Oboe dueting, and the Zelenkas

I’ve rediscovered the joy of playing duets, and can’t wait to get to work on these Zelenkas. On Sunday I’ll rehearse #2 with Tyler Stollberg, an up and coming sophomore here at the University of Oregon who has a tremendous amount of talent. He also is very curious about reedmaking techniques, and enjoys reedmaking almost as much as me (perhaps more!?!? Isn’t THAT a scary thought!) He’s also helping me with the cane preparation, and we’ve talked a lot of oboe reeds already. I hope we cane become good reedmaking buddies, and “gel together” in our playing. He’s got a lot there, and it’ll be exciting to see how he develops as a player in the future.

Nat wrote on the comments how long the Zelenkas are. OH MY GOSH. I CAN’T BELIEVE how long they are. And they were originally written for oboe too! (#3 is for Violin and oboe). How can this possibly be? What was he thinking? Did oboes back in those days have chops of steel? This past spring when I was visiting Arizona State University, I saw that in back-to-back weeks, Martin Schuring was performing all 6 of them on 2 separate recitals. 3 sonatas each. I can’t even imagine what kind of preparation he must do in order to build up that much endurance. It hurts my mouth even thinking about it.

I have a recording that I’d never even heard of until I found it in the library of Holliger and Bourgue playing with Klaus Thunemann on Bassoon and Christian Jaccottet on Harpsichord. A very very fine recording. I have said it before and I’ll say it again. Holliger is one of the finest Baroque interpreters of our time.

Reader Question

“is oboe d’ amore more similar to the oboe or English horn?”

Good question, and I’m not sure I know the answer to this. Perhaps someone like Patty Mitchell who is a professional oboist AND and a professional English Hornist could answer this question better.

But I do know that there are two schools of thought to this. Some people believe that the d’amore should be played closer to an oboe. For example, Steven Lickman, who makes Dallas Bocals believes the d’amore should be played closer to an oboe. I can’t remember where I read (maybe even a personal email) but he suggests not using wire on d’amore reeds, unlike his common practice of putting a wire on an English Horn reed. This point is further reflected in people’s gouging techniques and shaper tips. Some people believe d’amore cane needs an entirely different gouging curve, which should measure somewhere around .65 in the middle and .50-.55 on the sides. I know for Mr. Weber’s d’amore cane, he just uses 11.0 diameter cane with an oboe gouging machine where he thickens it up. I’ve used it and it has worked well for me. RDG also sells oboe d’amore cane, which measures around .65 in the middle but has VERY thick sides. In fact, they are so thick that I shaped some pieces up on my Giacobassi tip and made some very fine English Horn reeds on the cane.

RDG also makes a tip designed by Elaine Douvas for oboe d’amore that is supposed to work well for those who just want to use regular old oboe cane. This further reflects the issue that there seems to be no one solution.

Thomas Stacy, principal English Hornist of the NYPhil obviously believes that d’amore should be played closer to d’amore. If you compare his tip dimensions to those of the Douvas tip and the RDG regular d’amore tip, you will notice a huge difference in the throat and in the flair of the tip. (3.5, 5.5, 6.7, 7.5, 7.6 on the Douvas and 3.5, 5.5, 6.7, 7.5, 7.8 on the RDG regular tip, compared to 4.5, 5.6, 6.75, 7.55 and 8.1 on the Thomas Stacy tip.) The large throat kind of makes sense considering he talked about “blowing blowing blowing” in his interview which I posted earlier so the larger throat would allow more air flow, and perhaps less back-pressure.

I’ve played the oboe d’amore three or four times now, for a total of close to a year or so, and I’ve played around with all of the above techniques mentioned. I’ve made d’amore reeds on the RDG 2 shape (which I now make oboe reeds on), my no-name d’amore shaper tip, and really wide d’amore shapes. I’ve used oboe cane, d’amore cane, and really thick d’amore cane, and they all have their strengths and differences.

I think the bottom line is most of us are not d’amore specialists or professional d’amore players. In fact, most of us are not even professional English Horn players, so ultimately, we end up trying to make something that is closer to an oboe reed (partially because we’re afraid of playing a new instrument and gravitate to what feels most comfortable, partially because it’s easiest to play.) But if you have the time, resources, and patience, learning to make d’amore reeds is a worthwhile experience and gives the player more flexibility. But it certainly does take more air and more mouth muscle.

The last note is that I think even many English Horn players debate whether they should play the EH like an oboe, or if it’s an entirely different beast. Obviously Mr. Stacy has come to his own conclusions, which works great for him. I’ve played oboe reeds, and they’re HEAVY, so in a funny sense, I’d say his oboe reeds feel more like EH reeds to me! Furthermore, Pedro Diaz states on his website states;

The English horn is neither a big oboe nor a little bassoon. It is a one-of-a-kind unique animal. That’s how it earned its place in the orchestra. Any attempt at standardization will lead to no- man’s land (perhaps more accurately, one-man’s land). No two English hornists I know think exactly alike on what they strive for. Yet, most of us face the same challenges. If you play with conviction, imagination (and in tune) your sound or “school” is secondary. When I think about sound concepts, I imagine the violoncello, tenor or alto voice, bassoon, viola and horn (I wish I could sound like a cello on the EH). It is no coincidence really. These are the instruments I play with most of the time in the orchestra. If there is one instrument I don’t think about is the oboe. I only think about the oboe in terms of function: reeds, attacks, hand position, etc. It is essential to know the oboe well, but once you are on the EH chair, you need to “divorce” yourself from your oboe habits (if you are bilingual, you know that you can only master a second language once you start thinking and dreaming in that language). But in the end, being a great oboe player can lead to your becoming an even better English hornist, provided you know “the tricks” and apply them to the EH.

Meanwhile, I recently got a hold of one of Julie Ann Giacobassi’s reeds (thanks Patty!) which looks oddly like an oboe reed. I mean, REALLY looks like an oboe reed. It’s shorter, smaller, and thinner. And she just recently retired from playing professionally. So what’s the solution? Who knows!?

The wheels on the oboe reed machine are moving…

Well, reeds are in full swing of things. I’ve recruited some help to help me split/sort/pregouge pieces of cane. What a big help! I don’t let ANYONE touch my gouging machines because they’re so finicky, and plus you can tell a lot about a piece by how it gouges up, so I prefer to do that step myself. I’m also very picky about shaping and believe you can tell a lot about a piece of cane and it’s gouge by how it folds over my finger, so I prefer to do that step by myself to make sure each piece is shaped absolutely correct. I also find that many players aren’t careful while shaping, and don’t get a perfectly shaped piece, or they hack into the shape too much, taking off sides and leaving a leaky piece of cane (which nobody can do anything with).

Pretty soon, I’ll also recruit someone to help me with tying blanks. The problem is I haven’t met someone who can tie as consistent and quickly as me, so I get impatient waiting for them (it usually takes me 2.5 minutes to tie, so about 25 reeds an hour).

So in my reed case now I have 17 blanks just waiting for my scraping. Today I had the day off (no class, except for orchestra which was rehearsing the Schumann Cello concerto which I’m not playing) so I sat and made 10 reeds in about 4 hours. Very productive. Unfortunately, I’m still behind on my orders by about 17 reeds. I’m hoping to get all 27 reeds in the mail by Monday.

Woo! First week… DONE!

It’s been a busy first week, but I’m happy with what’s happened and everything that is going to happen.

Well, I couldn’t hack it, so I dropped out of counterpoint. Call me a wuss, call me a slacker, I just call myself too busy. But I did register for a “Wind Rep” class with Bob Ponto, the head guy of the U of Oregon Wind Ensembles. He’s a very nice guy, and very friendly as well as a terrific musician. I actually had the pleasure of playing under him a bit when I was in high school at South Eugene High School and he would guest conduct every so often. The “small group” (there’s four students, and him) class is a lot of fun. We sit around for an hour, listen to music of wind ensembles of various sizes, dating from Bach to music written in the 21st century. Occasionally we have to write reports on composers, but that’s it. Pretty easy. I joked with him that I felt like I needed a 6 pack and a bag of Doritos, to which he exclaimed, “Just bring enough for the five of us!”

I’m also enjoying my History of Opera class, which is a strict musicology class. I’ve always loved musicology, and enjoy reading the documents and analyzing the music that is required. Marian Smith is a very nice professor, and seems to be a very positive influence upon the class. I have a feeling it will be one of those classes where “the more you put in, the more you get out” which is great, because I expect to “put in” a great amount. This week’s opera: Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” (By the way, why do you think professors often put pictures of themselves up from the 70s for their bios on University websites?)

Well, I’m certainly going to have my hands for with performing here. This quarter I’ll be playing only EH in the Wind Ensemble, along with :

Orch:

• 1st - Symphonie Fantastique
• 1st - Funeral March of a Marionnette
• 1st - Danse Macabre
• 2nd - Rainbow Body (Theofanidis)
• 2nd - Beethoven 5
• 2nd - Cantata Academia (Britten)

Chamber Music:

• 1st on Zelenka Sonata II
• 1st on Zelenka Sonata V
• Ligeti’s 6 Bagatelles

I’m playing so much, that it’s hard to come up with the endurance to practice, not to mention prepare for my lessons for which I’m supposed to be working on this quarter:

• Mozart Concerto
• Le Tombeau de Couperin
• La Scala di Seta

I was also asked to play in the TA woodwind quintet, but for some reason I turned it down. Call me lazy.
Did I mention this is for the Quarter? As in 10 weeks.

My head hurts.

Tough First Day

I had a tough one today. Counterpoint is going to be a lot of work, but I like the professor. He’s a nice guy. It’s something that I really am not real excited about, but I know I need to learn it, and I know I will eventually be able to build off of it the rest of my musical career. So I just need to bite the bullet and go for it.

I also had my first oboe lesson today. We did a lot of scales, and talked about rhythm a lot. Bottom line is I need to be rhythmic in everything I do. I mean absolutely perfectly rhythmic. Even in my “reed testing toot toot warmup” as my professor put it. We set goals for the upcoming quarter: Le Tombeau, La Scala, and Mozart Concerto. No problem. Piece of cake. Right? Oh, and did I mention, a recital in November? And WW Quintet. And Orch. And Wind Ensemble. And Lord knows what else.

First orchestra rehearsal today. The good news is I had fun. The bad news I had too much fun. The conductor said several times, “A little less 1st oboe.” Well, at least he can hear me. I think this is going to be really good for me. I need to get better at balancing with a woodwind section (I haven’t had to worry about it much for a long time.) I got my butt kicked on Symphonie Fantastique. The whole piece just is very conjunct while playing it, and 1st oboe has lots of 3rd octave work (high Ebs to F#s, maybe G?) The final movement has a nice nasty little trill part that definitely isn’t sightreading friendly, as was proven in my placement audition. OUCH!

Tomorrow is a new day. History of Opera, oboe studio, and Wind Ensemble. Oh boy. Can’t wait.

My mouth really hurts tonight.

Reedmaking, liability, and morality.

A week ago when I sat down with a CPA who specializes in setting up businesses, I learned about all of the different kinds of businesses and which one I should register as. Sole Proprietor, Limited Liability Corporation, “S” Corp, “C” Corp, and all of that good stuff.

One thing that struck me funny during the meeting was how the CPA described the Limited Liability Corp (otherwise known as an LLC).

“So, if someone orders one of your reeds, and swallows it and chokes on it and decides to sue you for it, then you are liable only partially…” the CPA explained.

“If someone swallows one of my reeds, they shouldn’t be playing oboe!” I shot back sarcastically.

I continued to explain that this business is pretty safe from being sued, unless someone pokes their eye out with a reed or, as stated previously, swallows one.

But today I found myself faced with a dilemma. A mother wrote me a couple months requesting reed samples, which I sent out. The student was looking for reeds that were bigger than his locally store-bought ones, and felt that he was being “held back by a lack of good reeds.” This statement in itself is one which reveals much about the mindset of an inexperienced oboe student; most believe once they find “the magic oboe reed” they’ll get the tone they have always dreamed about and everything will fall into place. While the reed can play a good part in the process, anyone who’s played oboe knows if you have a vibrant, responsive, well-constructed reed, it’s then the oboist’s setup and physical ability to produce the beautiful tone we all love and know.

Now, the student had only been playing for 3 weeks. Yes, 3 weeks.

I didn’t have a solid embouchure for at least a year, and the earliest I’ve ever heard of a developed embouchure in a beginner is 6 months or so, practicing every day twice a day in front of a mirror. Furthermore, I didn’t have a developed tonal concept for several years, which was further detrimental to me because I never had a consistency as to what I was shooting for.

But this 3-week old oboist (probably now 2 or 3 months old) was looking for some quality oboe reeds, and I was happy to oblige. So he received my reeds and the feedback I got was that he said “They felt as if they were already broken in.”

This comment is a bit odd, namely because 1. Most people like broken in reeds, 2. Most students don’t know the difference between broken in reeds and non-broken in reeds, and don’t know how to break them in properly anyway, and 3. Really didn’t tell me much as to whether he liked them or not. I asked the mom if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but she didn’t respond.

Today I checked my mail (from yesterday) and found the box I had originally sent, returned to me with the two reeds in. Apparently they weren’t worth keeping, however when I tried them, they work great! I would have been able to sell them to any other oboist who purchases my reeds regularly without problem.

Thinking about it, I realized I had a dilemma. Obviously he thought the reeds were “too small” persay, but as an experienced reedmaker and oboist, I can’t imagine giving a month-old student one of my heavier reeds, even though they are “bigger” and “thicker”. Furthermore, they also cover more, which also covers a student’s flaws in airflow, embouchure support, etc. To put it bluntly, they’re easier to bite and blow against.

Most of my clients and friends, including Patty find the RDG 2 reeds a hair too heavy, and I never play on them, simply because I don’t have the muscle. Logically, I believe these are indeed the kind of reeds that he is looking for, but what happens if I sell them to him, knowing that he is a beginning oboist, and he ends up ruining his face (or jaw thus developing TMJ like I did) trying to play on them? Am I liable for the decision I make in selling them to him? From a business side, it’s just more money but morally I would never put another oboist through the same ringer that I was forced to crawl and scratch my way out of.

Just some thoughts.

Gearing up for School

Well school starts on Monday but my practicing began today. I went to school this morning at 10:00 am and practiced for an hour. Then Kitty the other Grad student who plays oboe came around and we played duets for another hour. Ferling duets, and Handel Duo Sonatas. By the end of the session my face was about to fall off. I don’t think I’ve played that much in at least 4 months. (My concerto in May?) It hurt!

I’ve worked out my schedule, and I’ll be going for the gold! I’ve registered for 16 grad-level credits. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Oboe studio is 4, Wind Ensemble is 2 and Orch is 2. My other classes include History of Opera and Counterpoint, each worth 4 credits. I can still drop counterpoint if its too much for me and be fine with 12 credits. We’ll see!

UofO auditions

So I recently took my school placement tests and placement audition. I will be co-principaling the top school orchestra with another grad student who’s major is theory but she also plays the oboe. My professor is a firm believer in rotation, and I am too so I am happy with this arrangement. There are at least 4 groups (2 orchs, 2 wind ensembles) which need to have enough oboes, and currently there’s only about 7 or 8 of us. You do the math. So I think some of us are going to have to do double coverage.

The big piece this quarter is Beethoven 5. The big piece the final quarter is Tchaik 4! Not 5! Big Big solo! Woohoo! So we’ll see which one of us gets it.

I played the Bach Partita I’ve been milking this entire summer (recital in July, Northwest Oboe Conference, and now auditions) and did okay, despite a less-than-stellar reed. But I think the thing that really sealed my fate was I was requested to sightread the final page of the Berlioz Symphony Fantastique with some fast 6/8 stuff with lots of annoying trills.

And it was fast.

And he asked for it fast.

And I went…

HONK……

SPLAT…….

Blah Blah Blah. Needless to say, it didn’t go too well.

Symphonie Fantastique is one of those pieces in the major rep that I’ve heard half a dozen times, and every time I hear it I say to myself, “What the heck? What is this crap?” It’s just one of those pieces that rubs me the wrong way. I hope I don’t get assigned to it this first concert (I find out Sunday).

Oh and by the way, by the sheer grace of God, I passed my Grad theory exam, Grad aural skills exam, and the Grad musicology exam. Incredible! (My wife looked at me funny when I told her and she responded, “Did you even study? I didn’t see you!”)

If you try and fail…

… keep plugging away. For a week I’ve been ridiculously busy with the University of Oregon orientation. I’m a New Graduate Student Music School Graduate Teaching Fellow (GTF).

There’s meetings for:

• New Grad Students
• New Music Grad Students
• Grad GTFs
• New Music Grad GTFs
• New Grad GTFs
• New Music Grad GTFs

I’ve had auditions, placement tests, and meetings. And, I’ve been trying to readjust all of my gouging machines since the last time I blogged an entry. All of my reed orders, cane orders, etc. have been on hold.

Why? Because I’ve been slaving away at my desk making reeds.

So why haven’t any reeds gone out this week? Because my gouge has been messed up since the beginning of the seasonal change.

But faith has been restored, and all is well again in the land of Oboereedworld™. This is good, because now that the gouges have been restored to their proper settings, my reeds are flying out like the breeze!

For my clients who are waiting around wondering where their reeds are, here’s the order of waiting:

1. Client in DE: 3 reeds (ready and going out this weekend)
2. Client at NASA: 4 reeds (ready to go out this weekend)
3. Client in LA: 20 pieces of cane, will be shipped out early next week
4. Client in AZ: 10 reeds, should go out next week
5. Client in OH: 3 reeds, should go out next week
6. Clients in Newfoundland, Decatur IL, etc. need to be officially firmed up.

The great news is I’m finally cranking out some great reeds! A good time to try them out if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, and wondering what they really are like.

One last note. Order reeds now and you’ll still get the lower price of $15/pro reed. Starting Oct. 1st, all reeds go up in price!

Gouging woes.

After 2 solid days of work, I’ve almost got my #1 gouging machine working to where it needs to be. It’s still gouging thin on the sides, which is making my upper register sag, but it’s a careful balance between keeping the sides thin and maintaining extra vibration, “ring” and flexibility, and getting the sides just thick enough so that the upper register sits up. Meanwhile, I have gotten my Opus 1 gouging machine to where I want it to be, nice and thick on the sides to hold open those big RDG 2 reeds.

It’s a careful balance between tip length, tip thickness, and thickness of sides. In order to get the maximum vibrations and overtones, you want the sides as thin as possible. But you have to have sides that are thick enough to support the upper register. During the summer with the heat and humidity, you can get away with having these sides thinner, but recently it has become fall and gotten cooler and less humid here in Oregon, so I’m being forced to thicken up the sides. Because my sides still aren’t quite thick enough, I’m being forced to shorten up the length of my tips. Generally, the shorter the tip, the more stable a reed will be in the high register. However right now my tips are too short, and therefore I need to thicken the sides so that they will support a longer tip. I’m almost there, but I need to get my tips a little bit longer.

Woe is me. Sigh…