Back in Eugene, Staples, and the XL

Monday August 25 2008

I got back to Eugene this weekend and have been catching up on reed orders. I have about 5 weeks until the beginning of the school year and I’m focusing on learning some of the excerpts that I really need to get under my belt; La Mer, La Scala, and some others.

I’m really enjoying the XL, but it’s an entirely different beast from anything I’ve ever played on. One nice thing is that it’s really reed-friendly, almost too friendly. It’s almost too friendly in the sense that it hides a lot of flaws in a reed so I frequently have to test reeds on an old Loree I have here to get a sense of the focus of the reed and balance.

I’ve been playing around with staples for the XL. The Stevens Pro #2 were suggested by both Martin Schuring and Richard Woodhams, both XL players, and I tried them with the Loree with limited success. They’re so responsive and resonant that I had difficulty building in subtly in the reed. However, with the XL, they work great, and I’ll probably use the staples with the XL exclusively. I also recently ordered some 46mm tubes, suggested by Richard Woodhams so I’ll see if those make any difference.

Other tubes that I’ve been using have been some brass tubes from Singin’ Dog Double Reeds. They’re incredibly stable and focused, and also work very well with the XL. I have a bunch of these, and am considering using these for all of my commercial reeds.

Taking an oboe retreat…

Sunday August 17 2008

This week I’m up in Bellingham/Seattle visiting my good friend Peter Hurd of oboes.us (who has a billion oboes here at the moment, and a billion and a half English Horns!) and working on some excerpts. Why did Mendelssohn and Rossini write such ridiculously tough stuff? Mendelssohn 3 is not coming along as fast as I need it.

On the upside, I picked up— A NEW… OBOE…!!! I bought my friend’s Howarth XL, a very fine instrument in mint condition. I’ve already named, him: Howard the Howarth. Fitting, eh?

The First Mack Camp

Wednesday August 13 2008

Found this article here. It’s a fun quick read. Odd at how the author points out the contrasting views of Robinson and Mack.

Notice the names who attended at the very bottom. Quite an accomplished lineup.

Odd quote of the day…

Wednesday August 13 2008

From an interview with Eugene Cook, a former editor of Time-Life magazine.

Cook: When you were performing with the Philharmonia it looked to me as though your breath was what singers might call a “high breath.”

Bloom: Absolutely not— I tell students to accept the fact that we play a wind instrument and that they must blow. I’ve noticed that my beginning female students have a tendency to breathe high.

Cook: Some women look good taking high breaths—

Bloom: (laughing) Yes, but unfortunately oboe playing is not a spectator sport.

Taken from To the World’s Oboists, October 1976

Man, if an editor said that today, he’d get ROASTED… by all sorts of activist groups.

The greatest 80s rock band…

Saturday August 09 2008

Driving home from the beach today, my wife and I were listening to an 80s CD I burned a week ago, and “Right Now” came on.

Me: Do you know who this is?

Wife: No.

Me: Think. It’s the greatest 80s rock band ever.

Wife: Um— Scorpions?

Me: Uh, no. Van Halen.

Wife: Never heard of them.

And she’s never even seen the original Star Wars Trilogy! How did we ever end up together?