Have 35 Minutes?

05. January 2013 · Comments Off on Have 35 Minutes? · Categories: Videos

A bit of vocal, a bit of wind and dance … and some fine music making! This includes a favorite group of mine, Calefax, along with the Swingle Singers, Cappela de la Torre, Thorwalk Jorgensen, Remy van Kesteren, and the dance group ISH. The cuts from group to group are a little quick, but this is worth a look and listen in my little opinion. (No, I never write “humble opinion” … I figure any opinion isn’t really all that humble!)

From the YouTube page:
The opening concert of the Bach Festival Dordrecht. Friday, September 14, 2012 at the Augustinian Church.

Read Online

05. January 2013 · Comments Off on Read Online · Categories: Read Online, Reed Making

So I’ve been playing oboe for a year and been on a medium reed. Is there anything higher than this, or is medium where it stops?
I’m fairly good, I practice an hour a day. My favorite medium reed just died a couple days ago and I have to get a new one, and I am just curious.
Thank you!

I tend to roll my eyes at reed strengths. I roll them especially with machine made reeds. There is some sort of assumption that if you make reeds exactly the same their strength will be the same. Trouble is, we are dealing with plant life. Pieces of cane are not identical. This is one reason we have to know how to work on reeds. You could order 10 medium reeds and find that some feel hard and some feel soft.

I have very few students who make reeds. Try as I might, I can’t convince them to get to it. I must admit, though, that I don’t push it. Unless I have a student who is planning on majoring in music I tend to be somewhat relaxed about the issue. I suppose this is due to the fact that I absolutely despise making reeds. Heck, I’d never make another reed in my life if I could get away with it!

Asked Online

05. January 2013 · 2 comments · Categories: Asked Online

Really.

Where can i find a good quality oboe for a cheap price, but has great quality?
I have played oboe for a couple of years, and my parents don’t know where to get me a good quality oboe. P.S. i live in Chicago, so anywhere within a half an hour from here

All By Myself Himself

05. January 2013 · 2 comments · Categories: Videos

Straight from the YouTube page:
I know you’ve all been waiting about 15 years for your favorite Celine Dion (originally Eric Carmen) song to be arranged for bassoon ensemble. The time has come. Any feelings of nostalgia or self pity were not intended by the arranger and should be regarded as your own interpretation of the music. Leave me a comment if you want parts!

(Looking at his YouTube page, most of what he does I can’t put up. Language and drunkeness abound, it seems, so not seeing his name to post here might be a good thing, eh? 😉 But this one I really do love!)