I need help with my intonation (selmer = messy) but i also figure its becaues of my reeds. If i am going to be tuning the orchestra, I need help on getting the right reeds. I dont think I am at the stage of making my own. So if you have any info help a brotha out. Peace

try weber reeds www.webreeds.com they are exelent, even the oasis reed for $13 I`ve never tried the profesional
good luck.
Jordan Weiss

hey!!! i don`t know, but the oboes on this site looked pretty good. and the prices aren`t very high.
www.musicm.com/Items.asp?CAT=oboe&Category=Oboes
if you don`t like them, some oboes on ebay are okay. best of luck!
~Corinne

PLEASE! do NOT buy from that site Corinne gave OR ebay! omg that is the WORST thing you could ever do!! You need to buy from an actual oboe dealer who you KNOW will be selling you a good instrument, or you are going to end up with something worse than you already have!! The best person to call is Nora post, she has a huge selection of used oboes in all price ranges, and will not sell an oboe unless it is in TOP condition. Email her at norapost@hvi.net and tell her how much you can spend and she will give you options of what oboe to buy. PLEASE DO NOT BUY FROM EBAY unless you want an unreliable oboe, believe, nora will help you!

ok.........then i guess not. if u wanna make him happy anyways. but i know some people who are happy with the stuff they got off of ebay, reeds or instruments. i never thought there was anything wrong with selmer oboes. mine is a selmer and it works fine. have u tried just sending it into a shop and letting them do a complete fix-up job??? well, i hope you find the oboe you`re lookin for!
good luck!
~Corinne

p.s. Adam....have you looked at that site?? If so, could you please tell me why you don`t like and what is wrong with it?? not that i`m mad, i`d just like to know so i should know if i should just forget that site. and....exactly how low is nora post willing to sell an oboe for?? b/c right now i would like to get a new oboe but i don`t have that much money to spend. (and that means less than $1000)

Yes i looked at the site, the problem with those oboes it they are made by companies who specialize in an instrument other than oboes, therefore the oboes are terrible. I HAVE played on all of those brands, terrible. Nora Post can get you an oboe in ANY price range, HOWEVER it would be much smarter to save up and get a nice oboe rather than spend money and get an oboe that you will just grow out of (its impossible to get a pro oboe for under $1,000 unless its not playable).

Adam

I HAVE FOUND THAT MARK SEERUP FROM ST. OLAF COLLEGE MAKES VERY GOOD REEDS. A LOT OF PROFFESIONAL ORCHESTRAS ALL OVER THE COUTNRY PLAY ON MARK`S REEDS. I DON`T KNOW HOW HE CAN BE CONTACTED BUT HE LIVES SOME WHERE IN MINNESOTA. OTHERWISE CONTACT ST. OLAF COLLEGE...
www.stolaf.edu
(or com)

For oboes: Midwest Musical imports <www.mmimports.com> They have oboe specialists there. I`ve bought my oboe and english horn from there. For reeds: the same place for variety, all hand made or edmund nielson woodwinds inc. They have excellent reeds. Also, send your oboe in to get the tuning adjusted. That could be the problem.

I went to a double reed workshop a couple of months ago and I learned A LOT that I didn`t know. I know that selmer`s aren`t the best oboes around, but a lot of us students get stuck with them until we are able to buy our own. (for some reason band directors like to buy those plastic selmers). My selmer didnt work for a while and we kept having it sent to the shop. finally i had to make a long list of every single thing that was wrong with it before they finally fixed it. sorry i digressed. The thing I learned about selmers is that sometimes the bell is not shaped exactly right so to fix this problem it helps to put a piece of tape around the inside of your bell. My selmer plays fine w/o it, so I`ve never tried it. but if you do try it, please let me know if it helped or not.

I want to learn how to play the oboe but my teacher says that a high school student shouldn`t start to learn to play the oboe this late because that is something that should be picked up when you`re young. Is that true?

well, i don`t think that`s true, even though it may help to pick up the oboe when you`re younger. my friend, a senior and the other oboist in our band, started her freshman year on the count of the high school not having one. but i think anyone can pick up an instrument, as long as they are not really old or something to where playing an instrument that needs so much air pressure and all as woodwinds. hope this helps, good luck

"I want to learn how to play the oboe but my teacher says that a high school student shouldn`t start to learn to play the oboe this late because that is something that should be picked up when you`re young. Is that true? "

Nah, it isn`t true. If you work at it you will be fine, and if you get a competent oboe teacher that person will keep you from getting bad habits and/or creating them. However, if your teacher doesn`t like the idea, it may be a little more difficult getting him or her to let you switch from whatever you play now to being able to play in your band or orchestra.

I personally would try to check out an oboe from your school, and play on it a little and see if you take to it and then go from there. Doesn`t hurt to try right?

Original post:

Get a tuner and practice with it. Do scales and get used to hearing the correct pitch. Pick a random note, adjust to where you think it should be then look at the tuner and see where you are at (sharp or flat) then fix it. Eventually your ear will hear the mistakes on its own and you`ll know when to adjust without realizing it.

That`s true but even if she did let me play it our school doesn`t own an oboe. Besides my mom just bought me a saxophone a few months ago and I don`t think will want to buy me an oboe. I already have a violin, the saxophone and I`m also using school instruments the viola and the mallets (xypophone, bells, marimba, and vibes). I`m starting to think that it might be good if I learned how to play them all good and then moved on. I am thinking of going and getting my music major so I think it might help. I don`t know I`ll see what happens.

I have oboe promblems to, my b wont change to my a.. So ur not alone.. But reeds are ont of the imporant...