No one has really asked me why I maintain this oboe site, although I sometimes ask myself that question. Some have suggested it is an ego thing. Some suggest it’s self-indulgent. I don’t know about those possibilities (although I’m willing to admit that I can be a very egotistical and self-indulgent), so I’m going to “write out loud” here and see if I come to any conclusions.
I certainly don’t do it for money; I haven’t earned a penny from this. I wouldn’t mind making an income via this site, but I’m not sure how I would ever make that work. (And I keep checking my PO Box and so far no one is even sending me oboe reeds!)
I don’t do it for fame. There is no fame with an oboe blog. Heck, there’s no fame in oboe playing. I realize that most readers here will be able to name at least one “famous” oboe player, but go out to your local shopping mall and ask the folks there to name one. I’m guessing most folks will respond, “What’s an oboe?”
I don’t do it for glory. I’m not sure what “glory” is, and I’m not sure I’d want it anyway. I figure glory is for God. My job is to give it to him.
I do it because I enjoy filling people in on this wacky world of oboe playing and a musician’s life—even a small time musician like me. I figure there might be some folks out there who like to hear what’s going on when we get up on that stage or crawl into the pit and do our thing. I hope it actually gets some people more interested in what we do, and I certainly want everyone to realize what a wonderful thing playing music is, even while it can be extremely stressful at times.
I do it because I like to research things, and I figure I need to do something with the research I do. I don’t write books. I’m not in journals. I’m not in school, but I still love to learn and find out about music issues. So I post things here. That works for me.
I love bungling my way around the internet. I love finding other double reed players. I like how the world … and especially the double reed world … has become smaller.
I like to find out who is playing and/or teaching where. I like finding out what auditions are coming up, but since I don’t do the audition thing these days I figure I’ll put the information up here, hoping others can make use of what I post.
I do it because it’s fun, too. I just find it fun to blog and find quotes and maybe some readers will get a kick out of the quotes or my silly bloggy stuff.
And of course it’s a wonderful way to avoid working on reeds. 😉
I, for one, really love reading your oboe site. I’m not sure why, though, considering I don’t play the oboe. 🙂
Keep up the good blog-work!
Well, I’m afraid I’m one reader who can’t name any famous oboists
(besides you!), but I still love reading about the day-to-day
ins-and-outs of a professional oboe player’s life. It’s
interesting to see a wind player’s point of view sometimes. 🙂
Ah … but I’m not even close to famous, so now you’re really in a bad way. Go out and buy yourself a lovely oboe CD or something! Or I guess you can convince yourself I’m famous. I sometimes do that. 😉
Maybe you like reading it because you know, deep down inside, there is an oboe player lurking inside of you. It is yearning … dying (so fitting for the oboe) … to be discovered and be heard!
You might ponder that in your free moments. (Although it doesn’t sound as if you HAVE any free moments now!)
Well, I do have one oboe CD of Bach, but it’s on period instruments and
I think I prefer the sound of the modern oboe. Let’s see, the
oboist is… an Anthony Robson. Is he famous? 🙂
Well as an aspiring (really small time) oboist I love reading about your oboe adventures. I guess I am one of your groupies. 🙂
Well, I don’t know the name, but I’m not all that familiar with the period instrument players. Sorry!
But try some contemporary players. Really! 🙂
Oooh! A groupie? Geez … way to make me feel a bit better after not landing a job today. Thanks! 🙂
I’m glad you are still continuing on with your blogs. I don’t often have
the chance to stop by and read them daily, but I do find them enjoyable
when I stumble across here every once and a while. – Steve
Thank you so much, Steve. It’s always nice to receive encouragement so I appreciate your note. Stumble to my site any old time! 🙂