Ebay of the Day!

This is one that I actually own! It is framed and hangs in the music room with all of the other serious stuff like diplomas ;)

My Mom got it for me one Christmas long ago, and I think I was still in total denial of just how far gone with the oboe I really was. I finally pulled it out of hiding and put it up as a reminder that while there are a lot of serious aspects of being a professional musician, it doesn't have to be serious ALL the time!

Insomnioboe

I very, very rarely suffer from insomnia. Tonight is one of those nights -I just cannot fall asleep and of course, it is one of the nights this week that I need to sleep. Tomorrow is Teaching Tuesday and I am not only adding a new student, but I am moving my home studio student that lives in town to an earlier AM time! Yikes!

It would be like someone granting me a magical wish to be able to stay at home or any set location and teach my students (I really like the idea of being at home though!!!) My teaching is probably the job affected most by my commute. It is easy to come in and out of town for gigs; they have ONE set location and time-- very simple. My students however, really cover the map of the city and while I hate to sound like a wimp about it- it is very difficult to drive from place to place in Las Vegas traffic often times in a hurry.

I HAVE to find a place to settle down and teach in Las Vegas. I am getting annoyed that the major music store in town has not responded to the resume and request that I put in for a room and time slot... I guess I will just have to be a pain in their side ;)

I just have this dream vision of my nice little oboe room with all of my alphabetized music, my reed desk, my oboe sitting on it's peg, and me sipping some tea waiting for the next student to waltz in. Well... I suppose I will just have to keep dreaming until I can start some more kids on oboe this fall here in Mesquite. While I know that I will never have a studio here at home like the one I have in Vegas- I really hope to at least begin to create some turnover into the High School here which hasn't a single oboe kiddo.

(I know that I have talked a little bit about the town we live in before, but to put it in perspective- there are two elementary schools, one middle school (where my husband is the band director) and one high school. In Las Vegas there are about 50 middle schools and 30 high schools that I visit as the district oboe specialist.

Well now, writing all of this has made me a little bit sleepy. I had better try and go get some rest or I will not be a very fun oboe teacher tomorrow!

Better Homes and...oboes

Kind of want these for the music room. Cool idea, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself... we still haven't heard back about the house! Ahhh the waiting game continues...

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos No.2 - ii: Andante

Something familiar, but perhaps with a twist. Many of us are used to playing some of these arrangements with creative instrumentations, and usually on modern instruments.

I always love listening something I have performed or am going to perform, performed in its most original format. Oboe players have an interesting challenge of presenting our repertoire which is rooted deeply in the baroque and classical style periods. Though I do not play a period instrument (I have tried, and it was pretty hairy ;)) I think there is something extremely valuable in applying baroque performance practice to a modern performance on a modern oboe.

Plus... its just lovely to listen to a great baroque group like this. Everything suddenly seems so much less complex, and the "air" of the movement really comes through- that is to say, it gives the audience a strong feeling or impression. Just beautiful.

Fun Stuff!

This week I ordered some new reed thread- I have been on the lookout for some pretty new colors, having recently acquired navy blue, deep purple, and a pretty red.

My color choice this time was magenta! As seen in the photo in the top left corner, cannot wait to have some magenta reeds!

Tyler reminded me that technically I have more than enough thread now to last a lifetime... he just doesn't understand ;) As oboeworks said it best, "Honestly- colors are the ONLY fun part about making reeds".

Musical Desserts

I am not one of those teachers that is going to make my students play what I assign, and ONLY that material. Playing the oboe is hard enough as it is, and it really takes some patience and buckling down in the first years of learning how to play. The rate of progress for a young oboe player runs at it's own rate and it can seem slower than other instruments.

I really think that it is important to give young students some musical dessert from time to time. They need to stay excited about the oboe, and avoid getting stressed or discouraged... and summer is the perfect time to have something sweet :)

I have a few broadway books, movie themes, and and trying to collect some more fun musical selections. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated for beginning level through high school level!

World Equestrian Games Music - Karl Der Grosse

Ok, this is my last video post.... at least for tonight. I think I am really just looking for an opportunity to wear a costume and play the oboe... good thing I work in Las Vegas, I just might get my wish one of these days!

the oboe

what. in. the. world??!

Music House "Must-Haves"

We are shopping for our first house.

It is really way more work\stress\time\excitement than I had anticipated, but after seeing pretty much everything our little town of Mesquite has to offer, we are ready to make our offer.

This may sound kind of funny, because well, we have only been house hunting for a couple of weeks now. However, we live in a town of tiny proportions and there isn't a ton of searching high and low that can be done. We have seen some real pieces of work, as there are many foreclosures in town, and we have seen some really nice houses slide out of our grip due to our popular budget range. We have finally found one that we are ready to put an offer on the table for and it has EVERYTHING!

One of the GREAT things is that the house has vaulted ceilings in the open living room (ahhh the acoustic potential) and a perfectly sized little front room that I can see being used as the "music room". We don't have kids, but we have MUSIC to think about! Where are we going to teach lessons, and practice, and (eeeK) make reeds? This little room and its location have been an important feature in our search for the right place to live and we are really excited to have found a good one- it even has a view of the mountains for me to stare off at as I practice!

Anyway, the journey to WHERE ARE WE GOING TO LIVE? has been a bit of a long one, so it is nice to finally have something kind of exciting happen. We have been mulling over where to live for awhile, not just where in Mesquite, but where WHERE?

I am really, really happy to say that work has really picked up for me in the last few months. I kind of went from 0-60 really quickly and so that has posed some interesting challenges... numero uno being that I have been doing a pretty serious commute. The problem arises in that, Tyler's job is wonderful. He is really making a difference in the way people are thinking about music in this little town, and there is really no reason for him to leave right now. I am really happy for him, and proud of him, and excited to see what can come of his impact on the arts community here in little Mesquite. So in the meantime do we;

1. Move to Vegas- Tyler commuting every single day for work

2. Stay put here in Mesquite- with me driving in per gigs\students

(Ohhh I should say that THIS is the distance I'm talking about)

There is an obviously sensible answer, however, it does not work in my favor ;) It will be OK, I mean all of us have to drive here and there- it just becomes part of being a musician. It is 100% worth it to drive 90 minutes to do a job that I love and enjoy as much as I do playing the oboe and teaching kids how to play it. Would it be easier if I didn't have to travel- YES... but I am assured that there will come a day and another town, and another house when this will be the case.

Repair Portfolio - Db/Eb Key Assembly Repair on Oboes

This is pretty interesting stuff... at least for the repair challenged, oboe girly girl :)

Can't Resist a deal!

I think that my talent for shopping was developed at a young age. It is something that the women of the family have always done together, my mom said that she and her grandma and mom used to go on shopping trips and have afternoon tea in the big department stores.

I didn't really need to shop online until I started needed MORE oboe stuff! Most town music shops just don't carry the array of complicated tools that we double reeders need, so by the time I got to college I was an online shopping pro :)

Here is ANOTHER ebay deal...

Baroque Dance - Passacaille from Armide (L'Abbé, Lully)

SO beautiful. I love baroque dance, and it REALLY helps you understand and "get inside" the music. We tried doing this in one of my baroque performance practice classes in grad school, the results were, unfortunately, much less graceful than this!!

It was really an eye opening experience and I don't know if I will ever play this genre of music without trying to picture how someone might dance to it!

I think the oboist should definitely have her own lady outfit though! I realize that "back then" it would have pretty much definitely been a male player but still! A fancy dress would be good! :)

Yummy!

The EXACT model of oboe played by my former teacher, Ms. Pamela Smith- 2nd oboist of the San Francisco Symphony. She calls it her "chocolate ninja oboe".

Kind of lusting after it's beauty... and if I ever win a second oboe job, I am definitely going to think about a yamaha for it's low note response and chameleon like blending capabilities!

Minkov Landscape English Horn and Piano

Really pretty, from Leonid Sirotkin, the oboe professor at my alma mater, DePauw University. (My teacher left when she got her job with the Buffalo Philharmonic).

I did have the pleasure of playing some Mozart for Leonid (and the other candidates for the job) as was my duty as a student "guinea pig". I was the only graduating senior, and it was a good thing for the other students to be able to sit back and get a feel for the teacher without having to worry about playing. Overall the whole experience was very interesting!!!

Anyway, I digress... he is a great player, check out his other arrangements too... they are beautiful and I really wish they were available for purchase!

Jobs

There hasn't been a new oboe job posted for awhile. Today one came up and it is a military job... these always spark my curiosity and I start thinking a lot about "what if"... kind of like with the reed business idea.

Most of these jobs have a great starting salary, good benefits and offer a lot of security... all very appealing to the uncertain future of a little freelancer like me. Sadly enough, the first question that always pops to my mind "what about basic training???!", and "do we have to wear that uniform ALL the time??".

I know I am ridiculous, these jobs are really important and they are SERVING our country just like any other officer. I just don't know if I can get through weight watchers online, let alone having to play the oboe AND run through mud fields and do ropes courses and shoot guns... that is asking a lot!

Summertime

For most, summer is a shift in the daily routine. Here at our house, my husband is winding down at school (he is a middle school band director- brave and patient!) and gigs have slowed to a current halt for me as many of the ensembles in Las Vegas are off during the summer. It is always nice to have a little break and catch up on some of the non oboe things in my life like chores, planting some flowers, and playing with our cocker spaniel, Pixie.

Of course, oboe things always sneak in. I still have my practice routine and some performances\auditions to think about as well as my private students one day a week. Out of habit\just knowing that the time will come when I will need them, I have continued my usual reed routine resulting in a bit of a (dare I even say it!!!) overabundance of reeds at the moment.

The notion of a "summer job" has even crossed my mind. We are thinking of buying a house and it would be great to have the extra cash- then the same old idea comes back to haunt me...

"WHAT IF... I opened up a reed making business???"

In theory- yes it should work. It is something that incorporates my college and graduate school training, I have plenty of supplies and now with my gouger, much more control over my final product. I am able to produce consistent reeds that I am proud of and pleased to play on... but what about other people???

I have always kind of thought that just like different oboes, there are different oboe players. When I was in San Francisco, only two of us played the same type of horn and all of us had some pretty different reed styles.

My reed criteria are as follows (and in this order)... but I know this varies from person to person.

1. stability

2. intonation

3. response

4. tone

(If some of you would like to comment with your reed criteria ranked in order of importance to YOU, I'd love to see it!)

This little venture would definitely keep the summer more busy and interesting- to say the least! I just don't know if I am ready for such a thing.

We will see.

Liang Wang Oboist?

Multi talented NY Phil oboist Liang Wang shows off his skills on the harmonica!

wow.

I kind of want to see the kind of person who would actually buy and WEAR this.

Shhh! This is special.

For awhile now (since the beginning of my undergrad studies) I have used a Landwell knife to make my oboe reeds. They are of excellent quality, hold a sharp edge, and seem to last quite a long time when they are taken care of.

Some places are charging upwards of $80-$100 for these knives, though the only one I have ever paid that much for was the first one I ever bought!

If you are a fan of this knife, I suggest you check out a little music shop in Bloomington, IN called PROWINDS, or of course, visit their site.

When you search for Landwell knives through the search option on the left hand side of the site's home page... you won't be disappointed with the results ;)