alors j’apprécie entendre la contribution du timbre vivant du hautbois sans devoir m’éreinter. Je crois faire bonne route à re-maîtriser mon Lorée et le faire sonner à mon goût – il devient vraiment ma “Vieille Branche” d’ami musical fidèle. Mais y arriver exige beaucoup d’effort.
Although physiotherapy and Tai-Chi are doing wonders for me, my underlying condition of fibromyalgia will remain problematic: some days I am full of energy and ready to take on the world; on these days, my Lorée is a great ally and I can do anything with it, even playing FOUR octave B-flats! But other days, the energy is just drained out of me and I can barely even play middle A to middle C in tune, let alone 2nd octave key notes… forget the stability of 1st octave key E to G.	Robin	Bien que le Tai-Chi et la physiothérapie me font des merveilles, la condition sous-jacente de fibromyalgie restera toujours une épreuve: j’ai des jours de pleine vigueur où je pourais régner la terre; ces jours-là, mon Lorée est un excellent allié et je peux faire ce que je veux avec, même QUATRE octaves de Si-bémol. J’ai aussi des jours d’épuisement continu où j’ai peine à ajuster du la au do moyen, laissons-faire la 2e clef d’octave… et oublions la stabilité du mi au sol de la 1ère clef d’octave.
Last year, at IDRS 2013 in Redlands California, I tried many oboes that seemed to play beautifully in perfect tune with the same reeds that were awful on my Lorée…. let’s see if the very different climate of IDRS 2014 in New-York will confirm the same results.		L’an dernier, à IDRS 2013 en Californie, j’ai essayé plein de hautbois qui semblaient offrir une justesse stable avec les mêmes anches qui donnaient tant de défauts à mon Lorée…. voyons si le climat très différent d’IDRS 2014 à New-York confirmera l’expérience.

Fibromyalgia, Music and Livelihood – Vivre, la musique et la fibromyalgie

Ready or not…. I am currently practicing a variety of repertoire, and I have been wanting to make a recording of at least one tune for several weeks. Not done yet because I just don’t feel musically ready…. then I started thinking, professionals (or even performing amateurs) have scheduled concerts on set dates: they don’t have the luxury of not feeling ready! So I figure, for the sake of tracking an amateur’s life, I should produce recordings even when I don’t feel ready: that would track my progress much more authentically. …Well, mounting pressure at work and surprize opportunities just left me no time over the past few weekends!

Paré, pas paré… Je travaille actuellement un répertoire varié et je veux enregistrer au moins une pièce depuis plusieurs semaines. Ceci n’est pas fait parce que je ne me sens pas prêt, musicalement… mais j’y songe, les professionnels (et amateurs qui jouent sur scène) ont un agenda de concerts fixe, donc n’ont pas le luxe de ne pas se sentir prêt! Je me dis donc que je devrais enregistrer même lorsque pas prêt: cela ferait témoignage plus fidèle de mon dévelopement. … b’en, la pression montante à l’ouvrage et des opportunités-surprisene m’on simplement pas laissé le temps ces dernières semaines!

IMS and physical Update: The blog is also supposed to encourage people by tracking my battle against chronic pain ad fatigue. So here goes instead of music! REMARK: what follows is a really happy and encouraging story!

SIM et situation physique: Ce blogue veut encourager le monde en suivant ma lutte contre la douleur chronique et la fatigue chronique. Alors allons-y à la place de la musique! REMARQUE: ce qui suit est une histoire vraiment heureuse et bourée d’espoir!

Fibromyalgia on the rise More and more people are complaining of being always tired and pains that just don’t go away, no matter what they do and despite any amount of medication. When this persists for more than some months, and when medical science can’t find anything wrong (no infection, no injury, no congenital condition), they call this “fibromyalgia”: tight, tough painful muscles. This is usually accompanied by always feeling tired, although the condition of chronic fatigue could be either independent or the result of exhaustion from endless pain. This is becoming apparent in all walks of life, but mostly people who either sit down at a desk all day or who wear down their bodies. I have been living with nonstop pain for 12 years now, at times so bad I could barely walk a hallway….. remember, there’s nothing wrong with me! (At least, nothing out of the ordinary for my age.)		La fibromyalgie arrache le poil à la bête De plus en plus de gens se plaignent d’avoir mal partout et d’être toujours fatigués en dépit de tout médicament. Quand ceci dûre plus de quelques mois et quand la médecine n’identifie aucune cause (aucune infection, blessure ou condition), on utilise le mot “fibromyalgie”: muscles tendus, fibreux et douloureux. Ceci est souvent accompagné de fatigue chronique, mais il est incertain ci ce dernier est un syndrôme indépendent ou un épuisement dû au mal qui ne relâche jamais. Ceci devient apparent dans tous les métiers et professions, surtout où l’on doit rester assis toute la journée ou qui usent le corps. Je vis avec cette douleur sans relâche depuis 12 ans, par bouts, j’avais peine et misère à simplement marcher le corridor….. rappel: il n’y a rien de mal avec ma santé! (Enfin, rien d’anormal pour mon âge.)
Mind over Matter: Just like most sufferers of chronic pain, I have seen more than a dozen doctors plus a few physiotherapists and massage therapists over the years, some who “specialize” in chronic pain and I have tried a large number of pills that claim to relieve the condition: no luck! As with many people, it seems medication has very strong side effects with almost no benefit and these can actually prevent me from concentrating, thus possibly halting my professional career! Naturally, this is unacceptable: I (and many others) prefer to suffer the pain and the mood swings that go with it. Consequently, I have seen statistics that show sufferers of chronic pain and fatigue develop severe depression leading to a suicide rate comparable to the death rate ascribed to diabetes! Believe me, I can relate to that. The only other advice that medical science is capable of offering is relaxation, fitness and stress reduction.		L’esprit mène le corps. Comme la majorité des souffrants de douleur chronique, j’ai vu plus d’une douzaine de médecins et quelques physiothérapeutes et massothérapeutes (quelques-uns “spécialistes” en douleur chronique) et j’ai essayé toutes sortes de pillules qui prétendent soulager la condition: rien à faire! Histoire commune, aucun bénéfice évident et effets secondaires puissants qui m’enlèvent la concentration, menaçant ma profession! Bien sûr, inacceptable: comme tant d’autres, je préfère accepter la douleur et les sautes d’humeur qui s’ensuivent. Par conséquent, j’ai vu des statistiques qui montrent qu’un nombre de souffrants développe une dépression sévère qui mène à un taux de suicide semblable à la mortalité lié à la diabète! Croyez-moi que je comprend pourquoi. Tout ce que peut ajouter la science médicale est la relaxation, la forme physique et la réduction du stress.
IMS, Tai-Chi and Foam Rollers For the past couple of years, Providence has smiled on me and lead me to an amazing physiotherapist and gym trainer. They started me on a journey that does work: a discovery of activity and markers to predict near full recovery, possibly even become strong and athletic again. The key activities that, for me, accomplish this are: Gunn-IMS (Intra-Muscular Stimulation) lengthens muscles, relieving tension that compresses nerves. Tai-Chi promotes mobility of the joints and nerves and promotes strength in stabilizer muscles (usually neglected at the gym) Foam Rollers () release myofascial knots in the muscles, promoting relaxation and regenerating sleep.		SIM, tai-chi et rouleaux Depuis quelques années, la Providence m’a mené à des entraîneurs une physiothérapeute formidables. Ils m’ont mis sure une piste qui fonctionne pour vrai: une découverte d’activités et d’étalons qui prédisent un retour à une forme solide et possiblement une vie athlétique. Les activités qui m’aident le plus sont SIM-Gunn (Stimulation Intra-Musculaire)  rallonge les muscles, soulageant la pression sur les nerfs Tai-chi favorise la mobilité des articulations et des nerfs et renforce les muscles stabilisateurs (négligés par le gymnase) Rouleaux de mousse () défont les noeuds dans les muscles, favorisant la détente et le sommeil réformateur.
Results as they stand today: Saturday morning headaches:  gone! Posture when standing and sitting. Wrist and forearm pain & weakness: gone, but need to strengthen. Severe back pain while making breakfast: gone, but looming. General stiffness and sensitivity to weather: still there but much more manageable. dependency on pain medication: stabilized at 10% of what it was 4 years ago. Use of vitamins supplements: restricted to basics for mood support. Technical ability to play oboe: apparently no more limit other than time and concentration. Ability to stand and walk: from a few minutes to an hour. Short breath & low stamina: still a problem.		Les résultats, mon état actuel : Maux de tête du samedi matin : finis! Posture lorsqu’assis ou debout. Douleur du poignet et avant-bras: finis mais besoin de renforcer. Maux de dos sévères en préparant le déjeuner: parti mais le risque persiste. Raideur générale et sensibilité à la météo: toujours là mais gérable. Médicaments contre-douleur: stabilisé à environ 10% de ce que je prenais il y a environ 4 ans. Suppléments vitaminiques: seulement les habituels pour aider avec l’humeur. Habiletés techniques au hautbois: semble-t-il seulement limité par le temps et la concentration. Abilité de marcher et me tenir debout: quelques minutes dans les années passées, environ une heure maintenant. Piètre énergie et court de souffle: toujours le cas.

Gracias a la vida para el oboe - Obrigado música Caraíbas!

It turns out the fatigue spell mentioned in the last blog post was nothing more than the onset of a normal every day cold.... not even a bad one! I took 2 days off from work mostly so I would not give it to anyone else - also couldn't play oboe for most of the week, but no harm done!

Sizzling music for hot times!

Brazilian Oboe & Guitar!

This past weekend was the hottest March weekend in memory of everyone I know who has lived in Eastern Canada in the past 75 years. The thermometer showed 26*C and the very rapidly melting snow shot the humidity up to near 90%... very uncomfortable!

So to celebrate the quick arrival of Spring in Ottawa and to honour the very many Portuguese and Spanish friends, here is a little something from a sizzling Minus One collection! My apologies if the performance style is reflects my love for Canadian Winters: I can only hope to grow the warm heart of Spanish and Portuguese speaking people!

I'm amazed at how many Faccebook Friendship requests and Twitter Followers I have gotten from Central and South-America, Spain and Portugal. The Portuguese and Spanish cultures are different, but from my French & English-Canadian musical perspective, they both share and offer together a wonderful set of styles including Samba, Tango, Rumba, Bossa-Nova and so on. Collectively, these are usually known as "Latino" or "Caribbean" and they are a real treat to play and hear: full of the enjoyment of life. I used to play these styles a lot in the Army Bands for concerts and Mess-Dinners: they were a favourite of the audience because they are so lively and promote good feelings when dozens of military officers (of very different personalities and career objectives!) would get together for drinks, supper and presentations.

I am also very much impressed by the musical activity, amateur and professional in the Caribbean and South America. Classical culture seems to be strongly promoted in high-school and as a part of everyday life. Of course, I only see what is available through Facebook and You-Tube and I have no idea how these are funded or managed, but I have to wonder if they might be doing much better than us over here!... then again, I am very likely not aware of everything we are doing here either!

GRACIAS - OBRIGADO!

Engineering my life out of a musical coma.

Again, I really don't like to discuss my troubles, but I hope this will be useful to someone.

In at least one previous post, I mentioned that my pains can happen to pretty much anyone and that they are mostly due to preventable causes. Here is the part that is not for everyone, for which prevention is not known, and I really don't wish it on anyone.

I was really excited to go to a concert this evening featuring a fantastic oboist. But as supper time rolled around, I was overtaken by a fatigue of the kind that makes it hard to watch TV. Compare it to drinking too much beer or wine, when you get to that point where it seems your mind is fully engaged but the body just collapses on the couch, barely able to sit up straight. (On the bright side, this fatigue has no drunken sickness or throwing up the morning after! ) I decided that driving 30-45 minutes to get there and then the same later at night to get back was too risky for me either falling asleep at the wheel or just doing a really bad manoeuvre.

I had been diagnosed with chronic fatigue near the age of 14 and I remember suffering from it as young as the age of 7. One classmate from college had it: he started a course of diet and physical fitness and he became a new man in a matter of weeks. For me, nothing has ever worked except that vitamins help against depression. I think this is at the root of an easily ignited anger in my 20s.  With the passing years, it is getting worse, but in a way that I don't have the strength to get angry anymore. It seems to react strongly to weather changes... this spring, the temperature has been changing by as much as 20*C in just one day... and then changing back as much the next.

Mind Over Matter – Divine Guidance

The single best treatment for me is anything that increases self-esteem and feeling victorious or meritorious in any way. Pursuing computer engineering was a double-whammy because:

1. it broke through walls of despair from empty prospects after quitting music and realizing teaching was not for me
2. the mathematical skills and systematic mind-frame were very difficult for me to adopt, but I soldiered-through and succeeded where I predictably should have failed.... you cannot imagine my pride at getting a B+ in multivariate calculus (triple integrals, MacLaurin equivalences etc.)!

There is no overestimating the sense of accomplishment at my having obtained a Master's degree in Engineering! Nonetheless, I felt like a defining part of me was in a coma; so when my wife bought me our digital piano, it felt like a full pardon given to a prisoner about to be executed - I had tears in my eyes for a week! Now, reviving the oboe life is just as important as the engineering degree. This makes my physical obstacles all the more frustrating.

This is where directing me to software engineering is Providence in action: my job is walking distance from home and I am still mentally capable of performing complex tasks... it's mostly my body that becomes listless: to say wet rag is no exaggeration. My fingers and feet tingle as if blood flow slowed in half. So sitting in an office chair, performing computer work is about the best thing I can do.

Hautbois, cure-Miracle-cure Oboe

Blogger statistics has been showing people coming to this blog were looking for: information on reed making, especially gouging machines information on exercises to help sound and endurance recording and music technology pain conditions and treatment. The topic I like to discuss the least is my own pain condition. After all, my oboe revival is the best medicine for me and the more I am musically active, the better I feel! Besides, over the past year and some, I have observed real improvement in many respects. So I don't want to present a sad story when the real story is encouraging! But for the sake of all musicians, especially those of you who are on the verge of beginning a professional career, it is important that you understand them, because you are at high risk of living them yourselves. In my student days, I got tendonitis: it was one factor in my decision to quit music. But now I know that there were preventable reasons for my own problems, and others might benefit from this hindsight.

Les statistiques de Blogger montre que les visiteurs arrivent souvent suite à une recherche d'information concernant: la fabrication des anches, surtout les machines à gouger les exercices d'embouchure l'enregistrement et et la technologie musicale les conditions de douleur et leur traitement. Ce que j'aime le moins discuter est ma collection de douleurs. Après-tout, ma renaissance hautboïstique est mon meilleur médicament et le plus je suis actif en musique, le mieux je me sens! De toute façon, depuis un an et quelque, j'aperçois une amélioration dans bien des sens. Je ne veux donc pas présenter une histoire triste: la vérité est encourageante! Mais pour le bien des musiciens, surtout ceux d'entre vous qui entamez (ou presque) votre carrière professionnelle, il est important que vous compreniez que vous êtes à risque élevé de développer vous-même ces maux. Dans mes jours d'étudiant, j'ai eu la tendinite: ce fut un facteur décisif pour quitter la musique. Mais maintenant je sais qu'il y avait des causes sous-jacentes qui auraient pu éviter, et le monde peut bien bénéficier de mon expérience.

List of Complaints and Treatments	Liste de conditions et traitements
As I'm writing this, I realize there's enough material for a chronicle blog. Let's then just start with two lists: what's giving me trouble and what I can do about it. I'll give details about them in future posts.     1.    FCFS : fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome         (enigmatic)     2.    DDD : disc degeneration disease         (it's not a disease, it's a natural part of aging)     3.    MF : myofasciitis and muscular shrinkage         (enigmatic) DDD is a natural part of aging. Everyone who approaches the age of 40 likely has it, some more than others. The ugly thing is that not everyone suffers pain as a result and the degree of damage does not predict the degree of pain: in other words, some people can have bad cases and never suffer, some people can have moderate cases and have a hard time walking. Medical literature is at a loss to explain why.	Il m'est devenu évident qu'il y a assez de matière ici pour remplir une chronique. Commençons donc avec deux simples listes: ce qui me fait souffrir et ce que je peux en faire. Élaborations à venir dans les prochaines entrées.     1.    SFFC : syndrome de fibromyalgie et de fatigue chronique         (énigmatique)     2.    DD : dégénération des disques         (fonction naturelle de l'âge)     3.    MF : myofasciite et rétrécissement musculaire         (énigmatique) Tout le monde qui approche l'âge de 40 aura sûrement une mesure de DD, certaines personnes plus que d'autres. L'énigme est que le degré de dégénération n'indique aucunement le degré de douleur. La science médicale ne sait expliquer, mais un cas moyen peut débiliter tandis qu'une personne atteinte d'un cas avancé peut ne jamais le savoir.
In Terms of Treatment	En termes de traitement
1.    medication (pain relievers, neuro-inhibitors)     2.    physiotherapy and other physical therapies         => in particular IMS: intra-muscular stimulation     3.    athletic activity and physical fitness     4.    rest, relaxation and stress-relieving practices     5.    very careful attention to diet and allergic factors     So far, the only real benefits have been from IMS, physical fitness and, very importantly, being as active a musician as I can be. In my case, IMS has not relieved fibromyalgia, but it has eliminated considerable pains in the arms and recurring headaches that were interfering with both my musical activity and my engineering career. IMS has allowed me to begin physical fitness, which is the best tool against fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue I have found yet.	1.    médicaments (anti-inflammatoires, neuro-inhibiteur)     2.    physiothérapie et autres thérapies physiques         => en particulier la SIM     3.    activité athlétique et maintien de la forme     4.    repos, relaxation et réduction du stress     5.    attention soignée la diète et aux facteurs allergènes     Jusqu'à maintenant, les seuls vrais résultats positifs viennent de la SIM, travailler la forme physique et, très important, rester aussi actif musicalement que possible. Dans mon cas, la SIM n'a pas réduit la fibromyalgie comme telle, mais elle a éliminé des douleurs considérables dans les bras et réduit le nombre de maux de tête cycliques qui ennuyaient sérieusement ladite activité musicale ainsi que ma profession d'ingénieur. La SIM m'a permis de recommencer à travailler la forme physique, ce qui s'est montré le meilleur outil contre la fibromyalgie et la fatigue chronique jusqu'à maintenant.
IMPORTANT: IMS is a patented Canadian form of treatment () that, because it really works, earned Dr. Gunn the 2 highest honours a Canadian citizen can possibly get. I is NOT an electric current to stimulate muscle activity. It is a stimulation of the body's own healing and growth mechanisms by scratching offending parts of the muscle with medical-acupuncture needles. It must be recommended by specially trained and certified professionals (doctors or physiotherapists).	IMPORTANT: La SIM est un traitement Canadien breveté () qui, parce qu'il fonctionne pour vrai, a mérité au Dr. Gunn les 2 honneurs les plus élevés dont un citoyen Canadien peut être décoré. Ce n'est PAS un courant électrique pour stimuler l'activité du muscle. C'est une stimulation des processus naturels de guérison et de croissance du corps utilisant des aiguilles de type acuponcture-médical. Ça doit être recommandé par un spécialiste certifiés (médecin ou physiothérapeute).

Reed Season! – New Repertoire.

Physical update first:

Because my physiotherapist is on vacation, I’m actually skipping a month of treatments. Increased activity at the gym is a mixed blessing: I do feel generally more awake, but I do get extra sore the morning after. Every fitness and therapy person I speak to agree that it’s a matter of doing too much too fast. Right now, I can’t do much in the pool and too much time in the hot tub appears to seize my neck muscles resulting in passing headaches and pinched nerves.

Oboe-wise: my fingers are feeling great! I don’t get the fatigue and the soreness in the fingers themselves anymore (“Mashala”, as they say: “God made it so!”). These past few days, however, I’ve been getting those twinges in the forearm and shoulder that remind me of tendonitis. They are not tendonitis, I’m sure, but either a pinched nerve in the neck or a few tight muscles. I know this for sure because my fingers are playing just as smoothly as they have in these past few months, which is more than ever in my best days.

Reed Season:

I’m starting to think that there is something special about the end-of-summer / beginning-of-autumn season for reeds. In the past couple of weeks, my reeds have been much easier to make than usual and showing clearly if they are good or bad; that is, a bad reed shows it has no hope so I can break it without regret and the good ones clearly show what they need to become their best. My reeds have also been sounding generally better than usual…. that is, they can sound bright or dark, but there is no doubt as to their character.

I have recently made excellent reeds on rainy days, so the notion of sunny days are necessary to making good reeds is now demolished. However, this is pretty much the opposite season to February, which typically gives the worst sounding and behaving reeds. So I think the notion of seasons and climate is well evidenced.

New Repertoire: copy-cat or comparison?

I received a shipment of Music Minus One (MMO) material last week. I got some really good baroque repertoire for oboe, recorder and flute (that will all be played on the oboe) and discovered a baroque composer I did not know before: Veracini. I also got some straight-forward jazz and Brazilian repertoire for flute. These will be interesting because they really use the high register of the flute. I will need to practice note in the following range:

Telemann, Son. G-Dur mvt.1

Included in that shipment is a collection of Telemann duets for flute with no continuo. The MMO CD has a flutist playing flute 2, but the sheet music has both parts. I thought it might be nice to record some of these with the flute on CD and with myself playing both parts. By Murphy’s law, someone had done this and posted it on the BBoard! That someone is Craig Matovich, whom I respect quite a lot as an oboist and as a person: we disagree on some aspects of reed making and tooling, play very differently, but we share many ideals including:

1. 

   Telemann, Son. G-Dur mvt.2
   Pursuing oboe performance for the sheer joy of it to spite any difficulties.
2. Using technology as an ensemble when we can’t get people to play with.
3. Sharing our experience in the hopes it benefits and/or encourages others.
4. Exploring classical, world-folk, jazzy and fusion of musical styles.
5. 

   Telemann, Son. G-Dur mvt.3
   The love of music and life overall and hope for peace, understanding and caring in the world.

I had intended to work on another sonata, but Craig agreed that it might be interesting to compare the same work with our different sounds and styles. I personally think he did a remarkable set of recordings. So while I prepare for mine, here they are his. His knowledge, experience and tooling (hardware and software) are far superior to mine, but still accessible to the amateur home-producer.

Mental obstacles to technique

Reading through these have been very enlightening in terms of how my body reacts to technical passages. I know from my old repertoire that my technical abilities are decent… for example, I have shown in a previous post that I can paly Telemann sonatas well enough. But when I read a new Telemann piece that is of equal technical skill, I fail miserably. I observed that my mistakes mostly come from 2 mental processes:

1. Expecting notes and rhythms that are not actually what is written.
2. Not knowing what to expect and therefore fumbling at every note grouping.

So, improving technique for me, at least in baroque repertoire, is essentially training the mind more than the fingers. I have to see if the same is true with Saint-Saëns, Poulenc and others.

Tying Reeds & Significant IMS Results

I’m now getting IMS every 2 weeks instead of weekly. I can’t tell if IMS is supposed to treat/heal fibromyalgia directly, but it does work on big pains that probably contribute to the condition of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). For example, “Saturday Headaches” are virtually gone and I can walk without knee braces much more than in the past few years. I can play oboe until my mouth stops without excess pain in the arms. I haven’t systematically verified if regularity of notes has improved or not, but not having noticed any problems is a good sign.

Stretching still seems best for the general FMS conditions of constant tension (especially in the legs) causing fatigue. My sleep really improves when I stretch at night. I still get headaches, but it seems due to the season (tree pollen) and bad habits at the computer workstation. Slouching forward and back is really hard to quit.

My therapist started working on slender muscles that cause the worst pains when practicing or working around the house. These are long slender muscles in the forearm and shoulder, apparently under other muscles. The first treatment on these muscles caused a huge grasping reaction: the needle was therefore considerably painful. The reaction (including hot and cold sweats and my whole body shaking) lasted for several minutes after the needle was removed and the soreness in the arm was so bad, I had to leave work early because I couldn't concentrate. The next day, everything was fine and those muscles were fully relaxed... that is, even more than "normal"; in other words, a very welcome relief! Over the week, the arm remained rather well. When strain returns, it returns much less than before. The second treatment on those muscles was MUCH easier: no huge reaction and only moderate soreness for the rest of the day.

Treatment on the lower back is funny: relief is felt immediately and lasts for the remainder of the day. The next day, I get twinges again, but the 2nd day after, the back is much more relaxed and remains so for about a week.

Binding (Tying) Oboe Reeds

I’ve seen clarinet and saxophone players buy not only a dozen different mouthpieces, but also a dozen different ligatures to get their reeds to play the way they like. Now consider that once you’ve tied the reed and started scraping, that’s it: no going back! I really consider the choice of shapes, staples and the binding more important than most characteristics of the cane itself.

A Google search should give you a good number of video demonstrations, textual explanation with images (click the pictures for their source), books and DVDs that are worth buying. So I will just add my observations on what is important. Tying reeds is a simple concept, but it requires a  whole lot of care and attention. The following factors must be considered:

1. length of cane on the staple to ensure proper seal without constraining the vibration,
2. proper alignment of the cane (with or) without sideways slippage,
3. winding the thread so it won’t pass the end of the staple.

There are many schools of practice, most notably Philadelphia (American) scrape and various European scrapes. Number 3 is the only thing that all schools agree on (to my knowledge): the thread must stop one or two twists before the end of the staple. Winding thread must never go past the staple. To this day, I still find reeds that refuse to vibrate well have been tied 1/2 to 1 wind of thread past the end of the staple.

Concerning the length at which the reed is tied, many oboists from every school of practice tie at a specified length, regardless of the shaper and/or staple they use whereas others tie at specific lengths that vary with the choice of staple and/or shaper. My own experience considers that the important issue is where the cane closes with respect to the end of the staple. I have found that what my main teacher (Bernard Jean) taught me remains the best way to ensure free vibration of the reed for fuller dynamics and ease of responsiveness: the blades should close one or two twists of the thread before the end of the staple. Because different characteristics in the cane and variations in staple dimensions (even within the same model from the same manufacturer) means that the cane will not always close at the same length: so binding includes pushing up or pulling down the cane before finishing the thread winding.

Le Guide Roseau (Cane Guide) and Pre-Binding for proper blade alignment

For number 2, the proper alignment of cane blades, there are again disagreements. Many who follow variations on the Philadelphia scrape like to offset the overlap of the blades whereas pretty much all who use European techniques expend considerable efforts in eliminating any offset at all. My observations suggest that some offset might be good for some people who have less lung strength and I have been surprised with excellent reeds that had slippage. But in principle and for my own use, I fully agree with the European idea of perfect overlap (no offset at all). This is a very difficult thing to accomplish because the winding thread produces torque that naturally wants to twist the cane with it. Luckily, there are 2 ways to virtually ensure complete absence of offsetting.

The video above is made from still images and shows what I call pre-binding. This consists of using some delicate thread (like the cheap stuff that comes with sewing kits in corner-stores) to wrap the top part of the cane before binding. This prevents slippage due to torque during binding and holds the cane reasonably well on the staple which relieves some of the difficulty of finger-holding during the bind. Delicate thread ensures the cane does not get damaged and it is easily removed when the binding is finished.

Pre-binding is not perfect and if done improperly will allow slippage. Le Guide Roseau (the Cane Guide) is an invention by Fabrice Rousson which eliminates the failings of pre-binding. He provides his own video demonstration (French only, but visually self-explanatory) and the slide-show to the right gives the highlights. Although it might not look like much, after having tried it, it really does do wonders. I tied over a dozen reeds with it and it is superb: by far easier and more dependable than pre-binding. I will scrape some of these reeds next week (that will be the real test) but looking closely at the side of the blades near the thread is the most promising I have ever seen.

Mr. Rousson makes one for oboe and one for English Horn. The one for oboe does not fit the widest shapes so well (RDG #2, Roseau Chantant RC3, Kunibert Michel 7.5 – they tend to split), but these shapes are really for oboe d'amore anyway. For those shapes, pre-binding remains a very useful option, but for real oboe shapes (RDG -1, Kunibert Michel 7.25, Weber wide), the brass cane guide works fantastically.

You can get instructions and more pictures on tying with the Cane Guide here.

Vous pouvez obtenir des instructions avec plus d’images sur le ligatturage avec le guide roseau ici.

Oboe Reed Shaping and Fibro-Fog

Lovely day today: sunny and warm day
=> so staying in the comfortable cool shade of the TV room!

Ugly stuff first,

The past 2 months were generally rough, but this week was especially harsh on the fatigue aspect. Most (not all) sufferers of fibromyalgia also get chronic fatigue syndrome.... again named that way because the medical field can find no explanation for it: nothing physically wrong! In other words, for no reason at all, we are always tired, not sleepy, but tired as if we had been chopping firewood all day.

Fibro-fog is when just being awake is like moving through a thick fog of confusion and physical resistance. Remember the Claritin commercial of a person taking out the garbage in a deep-sea diving suit? That explains it perfectly! The simplest tasks like getting milk for the coffee becomes confusing: exhausting to open the fridge door, and then not knowing what to do next! This is very different from dementia, Alzheimer's or senility because it is completely related to the physical aspect: as soon as the muscular crisis is abated, full mental faculties return; plus we are aware and feel ridiculous about the issue. But it’s not as easy as taking pain medication to restore mental faculties, the body has ways of insisting on giving us a hard time.

Occupation Hap-Hazard

Luckily, for my employment, some activities become so mechanistic and automatic that they can be done correctly with only some slowing down of the process. Even mentally complex tasks like debugging a program can be done. But if you ask me to get up and get printed pages across the floor, I will likely get lost on the way!

So I hesitate to embark in musical performance with an ensemble: I cannot predict when this will happen. There are also evenings when I get home and even watching TV becomes exhausting. I can really thank God for my truly wonderful wife who copes with full understanding: she just plays along with it, not making any big deal - which helps me accept it quite a lot! There are forums for fibromyalgia sufferers, but the number of hours in a week is limited and I get MUCH more benefit from participating in the BBoard and the Facebook group "Oboists in the World". Feeling like a musician again is powerfully uplifting!

Now the good stuff.

In terms of the sound quality and performance factors like stability, the shape and the binding are everything! The scraping has only one purpose: to let the cane do what it wants to do naturally – vibrate in response to the blowing. I find the choice of shaper and its combination with the staple size have even more effect than cane diameter, gouge thickness and any specific measurement around scraping. Please note that my wife put many more excellent images of shapers and more on her Flickr site.

Which shaper to choose is really an individual preference because it is a matter of responding to body parameters like teeth structure, characteristics of the lips, how the air pressure is channelled from the lungs to the mouth and very importantly, their interplay with the brand of oboe and even the individual instrument. This is why advanced oboists spend considerable money on shaper tips and to find the perfect staple.

There is really no right or wrong in choosing shapers, it’s all about what works for you: start with what your teacher recommends, then experiment and decide for yourself. For my part, and Europeans I know (French and German) who have tried the same, Kunibert Michel shapers (Germany) on Chiarugi staples (Italy) are a winning combination, vastly superior to all others. Comparisons will be left for another time.

Finally, there are different types of shapers, which mean different ways to use them. The most common are interchangeable shaper tips that fit on a reusable handle: these require you to fold the cane over the tip. There are also “straight” shapers in which you insert non-folded cane: by completely covering the cane, there is no chance of nicking it or messing the shape. Finally, there is a new (expensive) machine that works on the principle of the straight shaper and is designed to roll-out hundreds of pieces of cane in very little time.

Despite the attractive idea of simplicity and safety with straight shapers, there is good reason why the fold-over interchangeable tips remain most popular: folding the can flattens it near the fold which resembles the real silhouette of the final reed whereas the straight kinds leave the cane curved; which means the reed will be much wider than the shaper leads to believe. The difficulty with manufacturing straight shapers (almost nil with fold-over tips) is that the important symmetry is from end-to-end: this ensures that when the cane is folded exactly the same curves meet, which is necessary for proper sealing and support for vibration.

With a little care, the fold-over tips will always yield excellent results, the only important consideration is a sharp cutting tool with no nicks in the blade: the tip really wrecks a blade! Many oboists use disposable razor blades, I use a retractable blade knife and break off pieces after every cane shaped.

With shaper tips, there are again 2 types, and this makes really no difference at all in the quality of the final shaped cane: it’s just that they are used slightly differently. New-school shapers (have been around for generations!) have “ears” that introduce the blade to the sides of the cane. They leave “ears” on the cane that are easily removed after the cane is tied on the staple. Old-school shapers have no such ears and the shaped cane (ready for binding) is fully shaped. With ears, the cane must be sized to fit before closing the handle-clamps whereas no ears allows free positioning of the cane. In both cases, its just a matter of getting used to the moves.

These videos (made from still images) show how I cut the cane after folding to fit the ears. I cut the cane to ensure the thick center (dark line in the middle) remains centered. The last video shows a typical technique: the shaping is done with the knife perpendicular to the shaper, but to ensure a “clean cut” a few extra strokes are made with a slight (very) angle: this makes a smooth side of the cane.

With heads that have no ears, I just center the line on the shaper itself. The two handles I use illustrate another consideration: the handle clamps. The shorter clamps are mounted on a tightening screw which makes it easy to reposition the cane; however, dents are left on it. With the German type handle, the clamps cover the entire cane are secured with a ring. This allows exactly enough pressure to secure the cane without denting it; I also like to use the ring as a leverage thumb-rest to more easily control the knife. With ears on the shaper tip, many people rest the ears on a table for better stability.

Conclusion:

Shaping is really not complicated, but the choice makes a HUGE difference. The choice of handle and tip description is entirely a matter of personal preference.