Tag Archives: oboe

Humidity and Winds

Humidity has a negative affect on wooden instruments over a long period of time. A dry environment will cause a wooden instrument (wood piccolos, clarinets, marimbas) to shrink. Winter is particularly a difficult season for most woodwind instruments due to the heat inside homes and lack of moisture in the air and the instrument may crack. Rainy weather will cause the wood to swell.

Sousoboephone – Brass Attack

Are your ears ringing from this bell?

Most oboe players are familiar with the decision the conductor makes for where to place us in the ensemble.
Now here’s a look that goes way beyond anything we could imagine. Is this a Sousoboephone?

Cold Corks

Here in the Northeast, we have been experiencing mixed weather, as usual. We can go from 60 degrees to 20 degrees Fahrenheit in one day. This weekend we were down in temperature to single digit. These extreme low temperatures are detrimental to woodwind instruments.

oboe reed staples with cork

In a small way, the cork which is inserted into the instrument to hold the reeds OR to hold the instruments together securely are adversely affected by extreme temperatures.

Clarinet Tenon Corks

A compounded problem occurs when saxophonists and clarinetists with too much cork grease or loose corks shorten their instrument due to playing and handling which makes the pitch rise even more.

Saxophone Neck Cork

Also, if brass players only tune their main tuning slide (usually pulled out, unless cold), then the sharp fingering combinations (all 2 and 3 valve combinations) become even sharper. This, of course, overtaxes the embouchure from continuous liping down which makes the tone quality sound more and more spread and unfocused.

Trumpet Water Key Cork

Bassoon Bocal with Cork

Suite Sounds

The holidays come with an over abundance of sweet treats. You may also be treated to a variety of concert suites for winds, strings, or other ensembles. Feast your eyes and ears on our selection of woodwind sheet music to begin the New Year right and start or add to your current repertoire.

Spring into action this Fall

This lovely Larilee oboe needed “minor surgery.” The Ab/G# key lost all it’s motion. Four keys and a side rocker key had to be removed to reach the area needing assistance. The replacement with a new shiny spring — sure did the trick. She “sprung” back in action right away. Such a tiny thing can make repertoire difficult to play in either Band or Orchestra — Bb, Eb, A, E. Traditional folk music would be the only option — in the key of G or D without a functioning Ab/G# key.