Hello all!

I`ve been reading this board for a while, and I finally have a question of my own to ask! I took up the oboe recently (mmm... a couple months, I think) after switching from the clarinet. I was amazed at how fast I was able to learn the fingerings, as was my band director. I`ve begun playing it in my band class, but my tone is terrible. As you all say... it`s a dying duck. I`m wondering how I can go about fixing this. Does it come naturally with time? I practice about two-three hours a day, depending on the day. There`s no chance of me getting private lessons, sadly. There are no oboe specialists in my town, or within 50 miles of it.

Any suggestions welcome.

The only thing you can do is make sure your ambucher is good and tight. Also they key is breath support, you need as much as you can get. It will come with time so keep up the practice and ignore what others say. Good luck
Jordan Weiss

The way my band director put it, and it seemed to work, is try to be gentle with the tone, but be strong enough with it to produce a sound. Also, a ticht embouchure and breath control are key.

Hi Meaghan.

I`ve been playing the oboe for only a few months myself. I`m guessing that, like me, you`re playing on store-bought reeds. I`ve been amazed at how much the reed can affect the tone. I`ve tried several brands, and found that I can actually get a pretty good sound from LaVoz. Meason is another brand that`s worked for me. Jones is another brand many people recommend. Rico is easy to play, but too "wide open" (dying duck sound?) for me.

Hope this helps you a bit.

Bob

It`s the reed. Either find someone to make them for you or order from www.forrestsmusic.com or www.stuart-dunkel.com, or oboeworks.com.
Don`t use anything less than a medium strength.

Ah. Hm. I use medium-soft reeds. I can`t seem to get a sound out on a medium reed.

I`ve tried two different brands, one, I couldn`t even get a good sound from the medium-soft. I am trying to teach myself the oboe, but I don`t really think I`ll be able to do it alone.

I`ll look into ordering the reeds from online.

Thank you for caring enough to reply!

If medium-soft works for you, then that`s what`s best. As your embouchure develops, you`ll probably "graduate" to a harder reed. Just one question: are you soaking your reeds in water for about five minutes before playing? When I started on oboe, I thought I could just soak the reed in my mouth like sax and clarinet reeds. I couldn`t get any sound out of my reeds either. All the web sites I`ve visited say an oboe reed should be soaked in water; but don`t let the water contact the threads.

Yup! I soak them in a little cup before I play.

How does one go about making their own reeds, anyway?

Instead of giving you the 100-page answer on reedmaking, I would suggest you check out www.wiu.edu/oboe. This is the website of Michael Ericson of Western Illinois University, and he has a very nice tutorial on making and adjusting reeds.

I`d suggest buying reeds from forrest music, or the other one he/she listed, or www.nielsen-woodwinds.com, that`s if you don`t make your own. For best tone quality, make sure you use american or long scrape reeds, much darker and richer sound than french or short scrape reeds

Hey, I`ve been playing the oboe for about 3 years now and I`ve learned that the tone comes with practice. Dying duck ended my 2nd year and I practiced about 3-4 hrs a day the 1st 2 years. Now I practice anytime I possibly can (all the time) and the tone is fine. DO NOT START ON A MEDIUM REED!!! You should probably start on a med-soft until you get such a great tone your band director, like mine, tells you you need a stronger reed. Then make the hop to a medium. But if your band director says this don`t think for a minute he wants you to be totally quiet or anything. My band director had me and the other oboist use, at the least, medium reeds. Just remember, when you do use a medium reed and get really used to it, and playing with a perfect or close to perfect tone, do not, even if the med-soft is in great working shape, use the med-soft unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. It can totally mess up your tone for a few days. It can also change how you play on the medium because of the difference in the amount of air you need for each strength of reed. Dying duck sounds die fast with a lot of practice and good reeds. Once you find a good brand get more but try others too. If you find a brand you don`t like or seems to have the wrong strength for you, too hard or too soft, don`t try it for a while until you are sure you know exactly what you are doing. AND, when soaking the reeds..... the first few nights soak them in COLD water for about 15 minutes and then you can soak them in your mouth for a few. Do this for at least a week to make sure the reed won`t crack if you don`t soak it long enough. DO NOT EVER LEAVE THE REED SOAKING OVER-NIGHT!!!!!! One of the worst things I did. It made my reed harder just in one night!!!! Make sure when soaking not to soak for more than 15-20 minutes just too make sure no hardness comes to it.
Hope my advise is what you wanted. I love helping people when it actually helps. If so, make sure you reply so I know.
Hope you play great!!!!!

Corrine, I appreciate your help on this, but you really are wrong about several things.

Just to clear things up, I have been playing for about 7 years and take private lessons from the principal oboist of the florida orchestra.

The only way to get a truly characteristic sound on the oboe is with handmade reeds. Store bought reeds are CRAP. I dont know about the online sights, because I make my own.

My suggestion would be to look up texas oboe reeds and cane, because they sell books on reedmaking and they sell supplies.

And putting the reed in water overnight will NOT make it harder. All it can do is slightly change certain other characteristics, but always for the better.

"oboist" person
ok, i am starting to make my own reeds, so im not exactly sure on that subject. i`ve been taking lessons from the head oboist of the CSO and so i know since you`ve been playing longer its different for each of us, but there`s not that much room for contradictory, just help so, i tried, thanks for your help, but leaving my reed soaking over night did make it harder, which sucked for band rehearsal. but, if you can give me some tips on reed making, always welcome.

sure, anytime.... if youve got questions email me at indyjones387@yahoo.com

Like many people have mentioned on this board, the reed has A LOT to do with how you sound. Store bought reeds are machine made- they are not tested for sound and you most likely get one that sounds bad or doesn`t respond. A BIG factor is that you need to get reeds that are consistent, and the only way you can do that is by getting handmade reeds. Unfortunately you don`t have the resource of a private teacher, which is vital to your oboe development. The best bet for consistent reeds is from www.oboe.net. These reeds are made from a professional oboist in florida, and are very consistent and made to fit your needs. They ask about your experience level, instrument, and tone quality that you want to achieve. Before i started supplying reeds for myself (yes, you will need to do this someday) i was always pleased with the dark sound they gave me. If you get these reeds and you still sound bright, then you may have developed bad habits from the inconsistent reeds you had before and the lack of a teacher teaching you correct technique. NUMBER ONE is that you must support your sound with you diaphram, and use your abdominal muscles. Without this you are not supporting the air correctly and allowing the overtones of the reed to resonate, causing only the higher partials of the reed to respond. The result- bright sound. Also, you must have an open throat to darken the sound and resonate the tone quality you will possess with proper support and a consistent reed. If you are doing all of these things your sound will improve greatly.