Just finished Dartington and now at Heathrow airport, about to head back to Costa Rica...

It was a really FABULOUS week. Nick Daniels lived up to every expectation and more. His masterclasses were brilliant, packed with information and humour. Just kicking myself for not having been brave enough to play as clearly not everyone who had signed up was actually an advanced player, as they should have been. The concerts were wonderful too - ND did one as the featured soloist but also played in a couple of others. It was great to get to hear lots of repertoire - including a lot of new compositions - that I'd never get to hear in Costa Rica.

For anyone going to Dartington in the future, I would also thoroughly recommend the wind chamber music run by the Gallimaufry Ensemble - quite a young quintet with lots of energy, creativity and who tried to make time for everyone and adapt to their various needs. They were really fun!

There were an indecent number of oboists there - at least a dozen, without counting those who may have had the oboe as a seccond instrument and didn't really figure in the courses that I participated in. Never been anywhere before where there were more oboists than flautists! There were no less than nine in the wind band (one dropped out the day before the performance) - so a couple of us decided they really didn't need us too!

Glad you got your oboe mishap fixed, pushpull. You're right that you need to keep an eye on these things. The week I got to the UK and had the octave key problem, I found a screw half out. I almost fainted to think what would have happened if I hadn't spotted it in time.

Glad you had such a good time Katica & that we were able to meet.
How long's your flight?
Safe travelling & hope it doesn't take too long to adjust beinbg back in Costa Rica.
Helen

Thank you Hardying! Just about to board... going via Houston. I'll get home at about 10pm tonight (5am tomorrow UK time) and I have to work tommorrow!

[Thank you Hardying! Just about to board... going via Houston. I'll get home at about 10pm tonight (5am tomorrow UK time) and I have to work tommorrow!
[/quote]


Oh No - hope you get some sleep on the plane! Hope we can meet up again next year

Hope you are safely home now Katica, and not feeling too jet lagged. Sounds like you had a brilliant week in Dartington. Great to hear that there were so many oboists.

Pushpull - I had the same thing with the top joint of my oboe. I didn't spot it hidden behind the side keys - I got as far as taking it to my oboe repair man due to all the wonky tuning so I make sure I keep a close eye on it now.

Hopefully my lessons will be starting again next week! I am desperate to have a lovely new reed from my teacher! I am looking forward to moving on a bit with playing and practicing some new things.

Sounds like you're all ready for your new term Flobiano - hope it goes well. I have another month to wait till my next lesson, partly because I'm off to Finland in 2 weeks time for my annual pilgrimage to the Sibelius festival . A bit worrying that I have a concert 4 days after I return!

How lovely. I am half Finnish myself, and still have a large family over there, so have a very soft spot for Sibelius. I haven't been to Lahti though, hope you have a lovely time.

Thanks - there's a group of us meet up for the festival (3 symphony & 2 chamber concerts) each year & then go on to Helsinki for a few days.
One of the reasons I was keen to get a cor anglais was so that I could play the Swan of Tuonela, & this ws the 1st piece I tried as soon as it came out of its case!.

Facebook tells me that on this day, 2 years ago, I wrote: "flobiano has shaken the dust off her oboe. Can't believe it's really 7 years since I took my grade 5! Think I ought to start playing again."

I thought right! And that thought has taken me on a very enjoyable and interesting journey so far. Long may it continue!

Glad you made that decision - continue to enjoy

Being so busy over the holiday with courses and various other things Emsoboe has hardly touched oboe. She's played through the pieces for an audition now and again and not much more.

I heard her yesterday for the first time in a while and out came a totally different sound. I think we were both a bit shocked . It was a where did that come from moment? She knows her embouchure has changed due to playing sopranino sax. It's a nice bonus that it's helped oboe. Just hope she can keep that sound now .

At least one teacher should be happy when things kick off again in the new term .

Hope the audition goes well for ems..naughty minx not practicing says he hanging his head in shame as I have barely picked up my Oboe due to some serious decorating of the studio inside and out..must start playing this week or I'll be in trouble

Andrew

Thanks! She's done what she had time for Unfortunately vcarious courses and pit band got in the way. It's worked out well though

Wow, good going for two years!!!!


Wow. What changed???

I've been able to play very little since I got back from the UK a week ago. Allergic bronchitis. Actually, I think oboe playing is probably good for it in the long run but I just ain't got no puff right now.

Too bad - first lesson in two months tomorrow ( ), solfeo lesson, band rehearsal (going to get started on Indiana Jones ) and have to decide what to play at the oboe recital on Friday week - no piano accompaniment so need to replan.

Happy Sibelius travels, Hardying.

Hope you're enjoying your New Look Studio, Andrew.

[Happy Sibelius travels, Hardying.

Hope you're enjoying your New Look Studio, Andrew.
[/quote]

Glad to hear you're safely back home
So sorry about the bronchitis & hope you soon shake it off.
Good luck for the recital
Must get ready for work now.
Take Care, Helen X

She's playing with a bigger sound, possibly blowing more and her enbouchure is less straight. She will need to do some work to get the subtlness of her sound back but it seems like a good place to move on from.

We always thought her oboe playing was to do with tension probably brought on by playing too hard a reed too soon and not being introduced to them gradually.

It's great to see her with some confidence back fingers crossed she can move forward now. Her teacher has done a lot to help and support her over the last two years. Lots of the technical problems have been worked on Hopefully there will be more oboe progress now.

Flobiano you have made amazing progress in a short time.

Glad you are back safely Katica hope to see you again next time you are in the UK.

Glad you got home safely Katica, I was getting a bit concerned that we hadn't heard from you. Hope you feel better soon.

I had my first lesson of the new term yesterday. Seemed to go well, working on Luft studies at the moment - they certainly are very good for tying fingers up in knots! Also the Reizenstein concert pieces.

I've just bought a ticket to see Francois Leleux at the RNCM playing the Saints Saens Oboe Sonata among other things. Thanks to Pushpull for the tip off. Really looking forward to it!

Should see you there then. I'm having a little tinker with bits of the Saint Saens - just so I can check if he plays it right.

@ Katica, glad you got home safe and sound hun..was a bit concerned when we didnt hear from you for a few days..I do hope you have had a lovely time here in the UK..I am sure it was a great success and that you will be back amongst us soon..

@ Lucky Flo and Pushpull going to hear Leleux..wonderful musician..too far though for me to drag my bones however much I like the mans playing..I hope you both enjoy.

Andrew

I'd love to hear the Saint-Saens live - Hope you really enjoy it & I look forward to hearing about it.

Does "less straight" mean less "smiley"? It sounds as though she has managed to keep nice soft, relaxed lips, combined with good air support, which makes for a much nicer sound. Very envious! The least bit of anxiety about anything makes me tense up and "bite" too much. My reeds are too soft at the moment but that's actually quite good as they just don't work unless I loosen up a bit.

Actually, it's a bit odd but I think I have sometimes managed a better sound after a holiday. Just because I'm more relaxed


Thank you Andrew. You know, for the first time in years I didn't suffer too much from cultural shock on this trip back to the UK. I definitely think I have music and musical friends (Forumites, musical family friends and new acquaintances at Dartington) to thank for that. Somehow music "connects" my two worlds here and there. You'd think my work would do that but music does it better!

First lesson yesterday was pretty well an utter disaster. I couldn't play the study I was picking up after two months, mainly because of coughing fits and anxiety about tight chest causing me to be totally unable to concentrate on notes, articulation, fingering - or anything, really. But I was still glad to be back in the saddle again... Glad too to be back in the solfeo (music reading) class, empowered and motivated by the week at Dartington, and my cough had subsided a bit by band rehearsal, which went really pretty well. All but one bar of sight-read solo in John Williams piece (Raiders' March from the Indiana Jones film) sounding OK, so despite complete lesson flop a really enjoyable evening.

More good news that oboe recital has been postponed to 1 October. But I have to learn a something completely new for it.

Enjoy the Leleux Saint Saens concert, flobiano and pushpull... very envious!

I'm sorry don't really know if I mean less "smiley" or not She was really tight and her sound was a bit streached. That's probably the best way I can describe it. Because of playing other instruments emsoboe is very aware she wasn't supporting enough. Mostly as she found it hard due to the tightness (not sure I'm making sense).

It's only really in the last 3 years that she has learnt about support and it happened more naturally on other instruments but the problems were already there on oboe. Now her brain is treating it more like sax so the tightness internally has lessened.

At the moment there is still work to be done to get some aspects of her sound to the level they were before but this is more to do with control. Hopefully in the next few weeks she will get beck to her best with the openness.

However she got there, good news and good for her!

We spend so much time thinking that we have to do things differently on the oboe - interesting to hear of a breakthrough by doing the opposite.

I need a something like that myself - though I don't have the excuse of not having been taught about support and not being "tight". But my brain doesn't seem to have got the message yet...

I'm not sure emsoboes brain has fully got the message either

I don't think it would work with any other instrument or sax for that matter. It's just that the mouthpiece on nino is so small that similar internal physical traits are needed. The reason she could play nino is because of oboe when other people tried it they thought it wasn't playing properly as some notes would not come out.

It's just luck that a positive has happened and it's not before time

I am finally back home after two months away (but fortunately not two months without oboe ). I had a very enjoyable week's chamber music course and spent rather a lot of money in Howarths on music and a new oboe for my daughter.

In the end I bought her an S20. She found the S40 too heavy (as nonmusimum and I suspected) but also (which hadn't even occurred to me), because the S40 has a larger diameter, she found it very awkward to curve her right index finger over the top of the right-hand G# key. She agreed that I sounded nicer on the S40 but she definitely sounded nicer on the S20. What was harder to decide on was which S20 to buy - we tried two and both immediately liked a different one In the end I bought the one that she liked best (and sounded nicest on) on the basis that she is the one who is going to be playing it but I really would have liked to have taken them both away and asked my teacher's opinion.

I was slightly disappointed by Howarth's service of my XL. When I picked it up, they had changed the cork on the top tenon and I found it a bit stiff to put together. They assured me that it would be fine after I'd put it together and taken it apart a few times but two days later I really thought I wasn't going to be able to take it apart. I also discovered when I got home that several of the keys had developped noticeable clicks (which they didn't have before it was serviced and which I hadn't noticed in the shop because of the very noisy fan in their basement). In the end I took it back again. They did fix everything up but I would rather they had checked it properly the first time - especially as I had left it with them for well over a month.

Nice to have you back Keri. Glad you got your daughter a suitable oboe I'm sure she will enjoy it!

Too bad about your XL servicing. They did mine in a week and it was fine - and a great relief to have it back after struggling with a borrowed thumbplate S7 (though very kind of Howarths to lend it to me!).

I appear to have bought an oboe to add to my growing collection of instruments

Now to learn how to get a note out of it. Could be a long drawn out process................

Well now you've got a proper instrument you can ditch the rest and concentrate on this one. That way it won't take long at all. Actually although we try hard to maintain the aura of near impossibility that the oboe has attracted (in order to massage our own egos), getting a note out of it is a lot easier than most people imagine.

Good luck.

You'll need to change your signature!!

Welcome to the club!

Best of luck, lois!

Great news, lois! What model of oboe is it?

Plagiarising many before me on here, my advice is:
a) Get a decent reed or two (not too hard to begin with)
b) Get a teacher

Both will play dividends.

And don't worry about getting a note out of the oboe itself right away. A really good start is to do a few minutes every day just on the reed, trying to get good steady long notes out of it. Even with the right embouchure you probably won't be able to manage more than about ten minutes at first until the cheek muscles you need to maintain it are toned up. This will really help you avoid sounding too duck-like right from the start.

Actually, even professional oboists will often spend some time just on the reed alone to keep their sound/tone tip-top.

shhh....don't blow the mystique.

Good luck lois.

Thanks All - it's an old wooden Boosey & Hawkes model and looks like it's in fairly decent condition.

I am trawling up to the music shop later to have a look at some reeds then my next task will be to find a teacher

Does anyone have any recommendations for which make / type of reed to go for ?

I'd be really surprised if your local music shop - if it's a general music shop - has any decent reeds. You will want a soft one to begin with. Most of us here either have reeds made by our teachers or buy handmade ones direct from reedmakers or from specialist oboe shops such as Howarth's. Your teacher should be able to advise. Good luck with finding a teacher!

I agree Howarths would be the best bet for starters. Give them a call, tell them you're a beginner and they'll sort out something suitable. My first reeds were from Nick Winfield - http://www.winfieldreeds.co.uk/ but for quite a long time now I've been buying from Fortay - http://www.fortayreeds.co.uk/. They keep a record of customers' whims and moires and have always seemed to me to be very consistent. Allow 3 weeks for delivery though.

That's useful... What are your "whims and moires"? Perhaps you could post them over on the reedmaking thread where we would generously acknowledge them as useful tips?

First orchestra rehearsal since the end of May tonight. It feels good to be back. We are playing Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri Overture which has some rather nice oboe bits.

Very nice oboe bits, I seem to remember. And a bit of a challenge too?


I just got back from (a) oboe lesson, which was virtually non-existent because I got there late, (b) solfeo class which was an utter disaster because I was sightreading difficult rhythms (hadn't done homework because have been unwell) and the more anxious I got the worse my rhythms got and © band rehearsal, which was fun. Tomorrow we have to trot out the annual patriotic pieces for the Eve of Independence torchlit celebrations... plus Summer Lovin' from Grease. Can't work out how that's at all appropriate, except the local village public seem to enjoy it. Everything goes here on Independence Day. More fun than serious.

Morning Peeps,

Well I had my second rehearsal last night..Rienzi Overture , Wagner..went surprisingly well..not overly difficult and a nice work to sight read. Then as a total contrast we did a Music Hall medley which was....well lets say unusual..not my cup of tea really and a bit of a contrast to the rest of the program..I can't quite fathom how this MHM was chosen but there it is..its my job to play it love it or loathe it and that all my good bits are in Ab major is quite immaterial..

On the plus side the Oboe is sounding good at the moment, lovely reeds, lucky lucky me (if only it would last).. and it's nice to be back playing with the Orchestra they're a nice group of people..some of them are a bit stiff necked but I'm working on them..give me time..Thankfully the conductor is a great help, he's really quite special in my opinion..Ex L.S.O and L.P.O and so incredibly helpful..Bless him he comes over to my studio and coaches me through anything thats tricky..his devotion to the finished result is exemplory and a nicer man you couldn't meet..I consider myself very fortunate I have learnt a lot from him about orchestral playing..

Well its time to get my self going..lots to do as always..

Have a good day one and all

Andrew

Your post so cheered me up for the day, Andrew!

& me.
Back at work now post Finland & post Sibelius festival - very much in need of a smile - so THANK YOU Andrew

Sorry to hear you didn't have much of a lesson And even sorrier to hear about your health problems on the other thread.

I had my first lesson back over the summer break and it wasn't brilliant either. It started with me attempting to play one of the pieces I had been working on (which I had no problem with at home) and discovering I didn't have enough air to play more than a few bars and my teacher reminding me that I am supposed to breathe in order to be able to play the oboe

Then, because he had arrived late, my lesson finished later than it was supposed to and the next pupil arrived before I'd finished. The next pupil was a completely new beginner, so someone I had never seen before. He apologised to her for running late but said it would be nice for her to listen to someone more advanced to remind her of what the oboe sounded like and to give her an idea of how she would be playing in several years' time. I took a breath to play and nothing came out of the oboe (twice) This made my teacher laugh because he said it was so typical of the way I clam up completely when I have an unexpected audience, even if it's a ten-year-old who knows absolutely nothing about music .

Hopefully by next week I will have got over the first-lesson-back nerves and I will be able to play a bit better.

Hello all,

sorry for my recent absence but we have had a lot of problems on the farm with arsonists..yes you read right arsonists. We have had several fields set alight, late crops and stubble and the worrying part is the amount of thatched roofs we have on barns, stables, houses etc..needless to say its been all hands on and we have had yet another field on fire this evening..All the horses have had to be moved to safer areas i.e grassland not near to crop fields..its a terrible situation. We dont burn stubble here and I am under the impression its illegal these days but I could be wrong.

I honestly didnt ever expect to have to contend with this sort of thing but apparantly it's common place according to the emergency services..

Hope to be back to normal in a few days..now for nightwatch duties

Andrew

Really sorry to hear this - what a horrible situation.

oh dear, hope things settle down soon and you get back into a routine. Hope you are feeling much better soon as well. So sorry to hear about your health issues - an added extra stress you don't need.
Certainly a couple of tricky corners, but fotunately we are not playing at quite the speed of some recordings.

Kerioboe - I'm sure you will back to normal soon. It's surprising how easy it is to lose confidence in playing in front of people. It always seems takes me a couple of weeks to settle back into lessons and orchestra after the long summer break.

Andrew - sorry to hear about your arson problems...hopefully it settles down soon and they catch those responsible. Hope your reeds are still sounding lovely though.

Hardying - how was the Sibelius Festival? Hope you had a lovely time.

Lois - how are you getting on? have you managed to find a teacher yet?

I am not quite back into routine yet as I've been away for a week and am going away for another week tomorow. Once I get back I will be able to settle into it more - no more missed lessons or orchestra rehearsals till Christmas, barring illness. I'm currently working through the Luft studies - on number 4 now, and Reizenstein 3 Concert pieces. I have to admit to not really liking these very much at all. The first one is OK, the second one is just about bearable, but I've been asked to look at the third one this week I'm just not getting it at all, maybe they will grow on me. I'm also a tiny bit disappointed that having spent lots of time over the summer working on Arethusa we've not got round to looking at it in a lesson yet - hopefully next lesson. The time goes too quickly!

Have been practising for this evening's concert. How come ALL my reeds are playing a semi-tone sharp?? No wonder all oboists are so neurotic!!





Hope things settle down for you soon. I know exactly what you mean about the lesson time never being long enough. I keep increasing my time, but we still never manage to get through all that I've been working on! It's so frustrating - especially when we do eventually get round to something & I find the timing's not quite right, as by that stage I've learnt it wrongly & it's really hard to change.

Finland was fabulous thanks. I got home the early hours of Wednesday morning & after a couple of horrendous days at work, all the good it did me has vanished
Still. it means the next holiday is a bit closer

This thread seems to have gone a bit quiet. Nice to hear some news from Hardying a few days back.

Due to ongoing health problems I've reduced my activity on the Forums (as in everything else). Still in the phase of tests and deciding what the route back to health is going to be but fairly big op still looming as likely. Planning musical endeavours that will be compatible with (even help) recuperation is an important part of remaining sane in the meantime.

I'm not very happy that participation in the upcoming oboe recital in a couple of weeks may be under threat (in any case I've only managed one oboe lesson since I got back and that was iffy) and even more so our film music concert in November. But while I can still play the oboe at all I should just stop complaining!

On a more positive note, I met a lovely ex-pupil of my teacher's the other day. It turns out that she is just off to Manchester to do a PhD - and is planning to take her oboe with her, which she plans to dust off after two years of not playing. So if anyone has suggestions about possible teachers (though budget may be tight) and other oboe/music-related activities in the area, PMs will be gratefully received...

So sorry to hear about your ongoing health issues & hope they can be speedily resolved
Will the op take place in Costa Rica & will you be convalescing there, or will you be returning to the UK?
Glad you're managing to play still - it's music that keeps me just this side of sanity
Do take care & keep us all posted.

Hope it doesn't take too long to get back to normal

I was pathetic in my lesson today I am so stressed about work that I couldn't relax enough to breathe properly and because I wasn't taking enough breath, intonation and tone went to pot. I was also making really basic rhythmic errors (like confusing crotchets and quavers ) and even, on a couple of occasions, using the wrong octave key

In the end my teacher took pity on me, abandonned the piece I was supposed to have worked on and got me to sit down and sight-read a Telemann duet with him (he noticed several years ago that, unlike most people, my breathing is usually better when I'm seated). Despite having a rather alarming number of sharps (it started in E major and modulated into B major via a couple of E#) I managed this rather more credibly than the piece I have been working on since the summer.

His instructions to me for this week were to CALM DOWN.