oboeinsight

I came across this site that begins:

Place the double reed in the mouth for a few minutes. Soaking oboe reeds in water is not advisable since they may warp when they are dry.

Oh PLEASE! That’s simply not good advice. All you do is take a reed, dip it in a bit of water (many oboists use an old plastic film container; I use a shot glass most of the time since it forces me to empty the water all the time, and I can see if the water is grungy), and set it back in your reed case. In a few minutes it’s ready to go. Putting it in your (not so clean no matter how you brush!) mouth means it IS sitting in “water” (saliva) for that entire time. It wears out the reed more. You are introducing more than just water to the reed. And it’s just not the right thing to do.

The page also includes this bit ‘o information:

The tip of the tongue is used as a valve to start and stop the flow of air.

Um. No. We do not stop the tone with our tongue. (There are instances where we break that rule, but I’m talking generally here.)

This is a school site. I really hope the oboe students at the school have private instructors who know better.

(The oboe picture cracked me up too; it makes it look as if the oboe is a very tiny instrument! See what I mean?)

I’m not a singer. I sing, but I’m not a singer. Trust me on this one. But I just might be in an opera. Singing. Time will tell. It’s all up to me.

I read this (and now you will too):

Cellphonia: San Jose

What’s happening: Artists and cell phone users will work together to create an opera about San Jose. Using RSS feeds from mercurynews.com, artists Stephen Bull, Scot Gresham-Lancaster and Tim Perkis will put together the framework of an opera. Callers from the 408 area code will complete the work by singing.

How to get involved: Go to http://cellphone.el.net/listen/ for instructions. Once you choose the part you want to sing and get the phone number, the RSS feeds the lyrics to your cell phone. After each section of lyrics, there will be a karaoke-style cue for you to sing the lyrics into your phone. The opera will be played continuously at the entrance of the South Hall addition of the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, 435 S. Market St.

When: Aug. 7-13

So there you go. Or there I go. Or there we all go. Whatever.

Wanna join me in an opera?

The full article is about the ZeroOne festival in downtown San Jose which begins tomorrow.
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