I have just started (age 50!) learning oboe. I have a Howarth student model which I love, it came with a couple of Rico reeds, one of which is OK, the other I don't seem to be able to play with at all.. There are so many different makes - any recommendations? I am still struggling with my breathing and my lips get quite tired and start making unattractive "raspberry" noises! Don't know if a different reed might help with that at all or just loads more practice?

Hi,
I'm very similar in that I started becoming interested in the oboe about 6 months ago and finally bought one one second hand. I do love playing it, though I haven't decided yet just how seriously I want to continue.
I play the clarinet as well and I think that gave me an advantage with the embouchure, though the first few times were pretty awful!

Yes!!! The reeds are the bugbear of the oboist, and a different reed will probably make a huge difference. Most Rico and Vox beginner's 'medium-soft' should be fine, but make sure you soak them in water for about 5 minutes as per the instructions on the case. This really helps. They do vary a lot. Some sound great. Others are almost unplayable. Very similar to clarinet reeds. Until you decide to learn how to make your own, best to have a selection in stock.

I buy all my accessories, oboe reeds included, via Ebay, and there's plenty of choice. Because of the low weight, it's far cheaper to purchase them from the USA (Low - or free postage) and there are professional oboists who make reeds, test them and then sell them. They cost approx $15 each. So not a lot more than a mass produced Rico reed in the UK.

Getting tired and raspberry noises are all part of the learning process.

Rather like working in Woolworth Customer service dept.

Steve

My daughter has been playing with a Jones reed - Medium/Soft. She has always played with these and only now (grade 4ish) is she finding the tone a bit poor. They have been very consistent too, with only one or 2 not working very well in 2 years. We get them from a shop in Cambridge and I can pm you if you want to know the name - I don't know if I will get told off for putting it on the message board? They don't charge postage either and the reeds are only about £6 which i didn't think was too bad.

However, I am going to buy another reed (Torda) as recommended by someone on this message board. They do student reeds as well, so it could be worth a look. I am not sure how much they cost though - it also depends whether you are as mean as I am!! I am sure you would be careful with your reeds, but in my experience 10 year olds and oboe reeds do not mix very well.

Contact Howarths and ask for their advice, they will sell you nice handmade medium soft reeds. They may cost slightly more but are worth it.

(since your Oboe is a Howarths model this can't really count as advertising can it) To find their details use a search engine.

I've been very pleased with the reeds I've had from Nick Winfield - If you have a teacher, ask their advice about reeds, but otherwise I think soft reeds with a british scrape is a good place to start. (The continental scrape that he does is somewhat harder to blow - "more resistance", but has a much nicer tone once you can control it - to my ears anyway).

If you're forming the embouchure correctly, nothing but practice will help with the lip endurance. Embouchure should be relaxed, at least in the lower registers. It's all about breath support. I read a quote somewhere "you can either force the reed to vibrate, or you can just let it vibrate." It was once I understood what that meant that it all got better :-)

I would suggest that you stop once you're too tired to control the embouchure; practice after that does more harm than good.

There's a good oboe forum here, lots of guys & girls from the states but a fair number who really know their stuff.

Oboe's such a specialist instrument, it can be hard to find a music store that has any idea about it. Howarths (http://www.howarth.uk.com) are *the* oboe shop in the UK, it's well worth popping in if you're in London (they're by Baker St tube) but there are other good shops around; John Myatt (http://www.myatt.co.uk/) are friendly, and Crowthers look useful but I've no experience of them myself.

Martin Shuring put the thing about reeds well:



Edit: typo