I made recordings of all excerpts. They haven't been my priority as of now so some are a bit spotty (like the first Figaro one).

Figaro: https://youtu.be/n4cEv5M-OR4 Dukas: https://youtu.be/PjI1rwH3q_s Scheherazade Solo: https://youtu.be/xpSSOkLukvo Scheherazade Cadenza: https://youtu.be/o3rc9sLCZVA

Also did a full run of the Jolivet (mvmt 2). Also a bit rusty as I haven't been able to practice these last few days. Should be better once I get back to it.

Jolivet: https://youtu.be/ahnt-FuNjIg

What university did you go to and who did you study under there? I have a few unis in mind(LSU, Rice, Yale) and wanted to know personal experiences with these professors(especially Nanci Belmont)

Hi all,

Coming from a recorder background there are tons of Baroque and Renaissance pieces that I imagine would sound great on bassoon. However it's all in treble clef, which is difficult for me to read on bassoon (conversely I find bass clef a hassle to play on recorder, even on bass recorder--go figure...).

Is there a platform (software or website) that can transpose scanned sheet music (eg scores from Imslp) down an octave or more into bass and/or tenor clef?

heard about another bassoon brand called josef puchner. Anyone have some experience with this brand and could compare it to more well known ones like fox?

I wanted to major in bassoon for college, and I was told it was recommended to play at least two reed instruments when I apply. My band director asked me to switch to trombone for marching band (I play tenor sax), and play bassoon for concert band, and I'm not sure if I should say yes. The only other alternative for this is to play tenor in jazz band, but I'm not the biggest fan of playing jazz music and would rather focus on concert music for bassoon when marching season is over. Do any teachers or current college students have advice?

Hallo!

I'm returning to playing bassoon recreationally after six years of having it sit in my cupboard. One of the reasons I stopped playing was mouth issues, and entering university I was conscious of my appearance. Long story short, it turned out I was allergic/sensitive to bassoon reeds!

I've discovered that you can get synthetic reeds and I'd like to buy one. Does anybody have some recommendations? Looking at legere reeds (which seem to be the only synthetic reed available - is this right?) They come in medium soft or medium hard. I'm unsure whether the reeds will stay at this level, so advice on which I should get would also be appreciated.

just wanted to share bc it’s evil

Does where I go to college to get my undergraduate matter to orchestras/grad schools? If it does, any recommendations on rlly good bassoon programs?

I'm curious to see what your reed looks like! I'm working on my finishing techniques.... once my reed is wrapped and I scrape my "half moon" (tip + either side of the heart), I'm not sure what else to do. I can see scraping having variety depending on the profiling of the cane. I also have a dial indicator and measurements from a previous teacher, but I'm curious to learn what you do! Thanks! :)

Hi, I am a beginner at Bassoona and am still learning the fingerings for the notes. But while looking at the fingering chart I noticed that my Bassoon was missing a Button, (or valve? I don't know what to call them) and this button is needed to play the majority of notes for the music I'm performing. Can you guys please tell me if there is any workaround to this problem?

Thank you for your time in advanced.

​

Sorry for the blurry Images (the missing paddle is supposed to go between the big paddle and the silver hole)

​

https://preview.redd.it/xdcomcv3ybpb1.jpg?width=6000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=85094231e27053847046ba3d849e2d75989b7ce0

Hi all - I'm trying to play the Bourrée 1 and 2 from Bach's third cello suite. I'm playing from Sol Schoenbach's Solos for the Bassoon Player from 1964. As my teacher (who is wonderful) has pointed out, it's not a historically accurate transcription. So there are two things I'm trying to figure out:

1. What are appropriate phrasing concepts for a historically informed performance, and
2. What are appropriate concepts for bassoonists when playing cello music?

For the first question, I'm looking for ideas like "when a phrase repeats, change the dynamics (play the first loud then the second soft, or vice versa)", or how articulation would generally be handled in baroque bassoon music.

For the second question, I'm trying to figure out how to translate, or NOT translate, some of the cello features to bassoon. For example:

• for double stops, some people arpeggiate, but I personally wouldn't (as it can sound blippy and out of place)
• Bowing could represented somehow through legato. How do you know where the legato would be (as in where would a cellist use a single bow stroke)? OR when playing solo is it better to ignore what a cello would do, and just articulate in a historically informed style?

Appreciate any thoughts on these two questions.

Hi! Long time lurker first time poster here, and I was wondering if anyone had experience with the new 200FLP from moosmann. I’ve been playing a moos for years, the 24C, and it has treated me so well. In my journey, I’ve gotten to a point where the instruments limitations have begun to present themselves, so, after a few hours on the phone with Justin Miller, I decided on the 200FLP. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds amazing and plays beautifully, but I’ve had some issues with the finish. It loses its sheen wherever it makes contact with the case (middle of bell, spots on the boot) and when I have it assembled for a couple hours at a time, the finish between the wing and tenor joints actually sticks to itself and has started ruining its own consistency. I’ve tried to do as much research on my own as possible, and I’ve found some info about the finish coming off on guitars, but there is extremely little information out there for bassoons on this topic. I’m already getting it sent back to Justin to get it fixed, but I don’t want this to be a recurring problem.

So, does anyone have this bassoon? Has anyone dealt with a French polish behaving in this way? Why do all the bam cases open just enough to fall back down when you have it open? (I swear it’s the smallest thing but it bugs me so much and I wanna know if anyone else feels like this lol)

I'm currently in 8th grade playing bassoon in a concert band and every year we go to the high school and play pep band, and you obviously need a lyre. I searched online and found some good ones that were too expensive. Does anyone know any lyres specifically that are cheap? Or maybe a different instrument lyre that could fit on a bassoon. (Also I switched last year from tenor sax, so I haven't encountered this problem beforehand.)

Hello, I am a freshman bassoon major in college. I’m starting to learn how to make reeds. What is the difference in methodology when using different materials to seal reed (eg. Duco, beeswax, other glue)? Also wondering about the difference in wrapping reeds in cotton thread vs. nylon (I've seen that for cotton you have the saturate in duco before you put it on?), and also what size of thread is the best. If you have/want to add any info about the sound difference of the different choices I'm interested in that also.

Hello everyone!

I have been playing bassoon for about 10 years now, and over the course of my studies the biggest problem I've faced was intonation.

I would overcome all the technical difficulties in term of finger technique, breathing etc. fairly easily, but I would always struggle with intonation.

Now I have mastered the intonation quite well in all registers, except for the low D and E/Eb (you can imagine how annoying it is while playing in an orchestra). No matter how much I try I can't get it flat enough. Sometimes when I play a low D it almost sounds as a really flat Eb. I could somehow get the low D to be the correct pitch according to the tuner, but I would have to position my mouth and throat in a way that completely deforms the sound of the tone.

Can anyone give me any advice on how to overcome this issue or any alternative fingerings to help for now? Thank you!

do you prefer suitcase style hard cases or newer types with backpack straps? since it doesn't hurt your hand as much

Any advice for switching from bassoon to the contrabassoon? First year playing it and I’ve never actually touched one

https://youtu.be/pYeozM7jjqg?si=wceWqo74TlsDLEPE

Does anyone know where can I find/buy this arrangement? I need both the solo and orchestra parts

Thanks!

Hi all,

To preface my question, I recognize intonation is something bassoonists work on for life. Please bear with me.

I started six months ago and practice 1h+/day, with regular lessons. My intonation isn't where I want it to be-- it sounds 5 to 20+ cents out on many notes when I record myself playing two part duets. I'm playing long tones, scales and arpeggios with a drone to try and improve, but nailing the right pitch at the attack is extremely difficult on several notes even with breath support and airstream.

Recognizing that everyone is different, how much time does it typically take a diligent student on a good instrument and decentish reeds to get their intonation into a generally inoffensive range? Is this measured in weeks, months, years or decades?

I currently use a fox 51 Bassoon which is school provided and I just got a newer one which is the best my school owns I was wondering what the purpose of the cover built into the case is? My director told me it's a dust cover but it feels like that would be a bit unnecessary? I was thinking maybe a rain Jacket? If anyone would like, I will PM an image of it.

Hi all,

I just purchased a new Fox 240! It's been checked over by my teacher who's happy with it. Unfortunately I'm suffering from a few issues and wondering if the Reddit community has dealt with this:

My intonation is all over the place (I came from a crap bassoon) and I'm trying to determine how much is reeds vs instrument vs me (breath support or embouchure). Any suggestions on how to tame this or sort through it? I do understand the 240 is "more flexible".

When playing a top of bass clef G, my thumb is sideways mashing into the low D key as a consequence of trying to press the whisper key and resonance key. The low D key was never in the way on my old bassoon (actually was hard to jump to a low D before). Any suggestions on getting around this? I can't really turn the bass joint to reposition it with the lock in place. (I'm 6' tall and have large male hands.)

Any other suggestions on getting comfortable with this bassoon and producing better tones? I'm working on long tones and arpeggios to try and improve my attacks, dynamics and tapers. I also recorded myself. That was... Interesting ha.