My sympathy/empathy

thanks for the words of wisdom, I am currently playing an Evette model which I bought from a local music shop but isn't in the best of condition so anything has to be better than what I have. I'm trialling a Cabart and Loree from Crowthers, and am swaying towards the Loree as I think I get more value for my money and the tone is lovely, waiting for my teacher to take a look at it before I make my decision. I'm hoping to take grade 6 early next year and I need some thing to take me onwards and upwards.
Have spoken to the shop today and they have told me ages of instruments and the work they have had done to them and everything seems fine. With teachers approval i'll prob go for the Loree. Thanks for your help
PS - Can anyone recommend the best place to sell my current Oboe? It would be fine for a beginner as its been well looked after.

Ask your teacher if they know of anyone who wants a beginner's oboe. That 's how I sold mine on. Even if your teacher doesn't have a pupil themselves who wants to buy an oboe, they may know another teacher who does.

I've just taken a big risk and bought my daughter an oboe from Ebay. I don't think I'd want to do the same again though even though things seem to have worked out well.

In our case the oboe was exactly as advertised and the seller genuine (despite knowing nothing about Oboes). Just waiting for her Teacher to confirm that it's fine before we celebrate.

What is it?

I thought you'd already bought one ages ago?

my daughter has an Oboe on loan form the music Service. I might have mentioned needing to save up for one but I hadn't even come close to buying one until last Friday.






It's a Howarth S40c.

That's an excellent oboe, Berni, well done

Sara

Wow! Lucky notmusimum's daughter! Her tone should improve with a better Oboe.

I wish I had a oboe of my own.
The one I have now is a Fossati tiery (maybe E40 with no 3rd octave key) graduate model, but is from a trust, so have to give it back sometime...

Well done Berni and lucky Emily...I am so pleased that all seems to be well and that you are happy with the Howarth...oooh the tension when we were discussing it...I am so releived that all has turned out the way you hoped...

Regards

Andrew

At least your loan instrument is of decent quality Liz. I would have waited if that had been our case.
I couldn't get my head round the fact that her tone improved and then began to sound awful, I suspect it didn't really, I think she's probably got as far as she could tone wise on this particular Student Oboe (conclusion after speaking to Howarths a few months ago).


I confess to paying considerably less than it's second hand value (still a lot of money to me) and worring that it might be a heap of junk.

Happily it isn't, her tone has improved dramatically even after a couple of short attempts (busy with ensembles and homework). At least now doing long notes etc will take her further forward.

Congratulations on finding a good oboe. I understand that the Howarth S40 is a good instrument, a graduate model. I wish I could find something like that, although my own oboe is good enough for me at the moment, so I can't really justify a serious look around.

I honestly think we were just very lucky.

Think i'm going to buy the second hand Loree I have, waiting for my teacher to take a look but i'll keep you posted on the decision.
Strange question, can anyone recommend an Oboe accessories web site where I can buy a new black case cover for it (the bag not the case!)? I've been quoted £65 which is a bit steep for material.
Also when buying second hand, would you haggle the price?

I started the oboe last week and my teacher said i could do grade 3 in march is that good or normal. no joke lad

Given you play the flute as well, I'd say that was quite normal Although the tone and tuning are much harder!!

Always haggle, walk away have a coffee amd stick to your guns price wise, let em sweat a bit and they will come down...

good luckhope you love the Loree,

Andrew

Howarth's have one on their website for £37.50.

Hi Laura,

whilst I appreciate you don't want to spend a lot of money I must advise you that Howarth Oboe cases are somehwhat larger than Loree cases...if the Loree Oboe comes in a Loree case you will need to get a case cover from Loree themselves.....if you go to Instruments and click on Loree then go to cases and covers you can see them there...contact Micheal de Gordon via the contacts page he will send you a catalogue and you can order from there direct...


http://www.loree-paris.com/

hope this helps,

Regards

Andrew


better still check this link...if you click on the case covers described this will show you what they are like...... click on the word ZOOM and all will be revealed...

http://www.loree-paris.com/engl/pages/inst...htbois_lor.html

I bought a Howarth case and a Howarth cover for my Marigaux oboe from Howarth (I bought the Marigaux second hand and it came with a case which I found totally impractical). The cover is actually quite a bit bigger than the case but it works all right.

Well i'm officially the proud owner of a Cabart Oboe!! decided it wasn't much different than the Loree I was testing and its slightly newer and cheaper. Hoping to get a new case now though, will try and get a Cabart one probably as it will be better. Next question, do I get instrument insurance or are instruments usually covered on home contents insurance?
I'm also about to put my Oboe on ebay, its a good model and will suit a beginner so fingers crossed i'll get some thing for it.
I'm off to play it now, so excited!!

Hello Laura,

well done on making your decision, the Cabart instruments are in fact made by Loree so you would not notice much difference between them...I am posting a link to Cabart cases here for you so if you click Zoom you can see the different cases, the "Pegamoid" the "Integral" and the "Rectangular" cases are all here...

good luck.. heres your link......

http://www.loree-paris.com/engl/pages/inst...shtboiscab.html



I doubt that your contents insurance would cover you when out and about...better still try this


http://www.allianzmusicalinsurance.co.uk/

hope this helps

Good luck

Regards

Andrew

Forgot to mention...if you go to the contact page on the Loree/Cabart site you can send a request to Micheal de Gourdon and he will send you a catalogue and you can order your Cabart case direct from them...

Its lovely to get a new instrument

I was just playing the oboe. My tone seems to have graduated from duck to wood saw....

hmmmm, sorry about that...one day perhaps your duck will turn into a swan...but what sort of noise do swans make??????
(At least it's not a seagull, I'm sure that I used to sound like a seagull with a problem, until I got some better reeds. But let's not talk about reeds again.)

Enjoy your new Cabart, I'm sure that you just need to settle down with it and then you'll sound great.

Try putting slightly less reed in your mouth.
Or try changing reeds.

Keri, am I right in thinking that reeds that work well in one make of oboe often perform less well in another make...and vice versa.

Speaking of reeds, I've been wanting to ask this for ages. What is the difference between a European short scrape and an American reed. I know the American style reed has a longer scrape but what is the difference in sound and embouchure....I'm not sure if I've expressed myself properly, but I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say.

American players often use the V scrape which dispenses of much of the bark., similar to that of the viennese players. It produces a rich heavy sound which suits viennese oboes especially well.
The U scrape used by most Eupoeans provides a lighter and sweeter sound.

The Americans favour the V or W scrape, this gives a slightly darker and more penetrating sound...in Europe we favour the U scrape...much lighter in tone and a little more refined...The oboe remains sounding like an Oboe and not a slightly bizzare Clarinet. The W or V scrape is fairly long and has good attack but I prefer the U scrape...they are easier to do in my opinion

Opps double posts...same opinion as Malone

I think the one my old oboe came with was a W scrape. Didn't like it much and seemed to be constantly adjusting it!
I play with locally made U scrape ones now. Thought about trying the Ke-Xun oboe reeds. I play with them on my bassoon and love them to bits, but they are completely different instruments so didnt know

I play Ke Xun Ge standard reeds on the recommendation of my teacher. They're expensive but I've had three on the go in rotation since the spring and they're still ok. The only thing is that they are hard and needed some scraping to get them right for me, but I find them much better than the reeds I was using before. Everyone says how much better my playing is sounding...that's down to practice but also to changing reeds.

I was just intrigued about the difference between American and European scrape oboe reeds. There's an American oboe site I sometimes read and there they really don't like short European scrape reeds...but they seem fine to me. I think if I turned with an American style reed my teacher would have plenty to say...or are we just being a little partisan????

The Americans have some very strange ideas...but in turn so do we in their eyes...I have to say that I do find them a little obsessive, every small detail is analysed beyond what we might consider sensible or worthy...I know the site you are referring to and they do go into everything in very great depth...I imagine that we are a little more "Lets get on with it" and less likely to deliberate for hours about something, possibly worrying needlessly about the smallest thing...

As for being a little partisan...I say good for us...

Laura, if it's not too late, I found a fab case cover for my Howarth case on the American Ebay site - and because of the exchange rates, it cost me about a fiver, even with the postage. Bargain! The seller should post the measurements so you can get an idea if it'll fit your case (and even if they don't put it on the listing you can ask them).



Gavin, I'd say that's not too unusual, especially if you play the flute already as someone mentioned. Grade 1 is so easy that most people could probably do it after a couple of weeks! (And don't get me started on the prep test!!). I tend to skip grade 1 and put people in for grade 2 as their first exam, a few months after they've started. I haven't put anyone straight in for grade 3 yet, grade 2 seems safer to me!



And we could also talk about the differences between the various European U scrapes... but maybe let's not...

I occasionally play alongside an American oboist who still gets her reeds from there when she's back, and they are quite bizarre - scraped almost all the way up to the string. If you want to try an 'inbetween' version, ie. a W scrape, but not as long as the American version, try Ruth Watson's reeds. I like them a lot.

Talking of American idiosyncracies, has anyone else noticed how LOW they hold their oboes, basically like a clarinet? I noticed this on a televised prom a few weeks ago, can't remember the orch but I think it was San Francisco - Michael Tilson Thomas conducting. The first oboe had his instrument practically between his knees. The American girl I know is the same. HOW do they breathe???

You know claire you are quite right...the differences between all the varied scrapes could be delberated for days...I feel that the reeds and their scraping is such a personal thing it can hardly be discussed as one mans meat is another mans poison so to speak....Just now and then we get a cracking reed and if only they were repeatable every time we would be in heaven...sadly there are too many outside influences to ensure perfection everytime...so we go on searching for the perfect reed till our Oboe playing days are over...I suspect the Holy Grail will be found first

As for the posistion Americans hold their Oboes at...to be honest I have never noticed but will make sure I keep a beady eye on them next time I see an American orchestra...

changing off the subject of reeds rather rapidly...

can anyone tell me anything about the tombeau de couperin by ravel?

myself and an oboe friend were listening to it on the radio and decided we HAD to buy it. so i ordered it from the music shop but they rang back saying they could only get it in a book of orchestral excerpts (only an excerpt?) and in the trinity guildhall book (not sure what they meant by this).

could anyone shed a little light onto this? we presumed it was just a piece of music and we'd be able to buy it with piano accompaniment rather than orch.!

Isn't it really difficult? I read somewhere that the French sometimes call it the tomb of the oboist because of its difficulty, or have I got the wrong piece of music in mind?

I suppose that it's in one of the Evelyn Rothwell books "Difficult passages from orchestral works" or something like that. I don't know if it can be bought separately, but I reckon the people at June Emerson wind music might be able to track it down for you. They seem to have a huge stock and an easily searched web site.
Enjoy!

Hello there, yes it is quite likely that they can only source it through a book of Orchestral extracts, these are quite common place and provide instrumentalists with the solo parts for their particular instrument...Usually large scores are only available for hire...some are still under copyright though not the Ravel. The Trinity extracts book which I have in front of me does in fact have the very piece ( or the oboe extract of that piece on Page 41 and 42 but there is no Piano accomp. it is just the solo bits. It is very unlikely that you will find a Piano/Oboe transcription of many of your favourite Orchestral works...it would be far too costly to do and frankly a bit of a gamble from a publishing point of view...

just to let you know the Trinity Orchestral extracts comes in at about £10.00 so not cheap (what is these days) but there are tons of Oboe solos from great orchestral works...they pretty much cover all the big tunes so worth a play and its useful to know them should you ever play in an Orchestra...

My Daughter has got a chance to play Oboe for Melinda Maxwell at the RNCM Woodwind day. She's got to decide on a piece, though due to committments, think it might have to be one of the G5 ones.

I'm JEALOUS!

Good luck to her - which one is she going to play?

Wow! Tell us how it goes!

At the moment looks like Orientale, she's got too many concerts and things to prepare anything else. The Woodwind Day is on the 14th October. It's a bit scary as she's never done a Masterclass before.

Hi Liz!

How's your oboe going at the moment? What are you playing?

I'm playing the Round Dance (or square dance...or something along those lines) from ornamental oboes...and the Nielsen romance...

notmusimum - Gosh...the orientale is a G5 piece...I don't remember it being that hard... well anyway. Good luck to her! Tell us how it goes?

sounds like something I'd say!

The Nielsen is lovely (though I play it on flute... )

Hi Pianoboe!

Yep. My Oboe playing isn't too bad. Just working on making my Vibrato better.

I'm doing 'three old french dances' by Marais, and syncopation, and the Nielsen Romance. Soon, the Albinoni Concerto should arrive in CityMusic.

How come you get to play such fab fab music?

I had the three old french dances anyway, so when I forgot my Piano book for the Nielsen, and the teacher despretly wanted something 'new', it came out...

30 min lessons are not enough! It would be sooo much more constructive if it's 1 hour. Or maybe I need stamina first. My teacher suggested 1 hour lessons bofore.

whilst we are on the subject of Pieces...I will be starting with my new teacher in a matter of weeks and I will be expected to play at least two works, one Baroque one 20th century...

I thought that I may play the Siciliana from the Cimarosa concerto or one of Telemans Flute fantasies (obviously on the Oboe), I love the Cimarosa especially the Siciliana/3rd mvmnt, its very lyrical and right up my street...The Teleman fantasies and wonderful but which one????

As for the 20th century work well there's a good question...The Britten are short but done to death, maybe one of the movements from the Howells sonata ( a personal favourite but its a tad long winded)maybe the Finzi...oooh oooh oooh what to do...I have a suspision that 20th century is not really my teachers bag so I don't want to bore the poor soul to tears...so maybe the Britten is the way forward...but not Baccus, far too raunchy for a first meeting..

So Oboists your thoughts please, and wish me luck, its been a while since I played and what with that, a new teacher and new Oboe... well there's nothing like jumping in with both feet is there...I know I can play the Cimarosa, its under my hands and I don't have to think too much just enjoy it and play it...oozing quiet calm and serenity..all very baroque..and maybe I should leave it at that and forget the 20th century work...

Any suggestions, all greatfully recieved...

Only 4 weeks to my new babies arriving...not that I am counting

Regards

Andrew

Good luck Andrew!!

Hope the new babies arrive safe and well! Will you be making an appearance on youtube?

Thanks Berni,

not planning any appearances on Youtube, a little camera shy I guess...

New babies due shortly...Loree should be almost be ready to send them...I am sure the Royale 125 will be very special...so watch this space...

Am glad to read that Emily is getting on well with the Howarth...

Anybody got any new youtube appearances planned?