Oboe Doubler

[cannotbechanged]

Hi I'm Emily, I'm an alto sax and oboe doubler, in highschool. I am currently playing my alto in my school's Jazz ensamble as well as playing my oboe in the wind ensamble.

Currently I am having many embouchure, and reed strength problems. As I have recently been developing a stronger embouchure on the alto I found that my oboe embouchure is suffering, and I seem to be losing much of my control and tone quality. My size 2.5 Vandoren alto reeds have now became much too soft. Along with my medium hard oboe reeds which although they dont seem to be to soft, they seem to be losing there opening.

What would you suggest for me to do to help this problem? Are there any tips, excercises, reeds, or alto mouthpieces you could suggest?

with thanks,

Emily

[bpimentel]

Hi Emily,

Oboe to saxophone is a tough switch, and saxophone to oboe is tougher. I always suggest a good, consistent warmup on each instrument (long tones, overtones, scales, etc.). They only way to get good at both is to do 100% of what a serious oboist does, plus 100% of what a good saxophonist does. And, oh yeah, don't be afraid to take a few lessons from a good teacher on each instrument. :)

From some of the things you wrote in your post, I wonder what is really causing which problems.

I think it's important to develop a certain amount of embouchure "strength," but be careful that you're not biting or otherwise using unnecessary tension. Also, remember that saxophone and oboe embouchures will use different muscles to different extents. If your reeds really are changing as a result of increased embouchure strength, you might be biting too much.

Have all 2.5 saxophone reeds become too soft, or just the ones you've been playing on for a while? They can seem to get softer when they get old. And as far as your oboe reeds closing up, there are a dozen or more things (including age) that can cause that problem. And a closed-up oboe reed definitely causes loss of control and tone quality.

Good luck!
Bret

[michaelbaird]

I was an oboe major in college, now I double oboe but primarily play sax in a rock n roll band in the Nashville night clubs. I started on tenor when I was 12 and then began playing oboe when I was 15.

I always kept my oboe reeds soaking when I wasn't playing them. I would always play oboe first and if I did play sax before oboe try to rest at least 30min. I was very superstitious about it.

Do you make your own oboe reeds? You need to if you don't already; and you need a symphony principle to teach you how to play the oboe. I studied with Bobby Taylor, the principle oboist with the Nashville Symphony. Don't worry about your sax tone. Go to harder reeds then. If you are serious about the oboe, it's embouchure will influence the development of the others; develop it primarily.

[Razzy]

Also be sure it's not just a bad batch of sax reeds getting you all flustered. The weather changed here recently and half of a box of Vandoren Java 3's, which are even slightly on the hard side for me, all became instantaneously far too soft. It felt like I was playing strength 1.5! And thinking it was just one reed, I tried the entire box with the same results.

This isa good reminder: during times of weather change, particularly fall going to winter, keep your reeds in a sealed plastic bag, played or unplayed. I would do the same with the case of oboe reeds.

Barring that, keep trying, and move up to 3's. If they feel too hard, the problem is more likely with too much pressure being used or an unnecessarily strong embouchure. You should be able to play a 1.5 reed and feel decent. The tone might not be the best, but this will tell you if your embouchure is too tense or loose. If you can't produce the tone without pain, you are too tight on the reed.

[BBelly05]

Emily,

Combining the world of single and double reeds is tricky for EVERYONE at first, so don't feel bad. There's so many potential factors in your current problem, so I will just try to touch on an idea or two.

1. Weather changes. Winters are tough on reeds. Being carried from warm houses to cold cars and dry heated schools are tough environment changes. Reeds need to adjust slowly to their environment, and this can cause some slight warping when they dry out. For your oboe reeds, DO NOT put them in a sealed bag as Razzy suggested. This will keep them damp, and they will start adjusting when you're actually playing them, giving you an even tougher time. I recommend a felt-lined reed case, such as what you can find at Charles Double Reed. This will allow your reeds to dry properly and adjust slowly.

2. Embrouchure. While you're still developing an embrouchure for each instrument, it can be confusing to your muscles to go back and forth. Have very direct goals for each each embrouchure, and work on them EVERY day to internalize it. When I was starting sax, I had to start thinking with more of an "O" shape for the oboe, so for a while I would purse my lips and whistle before making a noise on the oboe. Long tones are a good help on both instrument, and on the oboe, work some with just the reed. See how far you can stretch your "peep" range so that you gain full control of the reed. Then try to play nice even C's with as little pitch movement as possible. When you can do that, you are playing your reed properly.

3. The oboe reed. If you're still using store-bought, you're fighting an uphill battle. Making reeds is a necessary evil, but in the interim try ordering some handmade ones. There are a number of good places around the country that will ship them right to your door. They're pricier, but worth it if you're serious about the oboe.