Ok, peoples, i just though i'd let you know that my audition is tomorrow and that i should know if i'm in or not at least by next week.

My reeds are still giving me a headache, because i still don't know much about them. Hopefully my friend can fix them by tomorrow before the audition, but otherwise, I'm just gonna have to do my best.

oooh good luck! Try not to worry too much about it - it sounds like you've worked hard and that'll come across. Most people are sympathetic about nerves and stuff and probably know about the hassle reeds can give people (Especially less experienced people - have you told them how long you've been playing?) and bassoonists especially will be understanding. And they will probably know what else to look for aswel, so they'll see that you're actually pretty good!

It is also pretty damn helpful if there's one or two of you auditioning, it gives you a pretty good chance one of the perks of being a bassoonist, makes all the reed stuff worthwhile! (for a bit)

Let us know how it goes!

How did you do?

well, i didn't do great actually, but considering that it's not really a hard orchestra to get into, and the fact that i play bassoon makes it even easier, i was accepted! i'm ok now.

i wasn't nervous until i hit some wrong notes, and made a stupid mistake with my bocal, causing my thumb keys on the boot joint to hit my pocket, which threw the tuning off. My Eb sounded horrible, and my piece was in C minor, so i had an Eb to play evertime i looked around. I sightread...

Who cares? I got in and that's all that matters! Second bassoon.

Well done! I'm sure it went perfectly well - i don't think i know anyone who's come out of an audition happy with the way they played. The wrong notes would be overlooked and put down to nerves, so as long as other stuff is ok then you did well

Second bassoon is good too, it's a good idea to be eased into the orchestra scene like that.

Again, well done

Good Job. Actually, I've only been playing bassoon since October myself and I'm already playing in the top band at my school (and I'm only a freshy, so that's even more of an achievement). And to the reed issue, I use Jones reeds and they are extremely good. I'm only on my second one and my other one broke yesterday, but only because it was too soft. I find that says a lot about the company. Yeah, I switched to bassoon from flute and I actually enjoy playing bassoon more because it is more individual. My band teacher wants me to try out for youth symphony, but I don't think I'm ready yet.

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Yeah, I'm playing on my school bassoon too, and it doesn't play very well. It's missing keys and corks and the wood has soooo many nics in it. The metal is dented also and the bocal's cracked. It's a Kohlert, which means that it is over 40 years old, since Kohlerts haven't been made since the 1960s and good ones haven't been made before WWII. Does anyone know where I might be able to find a good bassoon for a good price? And what types of bassoons are cheap (well, for a bassoon) and play well? Also, does anyone know where you can get instructions for fixing the school bassoon?

I've learned to trust people when it comes to something new like that. You might just surprise yourself when you get into that top orchestra, and if you don't, the audition is very good experience.

You might want to wait with buying a bassoon until you're more experienced. A bassoon is an expensive instrument, so even a good price would be a lot of money.
Having said that, bassoons are a bit too complicated to be able to fix them with normal instructions, as there could be things wrong with it that you don't know about. Bassoon repair is really something you pick up with experience - I'm at music college and sometimes go running to my teacher when something is wrong. In my last lesson the mechanics of a key were binding (which is basically when they jam) and i couldn't use the bottom C# key. It took my teacher half an hour to fix that because it was stuck so much it took him ages to figure it out.
Also, from the sounds of it that bassoon is pretty buggered anyway, doesn't really sound worth fixing. Unless it's just got wear and tear. In that case, you'd want to send it away for a full service (will cost a couple of hundred quid though) and buy a new crook (crook, bocal, whatever) - it's cracked?? that'll cost another hundred quid or more.

As Ruth says bassoon repair is a specialised art - even many excellent woodwind repairers won't work on them (same with oboes).

It sounds like that old Kohlert is making playing the bassoon far harder than it should be - there's enough to think about without having to struggle with a defective instrument.

Your school should be responsible for getting it repaired (most schools don't like pupils going ahead with repairs without their agreement & have contracts with local repairers) - pester your teacher to get it done - he/she should realise anyway that there are problems with the instrument. The bocal needs to be sorted - a split one can make it impossible to play anything sensible!

As to reasonable instruments - I say go for a Fox/Renard - even their plastic ones sound reasonable, play in tune & are reliable mechanically. Trouble is they are not really cheap (What bassoon is?) but you get what you pay for.

Ian

2nd Bassoon parts can be rather annoying, and are normally rather unappreciated. But 2nd Bassoon is lower which actually means you can get some better parts. In Pomp and Circumstance March No.l, the 1st bassoon is screeching away on high notes for 120 bars really slowly, so 2nd is a much better choice.

Yeah, but the first still gets a little solo thing.

OK, now it's time for that ever fun subject: REEDS! I'm sure everyone here loves their reeds as much as they love their bassoon (blah), but I am in need of some help.

I know nothing about reeds, plain and simple. All i can do is guess, so forgive me if any of this sounds senseless. My reeds are medium-hard meason reeds. For a while, my reeds were causing my lips to tremble a little, making my sound itself tremble. They also played very sharp. I'm assuming this means that it's too hard? The trembling of the sound is gone now, but the reed is still sharp. i've tried loosening my embouchure and that didn't work. i don't adjust reeds at all. All i'm trying to figure out is if this means that my reed is too hard and i should consider going back to medium or even try a different brand. i've never had this problem before, because usually my reeds play flat. i've used la voz and now i'm on meason. i've also noticed that two other bassoonists that i know have shorter, more narrow read than i do, and they're able to produce a louder, more steady tone than I am (but then again, that could have a number of different factors with it).

anyway........help. I guess that's it. hahaha

The problem with reeds is that they always seem to change!!

Although, soaking them in water for around 20 mnutes (especially if theyr're new) always seems to help.
If it's too hard and your putting too much air down the bassoon, then with some plyers or even your fingers, compress it, where the wires are.
If, alternatively, its too easy to play, and you are hardly putting any air down the bassoon, you need to open it out a bit by squeezing the side of the reed where the wires are.
If its too closed, it might be that your playing too tightly with your lips, and not enough with your diaphragm!

i hope that helped.. a bit!!!

well actually, what's happening is 'm trying to control my lips and not squeeze so hard on the reed, but it never works. my teeth pretty much end up pressing in on my lips. will going down to a medium reed help possibly?

I'd at least try slighty adjusting the first wire (the one closest to your mouth) by squeezing it carefully with a pair of pliers.

Sqeezing on the sides will normally open the lonzenge shaped opening more, squeezing on the top/bottom will close it up. I haven't done any scraping or such yet but I find that adjusting this wire will often make a hard to play reed easier for me.

When the opening is too tight/closed it'll be hard to make a sound at all and when it's too open I have to use more pressure to make it play which can be tiring.

I don't water my reeds long, maybe 20 secs or so, but I guess I'm on a medium strength reed.

Good Luck
James

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PS I've never understood why people use teeth at all really.

I just use the lips, that seems to also give a lot more control on how far back/forward the lips are and their pressure, and if it's concentrated on a smaller or larger area.

Already back when playing clarinet I really didn't like to actually bite on the mouthpiece... all lips make the tone just soooo mellow and "dark" :)

i'm not trying to use my teeth. it's just happened as an automatic thing. when i try to slack my embouchure a little and possibly flatten the pitch a little, it does flatten to play in tune but the tone sags a lot. i know that medium soft would definitely be too soft, but i figured a medium reed would work.