Where Are All The Oboists These Days? Options

[Barry Toner]

Looks like Emsoboe may be about to become an oboist again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Wouldn't have foreseen that a year ago.

Fantastic news. We're not jealous of her opportunities, no, not really: just really jealous! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

How does Emsoboe feel about it all?

[notmusimum]

Looks like Emsoboe may be about to become an oboist again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Wouldn't have foreseen that a year ago.

Not selling that XL just yet then? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

No! That's never been on the cards (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Her teacher made a brilliant suggestion for post 18 which is still under consideration.

Looks like Emsoboe may be about to become an oboist again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Wouldn't have foreseen that a year ago.

Fantastic news. We're not jealous of her opportunities, no, not really: just really jealous! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

How does Emsoboe feel about it all?

Stunned, shocked but delighhted (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

She's never wanted to give up but post grade 8 practice has been sparse. Her only playing opportunity a quintet that wasn't challenging particularly. She loves playing in orchestras and oboe is the ideal way to do it.

The offers have been made directly to her and it's been entirely her decision to accept. She had another today, to play 1st flute in another group which she turned down, thankfully (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

The good thing about the group she was playing in last night is that they really prove music is for life and that's something I've always wanted her to see.

[katica]

Looks like Emsoboe may be about to become an oboist again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Wouldn't have foreseen that a year ago.

Delighted to hear that! All the best to her... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I've just got my spare part from Howarths ( (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) ). I think I'll have to wait until next week to get it sorted out, though, has we have a concert on Saturday. My "McGyver" temporary repair has held up extraordinarily well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[notmusimum]

Looks like Emsoboe may be about to become an oboist again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Wouldn't have foreseen that a year ago.

Delighted to hear that! All the best to her... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I've just got my spare part from Howarths ( (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) ). I think I'll have to wait until next week to get it sorted out, though, has we have a concert on Saturday. My "McGyver" temporary repair has held up extraordinarily well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Hope the concert goes well and the repair holds out (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Roseau]

Looks like Emsoboe may be about to become an oboist again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Wouldn't have foreseen that a year ago.

Congratulations to Emsoboe and I hope she enjoys it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I've just got my spare part from Howarths ( (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) ). I think I'll have to wait until next week to get it sorted out, though, has we have a concert on Saturday. My "McGyver" temporary repair has held up extraordinarily well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

How did you fix it up in the end? I arrived at my lesson tonight to find my teacher trying to repair a pupil's oboe. The whole top joint had split (but down the back) and he had filled the crack earlier in the afternoon and was trying to adjust it. She had somehow managed to let the adjusting screws go rusty had slightly damaged the 3rd octave key so that it wouldn't shut properly and meant the top joint was no longer air-tight (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) . He said that usually he would have just told the parents to take it somewhere and get it repaired but she has got an exam in just over two weeks time and she needs it to practise.

He has suggested that for next week I start working on either the fast bit of the 2nd movement of the Strauss or the first movement (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) When I protested that this was way beyond me he claimed that everyone makes a fuss about the Strauss but that it is not that hard, unless you are intending to play the whole concerto from beginning to end in one go (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) I would like to think that he was preoccupied by the oboe he was trying to mend and not really thinking about what he was saying and that he will have changed his mind by next week but I think that is probably wishful thinking (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

[Arundodonuts]

.....he claimed that everyone makes a fuss about the Strauss but that it is not that hard, unless you are intending to play the whole concerto from beginning to end in one go

I shall bear that in mind when I get there.

[Roseau]

.....he claimed that everyone makes a fuss about the Strauss but that it is not that hard, unless you are intending to play the whole concerto from beginning to end in one go

I shall bear that in mind when I get there.

Bear it in mind with a large pinch of salt (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[katica]

I've just got my spare part from Howarths ( (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) ). I think I'll have to wait until next week to get it sorted out, though, has we have a concert on Saturday. My "McGyver" temporary repair has held up extraordinarily well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

How did you fix it up in the end? I arrived at my lesson tonight to find my teacher trying to repair a pupil's oboe. The whole top joint had split (but down the back) and he had filled the crack earlier in the afternoon and was trying to adjust it. She had somehow managed to let the adjusting screws go rusty had slightly damaged the 3rd octave key so that it wouldn't shut properly and meant the top joint was no longer air-tight (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) . He said that usually he would have just told the parents to take it somewhere and get it repaired but she has got an exam in just over two weeks time and she needs it to practise.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) I would just DIE if my oboe split like that. When the kind folk at Howarths serviced my oboe last year, after just a year the screws were rusty. I was told to be careful not to hold the oboe in my sweaty hands during long rests (and of course not forget to clean it). Actually I don't, I use a stand. But they also said they'd serviced an oboe from India in the same state, so I think it's probably a climate problem. Everything goes mouldy or rusty really, really quickly here. It shouldn't be such a problem in your patch, though, should it?

My "fix" was with a pin from a hairslide that had just fallen apart, which happen to have just about the right diameter and was slightly longer than the original rod. I had to file the end to get it to sit reasonably stably in the respective hole in the internal post and then I used thread (stuff I use in reedmaking) between the bit of the pin that stuck out of the outer post to tie it in position, anchoring it to the post just above. As the pin wasn't threaded it could have fallen out. And then I stuck some clear nail varnish on the thread just to be sure. My main concern about the arrangement is that the pin (which is aluminium) might cause wear and tear on the holes in the posts. So I also oiled it before inserting.

Not sure whether any of this is clear. I might have to upload a photo. (As you can probably tell, I am quite proud of my emergency oboe engineering skills! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) )

.....he claimed that everyone makes a fuss about the Strauss but that it is not that hard, unless you are intending to play the whole concerto from beginning to end in one go

I shall bear that in mind when I get there.

Well, that at least is optimistic. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Not sure I will ever get there at the rate I'm going!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/goodLuck.gif), Roseau. I bet your teacher was entirely aware of what he was proposing and has every confidence in you... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Roseau]

But they also said they'd serviced an oboe from India in the same state, so I think it's probably a climate problem. Everything goes mouldy or rusty really, really quickly here. It shouldn't be such a problem in your patch, though, should it?

Definitely not a climate problem here. My teacher was inclined to think that either she doesn't swab it out before she puts it away or that she had done something silly like play it outside in the rain. Although he said that wooden oboes can just split, he wasn't convinced either that she hadn't done something she shouldn't have with the oboe like leave it in the car in the sun.

I might have to upload a photo. (As you can probably tell, I am quite proud of my emergency oboe engineering skills! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) )

Sounds very ingenious (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I would love to see a photo!

Well, that at least is optimistic. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Not sure I will ever get there at the rate I'm going!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/goodLuck.gif), Roseau. I bet your teacher was entirely aware of what he was proposing and has every confidence in you... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

He probably is aware of what he is suggesting, since the "not that hard" was in the same sentences as "you ought to have a bit more confidence in your own abilities" but he also said that it would be "good for me" and I am always wary of what he thinks is "good for me." The cadenza in the 2nd movement is objectively probably "not that hard" but as I said to him yesterday it is a combination of everything I find difficult: it is loud, forces you to occupy space and take the lead in the way you play it as the accompaniment is sparse, and the runs are not strictly in time but ones which accelerate as you play them and which I feel are what I imagine parachute jumping would be like - you have to launch yourself into them and trust that you are going to arrive safely (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif) His reply was that that was all perfectly true and that he had chosen it to make me confront my fears (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

[flobiano]

Glad to hear that Emsoboe is playing the oboe again....no need to change her name quite yet. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Katica - I am very impressed with your repair, very ingenious. I'd like to see a picture too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Roseau - have fun with the Strauss, it is good to face our fears from time to time i think.

I've just come back from a week's holiday in Scotland - which was fantastic but no oboeing. I managed about 30 minutes last night before my lip gave up completely. Orchestra tonight could be painful, and I've just realised that our concert is a week on Saturday...it feels like we have only just started rehearsing this programme! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

Prior to week away we had a flying visit to London - I had a mooch around the shops while OH met up with his friends for a band practice. I spent over an hour in Howarth's - I bought a reed tip clipper, some new thread (so i can do different canes different colours), some chinese cane, Hindemith sonata, Harty Miniatures and The Island of Patmos by Judith Bingham. I haven't really had chance to look at any of them yet. They didn't have the Berkeley 3 Moods.

I then went to a second hand music shop off Charing Cross Road (recommended in an ancient thread somewhere on here) and had a good rummage there though didn't buy much - a couple of piano pieces and a different edition of Ferling for 1 pound! Worth buying just for the recommended speeds! I then took Roseau's advice and went to Foyle's for another hour or so. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) They didn't have any second hand oboe music but I bought a CD of Telemann's 12 Fantasias and a couple of books (non music) to read on holiday (plus a cup of tea and a piece of cake in the cafe). A very enjoyable afternoon. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Barry Toner]

Finally managed to get to my oboe repair expert to let her have a look at my instrument. It has been extremely difficult to get the low notes to speak easily for a couple of weeks and my teacher thought it was a leak somewhere and had advised me to get it looked at.

The expert confirmed that there was a problem (i.e. it's not my poor technique or grotty reeds (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) ), but couldn't find any leak or any other problem that she could fix. She thinks it could be a problem with the bore in the upper joint getting out of true, so is sending it back to Howarth's for them to have a look at and fix, if that is the problem. The instrument is an S20 and is only just over a year old, so I am a bit miffed. I have been very careful to play it in carefully and swab out thoroughly after each use, so I shall be interested to find out what has gone wrong.

In the meantime, I am reduced to playing my old plastic Bundy that I have had for many years. What a difference, in oh so many ways. Hurry up please, Howarths!

[notmusimum]

Glad to hear that Emsoboe is playing the oboe again....no need to change her name quite yet. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)


Prior to week away we had a flying visit to London - I had a mooch around the shops while OH met up with his friends for a band practice. I spent over an hour in Howarth's - I bought a reed tip clipper, some new thread (so i can do different canes different colours), some chinese cane, Hindemith sonata, Harty Miniatures and The Island of Patmos by Judith Bingham. I haven't really had chance to look at any of them yet. They didn't have the Berkeley 3 Moods.

Thank you!

Love the Harty it such a nice piece (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[floboe]

Not long before the Easter holidays, I found a crack in my oboe, between the C trill-C# trill and B holes.

I then went away over easter- my mum was going to send it off but she could not find it (presumably because it hadn't been used for a few days.)


It is so small (it doesnt go through to the bore- yet (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) ) I still dont know whether to send it off for repair.

[Arundodonuts]

I bought a reed tip clipper....

You must tell me how you get on with it.

[Arundodonuts]

Not long before the Easter holidays, I found a crack in my oboe, between the C trill-C# trill and B holes.

I then went away over easter- my mum was going to send it off but she could not find it (presumably because it hadn't been used for a few days.)


It is so small (it doesnt go through to the bore- yet (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) ) I still dont know whether to send it off for repair.

I think it should be looked at - if only to determine if anything needs doing.