Where to begin…
Recital Preparation
I practiced for a good while tonight. My recital is on Tuesday, and I would say I’m 90% there, while the other 10% is still up in the air. My professor told me that I HAVE to play the 3rd movement of the Saint-Saens at 144, while I only feel solid at about 136. Maybe if I bring more energy to the piece, it’ll feel faster. My Hindemith is pretty solid. That one funny place in the second movement where the interplay between the oboe and piano is finally really solid (oboe comes in with running 16th notes, High Bb-F-G-F-High Bb-Ab-Gb-F-Eb-Db-Db-Cb-Bb) and the corresponding equivalent place later in the movement is also solid. My professor hammered me with setting up the passage with “rhythmic breaths” which really helped.
Other pieces include the Telemann d-minor quartet of which we’ve already played on two previous recitals, as well as 3 movements from Tomasi’s Evocations (Peruvienne, Nigerienne, and Eccossaise). The final piece on my recital in memoriam of my first oboe teacher, Beth Slottee, will be the Hanson Pastorale.
Reeds
I’ve been making reeds like a mad-man for a week now and have been stockpiling. Looking at my collection, I have 2 perfect reeds, 1 near-perfect, 1 85% perfect reed, and 3 pretty good reeds that I’d all feel comfortable playing the recital on in case something went nutso. So basically I have my reed situation all sorted out. Now the one tricky thing is according to Yahoo Weather it will go from this 90 degree weather (hot, sunny, slightly humid) to rainy on my recital day so I’m really not sure what’s going to happen, but I’m praying. Hard.
C Series
I received the C series back from David Weber this past week, and it is a DREAM to play on. I LOVE the C series, and am negotiating with Peter Hurd (who is driving down from Bellingham just to hear my recital! Bless his sweet heart.) to relieve him of the instrument. David Weber did $1000 worth of work on it, including his $450 bore adjustment, and the instrument is incredible. Some would say it’s bright, I say it’s flexible and resonant. And I proved it today.
I took the C series to orchestra rehearsal (Tchaik 4) and told the 1st flute player (who knows my playing very well, and has been playing with me on the Telemann quartet, as well as various chamber works and Wind Ensemble works) to listen and tell me if she heard anything. She asked “Now is this the good oboe or the bad oboe?” I just shrugged. After the 2.5 hour rehearsal she said, “Well, it sounds like the high notes are easier, you’re playing better in tune, your blending better, and you just don’t seem to struggle as much. It just seems easier. Maybe its DARKER.” I assured her it was definitely not darker, but just more flexible which she fully agreed with me. I can play dark on this instrument. I can play light. I can cover, and I can brighten.
When David Weber sent me the oboe, he generously sent me 3 reeds that he made just for the instrument. 1 was a Weber 1-C, and two were a Weber 1-B. The Weber 1-C was vibrant and more open, and was instantly my favorite, while one of the Weber 1-Bs was “very good”, slightly more closed. The final one was a Weber 1-B and VERY closed, so much that no matter how much I pushed, I couldn’t get more than a Mezzoforte. I called him and discussed it with him and he told me:
“Practice on the closed 1-B and learn how to project not with volume but with color. When you can project with color, then you will have learned how to blow correctly with that C series. Ring your tone like a bell. Can you vibrate a wine glass by running your finger around its edge? Practice bring out sound from stone. Same for making a reed/embouchure structure that will allow you to place that reed anywhere on the embouchure (from center to extreme corners) and the listener will not know the reed has been moved.”
So I did. I practiced with that reed for two days, and somewhere after the 5th and 6th hour of playing, I began catching on. I had already begun to figure some of this out when I first had the C series oboe in my hands, but now I was reminded, and my body instantly responded. I love the instrument, and am definitely planning on playing my recital on it.
John Ferillo
A lot of oboists play on C series instruments, including the great John Ferillo. I heard he has hired Tom Hiniker to make him a new upper joint for his C series, but he still plays on the same old one. I got my hands on a recording of Ferillo playing Tchaik 4 with the BSO and his phrasing on the 2nd mvt solo is incredible! On the repeated F’s, he plays them as written with the crescendo leading through them and then tapering off with the descending notes. But then as he approaches the repeated Eb’s, he crescendos and then suddenly decrescendos through the Eb’s instead of repeating the written dynamics. Not only does he decrescendo the repeated Eb’s, but he changes the color of them, making the Eb’s so warm and fuzzy you wonder. “What!?!?!? What was that!?!?!?!? Where did they go!?!?!?!? How did he do that!?!?!?!?” Truly Magnificent playing.
David Weber
Well, my summer plans are official and I am now certain about my summer plans. I have decided to leave my wife for the summer, pack all of my oboe stuff, and move to Chandler, Arizona for 2.5 months to attend the David Weber Bootcamp™. I will be working in the shop and studying with him. I hope to learn some repair stuff, like tone hole inserts and pins, as well as study oboe with him and do grunt work. In return, he is paying me a minimum stipend to pay my expenses and rent in AZ, as well as teach me lessons. He has told me that he wants to spend at least an hour a day with me on my oboe lesson, and I’ll be coming into his shop every morning before he gets there to practice what he’ll be teaching me (he doesn’t like to get into the shop before 10am, and often works late into the night). My wife (bless her soul) has met David and Vendla on our previous trip last summer, and understands how important my relationship and mentorship with him is, and is fully supportive. So what this also means is that I will be traveling late June for several days to go down to Arizona. Anyone live in the SF Bay area or LA area want to get together for a oboe shindig? Patty?
IDRS Convention
What this also means is that I will be attending the IDRS convention in order to man the Weber Reeds station! So if anyone is planning on going, please stop by the Weber Reeds station and introduce yourself to me. I’d love to meet some readers, or reed purchasers. I’ll probably even have some of my reeds on display there, so if you are curious at all what my reeds feel like (but have never had the courage to order some), please come with oboe in hand!
Final things:
I’m looking for housing in Chandler, AZ, so if anyone knows someone who’s subletting in the general Phoenix area, please let me know! Also, I’ll be looking for housing in Provo during the conference so if anyone is from the area and has a room to rent for the week, please do tell!
