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Courtesy of my great friend, Ben Opie. This is some double reed fun to start the week off right!

J. Haydn - Oboe Concerto C-Dur 1st Movement

This is a post for my high school freshman student, A. We are testing out some solo pieces for her and this is one of the possibilities. Listen and enjoy the Haydn Oboe Concerto in C major...

I'm here... kind of!

Sorry for being a MIA oboe blogger for these first couple of weeks of February! I have been in and out of the Phantom pit, felt kind of funky health-wise (nothing serious), and of course have just been the usual level of busy.

I am brought back to you by a fun email that I received this morning from a friend (also a contractor of fun gigs of the not-typical-oboe-music kind)!

I have heard this story before... but that doesn't make it any less funny, and also a great reminder that nobody's perfect!

This is what I received...

Okay, the Toscanini story. Absolutely true. He was rehearsing the NBC
Symphony for the weekly Sunday morning radio concert . Halfway through a
movement of something or other, he stopped, frowned and said, "Will the
second oboe please play softer at measure seventy-two." They began again.
And again, Toscanini pulled up short, slammed his baton down on the stand,
and, pissed off, growled, "Will the second oboe please play softer starting
at measure seventy-two!" With that, the first oboist stood up, raised his
hand and said, "Maestro, forgive me, but the second oboe is not here yet,
he's late." Toscanini's face inverted as he growled, "Well, godammit, when
he gets here, tell him to play softer at seventy-two!"

Oboe Taxes

We are getting all of our tax documents lined up and going over them, as I am sure most all of you are as well. My husband is very diligent about this process, which is good because I am not. The best I can do is save all of my receipts and try to keep a log of where I travel to for work.

Over lunch, I racked up the countless odds and ends that I purchased in order to maintain my oboe studio, and perform-- things like music, staples, thread, turkey feathers, and of course cane all popped up as I tabulated away. I was expecting to see a scary number at the end, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting which surprised me! I think that I have always been the kind of person to make a "big deal" out of not-so-big-deal things, and then playing the oboe came along which lends itself to that dramatic tendency anyway :)

In total as I looked back over my mileage, all of the places I drove to, concerts and shows I played, students I taught, it seemed very worthwhile indeed. On paper, I would say 2010 looked pretty good!

This week I am kind of enjoying a taste of the good life- playing Phantom in the PM and relaxing a bit in the AM, twist my arm, go on :)

Phantom Overture Las Vegas

I am playing Phantom this week... can't wait! Here is a little clip that simulates the opening, I love seeing the chandelier fly right over our conductor's head every time :)

Adjusting Reeds... the beginning.

I don't like to push reedmaking on my students. I don't know if this is right or wrong (probably due to my own resistance to reed making ;)) but I don't want them to have to get there until they have a couple of things:

1. A burning desire... we are talking a fierce WANT to do this

2. The necessary tools and equipment

Last night I was running a sectional at one of the high schools in Henderson that I have been to quite a few times, with some of high school oboe girls (Hi R and T!) and we talked a little about the beginnings of reedmaking which got me thinking about this blog.

Before you jump into reed MAKING, I think it is a pretty good idea to get some tips and basic techniques of reed ADJUSTING under your belt. Reedmaking includes many aspects of how a reed is assembled and how to create something that works, so if I can teach students to first understand what we want out of a reed and how to get there... it helps.

You need way fewer tools to do reed adjustments, and several of them you probably already have!

1. A knife- probably the most expensive and "out there" piece of equipment you will have to seek out

2. A plaque- it is a little sliver of metal to act as a stabilizer and allows us to see through the reed to work on each individual side, like reeds you can never have too many! Try to pick up a few of these little things!

3. A tuner- we want the reed to eventually crow a "C" (fingers crossed!) and the tuner will help keep us in check

4. A mandrel- it isn't totally necessary now, but once you begin to tie your own reeds it is a must. The reed fits on the end and it gives us a sort of handle to hold onto to stabilize ourselves while working.

5. Razor blades- can be found in the paint section of your local hardware store too! For clipping the tip of the reed

6. Super fine grit sand paper for lightly sanding the sides of the reed as well as the tip. This comes in handy for sticky pads too!

7. A cutting block- the better to NOT ruin your Mom's furniture with!

Caitlin's Simple Oboe Reed Adjustments

If your reed is unresponsive...

Scrape a tiny bit off of the tip, this is where the response comes from- thinning the tip slightly will immediately boost the reed's response.

Be careful, every time we take cane off of the reed this lowers the pitch. Have your trusty cutting block and razor blade ready to clip a tiny TINY bit off of the tip. We are talking like a hair at a time!

If your reed is resistant and a little stuffy...

The heart of your reed might be a little bit too thick. Scrape a couple of long, smooth scrapes over each section of the heart. Be careful to avoid the spine in the middle! You should treat them as quadrants, 4 all together and two on each side of the reed.

If your reed is flat...

Try clipping the tip. Beware, this will also decrease the reed's response.

If your reed is sharp...

Try scraping a tiny bit off of the windows. Also the tip if the reed is a little unresponsive as well. If your reed is very sharp, it could also be due to a tiny opening.

Check out this diagram for help along the way!

My first Oboe Student ;)

My sister, Kelsey was my first oboe student EVER. She played through middle school and then quit in order to devote all of her time to dance in high school.

I wanted to put her link up here, and welcome her to the world wide web as she has just created her first professional website.