Where do you send your profiler blades to get sharpened (preferably somewhere in North America)? I saw Crook and Staple has a sharpening service but I would prefer to not have to send over the pond. Thank you!

I'm a bassoonist and I want to know if it's normal/ok to start hating listening to the instrument you play. The more I practise, rehearse, and film auditions, the more I seem to hate listening to my instrument. When I began learning bassoon, I would listen to so many bassoon concertos and sonatas and I loved it, but now I can't stand to listen to a bassoon solo and have mostly stopped listening to classical music. I've been practising bassoon for about 2-4 hours a day on top of having rehearsals+private lessons+school. I've also been filming NYO auditions and working on prepping for college auditions. It seems the more I play this instrument, the less I want to hear it. I'm worried that if it stays like this, I might start wanting to quit playing bassoon altogether despite having hopes of playing professionally (and already having spent over 25k on bassooning). I don't know if maybe this means that this isn't meant for me and I shouldn't try to play professionally or something else.

I've purchased my very own bassoon about 6 months ago after renting instruments previously. Since bassoons are obviously very expensive instruments, I want to make sure that I do everything right. I'm taking good care of it, not laying it down and rather putting it in a stand, wiping it down on the outside with a polishing cloth after playing and being very careful in general. What are things that I could do in addition to those to make sure that my bassoon will be in a good condition for a long time? Are there any important things that I definitely shouldn't miss out on when taking care of my instrument? I'd be very grateful for any piece of advice :)

My 10 y o daughter is learning the bassoon. She enjoys playing, but not assembling it since it is quite heavy, as you know. She recently switched from the Quint bassoon to the normal sized one, and she is kind of struggling with the sheer weight of it.

My plan to make her practice more is to have the basson standing assembled in the living room. That way she can easily grab it whenever she feels like it. (I would ofc make sure it is wiped)

I have been looking for bassoon stands. "Hercules Stands DS561B Bassoon Stand" is almost the only one I find available here, and it costs quite a lot in my opinion.

The place I intend to keep the bassoon is in a corner, so I don't worry about the instrument tipping to the side. It can lean on the walls. But we have a hardwood floor, I am worried that the instrument might slip and fall.

Is there another instrument that uses a stand with the little "rubber bowl" at the bottom?

Can I get something that looks decent but is cheaper and simpler than the Hercules stand? I am thinking something like the little rubber thingy that cellists use to keep their metal "pin" (idk the name) from slipping on the floor.

Any ideas?

Any negatives with my plan, that I am missing?

Hello! I am an intermediate bassoonist who just bought a new 240. I didnt try a 460, but out of curiosity, how are they? I havent seen much about them so I’m assuming they’re like the black sheep of Fox, but still the curiosity is killing me. I played on my schools 2007 601 and it was hard to judge considering the condition, but it was an ok horn imo. How would the 460s compare? Would they even be worth trying? How noticeable is the thick wall? How does it impact the playability? All advice is good!

Hi all, appreciate some insights from the hive mind.

I picked up a used radial pregouger from MMI for $100. So now I need to order a gouger and figure this step out.

It looks like gouger beds are of a fixed diameter, somewhere between 24-25.5. However, tube cane itself can be within a range of diameters, which varies even rotating a given tube.

Since the tube will be split into 3-4 pieces, how do you deal with cane pieces that don't conform to the gouger bed radius? Do you "reshape" it by rubber banding it around a fixed radius pole? Discard? Just gouge it anyway? Also, does any of this matter to the pregouger, or is it pretty "rough cut" and therefore not fussy?

Also, is there a recommended bed diameter?

Lastly any thoughts for or against the MD Reeds gouger?

Stared at my instrument for a while trying to get the buttons right lmao

Not extremely hard but not too easy, this is for a symphony youth orchestra 9-12 grade

My low notes just aren’t projecting the way they should, especially in ensemble settings. I’ve tried adjusting my embouchure and experimenting with air support, but they still feel muffled and lack the resonance I want.

Anyone have tips for achieving a full sound in the lower register? Could it be my setup, or am I missing something?!

Appreciate any advice!

Is that simply not in their best interest or do they not have the resources to make their own contras?

I made my States All-State orchestra, but they've listed me as a contra player. I do not have access to one, and I dont think it's going to be provided. During audition sign ups they have an alternate instrument section, I know (or at least think) I did not click it. I don't want to get kicked or dissapoint and I'm freaking out. I don't have enough money to rent one that's over like 300, and I have 0 idea what to do. I emailed them but i am still scared.

I am looking for some advice on reedmaking. For context I've been learning bassoon for about a year now but Ive studied the clarinet for quite some time beforehand. I am still learning how to make reeds and most of the reeds I use are handmade by other bassoonists. I currently have two reeds of the same model made by the same bassoonist and both have very different characteristics: one is more "resistant", makes it easier to have a beautiful sound on the high register and it almost never wants to "crack" to a lower note on the middle register, it has a lower volume and darker sound in general, and harder to play the low notes. It feels more "resistant" in a good way, like a clarinet reed that is hard enough to sustain a good air pressure. The other reed is much easier to play, it has a very good low register but feels too "loose", is prone to cracking the middle register has a brighter sound.

So my question is: what makes these two reeds different? How do I achieve a reed more like the first one while making my own? Ive tried adjusting the wires, tried closing the second reed a bit but it still is missing that good "resistance" that Im looking for. Do you guys have any tips?

And before anyone asks, yes I do have a teacher but Im just looking from different sources of advice for now.

Hey everyone, im a music major and have been playing bassoon for around 9 years now, I was wondering if anyone has some solo recommendations for me to play for my senior recital. Any solo pieces with just bassoon or with a piano accompaniment would be very helpful. Thank you!!!

Hi i just started playing bassoon in my school's orchestra and we dont really have any bassoon teacher, so far ive been practicing from song to song but i feel very disadvantaged due to my lack of basic knowledge and technique in playing the bassoon. Does anyone have any recommendations on books or lessons available online or maybe some routines recommendations for beginners? Since its pretty impossible to find a bassoon teacher in my country, Thank you!

Is there any way to make this trill from high g to a any less horrible😭

There are no teachers to make reeds within an hour drive of us. We tried ordering from bocalmajority. The reed we received was badly misaligned and asymmetrical and they do not take returns unless the reed was damaged in shipping.

Any other reed makers that are suggested?

So I have been wanting to learn bassoon for a while now and I’ve watched a few videos about it. I want to rent one from bocal majority as soon as maybe next summer. I have 4 years experience on the clarinet and I’m very amateur on the oboe so I do have good experience on similar instruments.

I would appreciate any advice from anyone who started out in a similar situation. I really feel like I can be good at it so again any advice is welcomed and greatly appreciated. Thank you all!

Ciao a tutti, ho ripreso da poco a suonare per diletto il fagotto dopo circa 25 anni da quando facevo il conservatorio, abbandonato a metà percorso. Ho notato che, in fase di smontaggio, la campana superiore si sfila con estrema difficoltà, sembra come incollata e non riesco a toglierla se non forzando molto e, dovendo fare presa sul pezzo sottostante, ho paura di danneggiarne le chiavi. Ovviamente anche in fase di montaggio devo esercitare molta pressione per inserire la campana. Rimedi? Grazie.

I know I've heard of this happening but I haven't really encountered it in any of my music. It looks like the five sacred trees uses treble clef in the score but in the bassoon part it switches to tenor clef instead.

Very new to bassoon, literally only started at the start of this year. For some reason after I've been playing for around 10 minutes (continuously, I'm trying to record a video audition for a beginner ensemble right now), my reed just dries out midway? I soak it beforehand in a cup of water, and i don't think it should be drying out so quickly? I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, if it's the reed, or if this is just something that happens 😭. Any advice?

Edit: Thank you all so much for your help! It's very much appreciated :)

Hi! I'm a high school bassoonist, and I'd love to go to college for bassoon. My dream job is being in pit orchestras for musicals, operas things like that. I know bassoons aren't always needed in pits but I know sax and a little bit of clarinet which ups my chances of getting a job like that. If that doesn't work out, I'd want to be a high school band teacher. I've conducted my schools band a couple times and I love it, and I think I would have so much fun teaching kids and helping them learn and win competitions and things like that! Here's my issue: I've only been playing for 3 years, and this is the first year I really got serious about bassoon. I can only practice every other day during school weeks because I have to practice sax as well and I can't carry both instruments home lol. When I practice, it's usually for about 2 hours a day. I do scales, my lesson book, and I work on my Allstate audition piece. Did I start too late? How long did it take for your practice to work? I feel like I haven't made any progress, I still suck and it makes me not want to practice anymore because it's not doing anything. I just keep telling myself to push through and make myself practice because I know practicing will be more fun when I know what I'm doing (and in order to know what I'm doing I have to practice). It's just really hard to keep pushing through when I'm not getting results. Thanks!

I play bassoon for my school band and my bassoon is so quiet that it can barely be heard! When other instruments are playing its basically impossible, but even when I'm the only one playing, like with solos, the sound can barely be heard. I'm also playing as loud as I can. My parents always complain that they can't hear me at my concerts and it makes me sad. What can I do to make the bassoon sound louder?

I'm currently looking to purchase a bassoon for my 15 year old daughter and have my eye on two second hand ones.

1. Fox 3 - $9k Australian dollars
2. Moosman 100 $8k Australian dollars

Which is the better instrument? I know nothing about bassoons and both of these are interstate as there is nothing much available second hand where we live

I am a sophomore in high school and used to play bassoon in middle school. I had a monnig pre war bassoon that I got for a steal at 800 bucks fully working, but the bocal unfortunately got bent by somebody in my middle school band and fixing it would have cost more than what paid for the whole thing, now I'm in high school, and the bassoons at my school are very old and don't work very well. So I started a GoFundMe to get one for me and hopefully others down the line to use on school.

https://gofund.me/aa536bd1