The two trial oboes have arrived, on schedule and wonderful.
The only bad thing was that I had so much mail today I only had 40 minutes to un-pack and very briefly play a tiny bit on the two oboes, scrounge up something to eat right quick, (peanut butter and banana sandwich) then drive 25 minutes to orchestra practice.
The good thing is that my teacher plays with our orchestra and she put the two through their paces scale-wise, then played one for about half of the rehersal, then played the second for about two tunes. She’s given me her opinion on them. Now perhaps tomorrow evening I’ll have time to properly marvel at them, play a bit more, and make a decision as to which one I am going to keep. i’ve got five days to decide. I’ll definitely keep one of them since either one plays a thousand times easier and better than my old “beater”. Yippee!
I just finished playing on one of them. Actually,I’d have liked to play a bit longer but my mouth “blew out” and I couldn’t keep in tune.
Plus, the rest of the fam is due back any minute, and I don’t want my granddaughter to get a-hold of them-which means she can’t see them- so I’ll try to do some sound clips tonight if my mouth is recovered. Not playing for a month and a half has set me back a bit.
I’m just kidding about all of this brain stuff, heck a bassoon would be worse. I’d love to learn to play oboe, and the bassoon too. I love the sound of an oboe and maybe someday I’ll try to play one. I play flute and have played sax and clarinet so the fingering won’t be a problem.
I’m just kidding about all of this brain stuff, heck a bassoon would be worse
Now I’ll start by saying that I’ve never tried bassoon, but, the bassoon player in our orchestra told me that she tried oboe. She then told her director that she wasn’t blowing her brains out on that thing. She says it’s easier to blow than oboe. ???
I don’t know… It really doesn’t take that much air exactly, just a lot of air pressure. Heck, you can play a lot of measures on one breath, but the brain starts saying"Hey, I need some oxygen and th’ stuff in them lungs down thair is all used up". You end up having to exhale before you can inhale. Plus there is a loss of finger control due to lack of oxygen at some point, if you don’t keep up with the breaths, even though you may still have “air”.
Clarinet fingerings are different, but the whistle has helped. The basics are pretty much the same as whistle- there’s just a lot more than six holes and a lot more back-pressure. And that’s not to mention the reed problems …
I recorded a couple of things tonight with Audacity, but haven’t figured out how to turn them into MP3s for export yet. You can be thankful for that. It’s not very pretty at this stage of the game. But it was helpful to compare the sound differences between the two. I have a couple more days before I decide, but the French Rigoutat is much easier handling and has a more mellow sound so I’m leaning in that direction…
I made my decision today- it’s the Rigoutat. The Fox was a bit easier blowing, but didn’t fit my hands as well as the Rigoutat and it just has such a nice smooth mellow tone.
Here’s pics of the two-
Fox Renard 330
Rigoutat Delphine
This is the keeper-
I just like this picture of the bell because it shows the pretty grenadilla wood grain- it’s not really this light in real life.
Yippee!
cool!
But it was helpful to compare the sound differences between the two. I have a couple more days before I decide, but the French Rigoutat is much easier handling and has a more mellow sound so I’m leaning in that direction…
