I am a sax player, practicing oboe and looking for reeds with european scraping.

I tried two Howarth academy medium soft. They were really great for two weeks and now they have collapsed completely. The opening is really small, almost non existing.

I tried a Kojereeds OJAS. The opening is super large, so I have to press the reeds more together before I get a really loud sound that takes loads of air to support. I do not like these at all.

Can I save the Howarth academy reeds? What reeds should I try next?

Am i supposed to sharpen wedge knives differently than double hollow ground knives? I have only ever had wedge knives but i have always just sent them to shops to get sharpened.

I just bought a Rigoutat English horn and I'm trying to find info from the serial number but I can't find anything on it!

Serial is 124 D. Anyone have any info?

So I rented an oboe from a local Canadian store (twiggmusic), because I love its sound, and wanted to play some pieces I like on it. Right off the bat, The case and the instrument looked old, and used, but I just took it as a test run to see if the instrument was compatible with me, so I thought nothing of it. But, I was casually playing when the cord on the pinky key snapped. Idk what to do, any help is appreciated.

https://preview.redd.it/vxqyyg71k2jd1.jpg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8204821e718f1de92eb312e1819303403e1d01cc

https://preview.redd.it/1lw6mo32k2jd1.jpg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ebcb235b389360ed969709a6e2d5282ad32a2a20

Hello Oboe community,

I know this subject has been discussed through the years here, but Im between a rock and a hard place and was wondering if there was any other wisdom or advice I could get. I am a music student studying oboe performance and all of a sudden I got a flare-up worse than before. It was only a small snort and a bit of discomfort. The minute it occurred I obviously stopped playing, and took a couple of days off but when I returned to practice, so did VPI. I then took 10 days off, but even with 10-minute practice sessions a day, I still have what I believe to be VPI symptoms (no snorts- but discomfort in the back of throat/nose, a stinging sensation from my nose when breathing occasionally, and tightness in the throat that carries throughout the day after I practice.) It has now been around a month of this with on and off practice attempts and I'm starting to worry. I Have a big recital that I am starting to prepare for and my wind band, orchestra, and chamber ensembles will start up in 2 weeks. I have tried just blowing onto the reed for seconds at a time, or just holding one note for 5-second intervals. I have attempted to open my throat more but I believe that it is just causing more stress to the area (but I could be wrong). I've also made my reeds less resistant.

My two main questions are:

1. what specific warmups can help me get up to speed before my return to my studies

2. could I possibly be mistaken in observing this as VPI? is it possibly something else (dry rhinitis, sinus issues? in my head?)

Thank you in advance.

anybody have any spooky/eerie sounding solos for english horn? i know this is a very odd and specific request, just curious. i think english horn is perfect for stuff like that.

So before folding the reed cane and tying up a blank oboe reed, how long should I let the cane soak? I've seen 15 minutes (but it may crack) and 30 minutes (but it will be a short lived reed). What is the best recommendation?

UPDATE:

Thanks for your comments everyone! They really helped and I managed to tie my first blank! I can't find how to post a picture but it's cool! Just need to work on the thread pattern.

I'm having trouble with blooping any time I put down fingers 2 & 3 on the right hand at the same time, for example, middle Bb4 to D5.

As I put the two fingers down, the F-resonance key lifts just a little from finger 3 before the mechanism on finger 2 kicks in and forces it down again.

Is this a matter of technique, or oboe adjustment? Either way, how do I fix it?

Edit: I'm on a Fox 300, in case it matters.

Hi,

Hopefully it’s ok to post this here.

I have a really good professional oboist friend and I‘d like to give him something as a gift. Something that’s not too expensive but not too cheap either that it’s useless. I‘d like to give him something that‘s hopefully could be useful to him and would last a long time. Can‘t determine a budget yet, but I‘d like to see the options available.

For advanced and professional oboist here, do you think reed knife (was thinking of something from Japan) or reed case is a good idea as a gift? Or may be reed thread? Would you be to picky about these? Or do you have any other suggestion?

Thank you!

I’m looking for Foundation Studies by David Hite for daily practice. Unfortunately it is not available in my country. I was hoping to find it for sale as an ebook or pdf but it doesn’t seem to be available digitally. Anybody who can help me out?

Edit: found one

Hello,

I have been playing oboe for 8 almost 9 years now and for the past 2 years I have been able to play English Horn on the side. I really love EH (and honestly prefer it to oboe) and I would like to play in college. Should I look into purchasing an EH, or would it be more worthwhile to purchase a nice bocal and rent an EH from the school? How common is it to play EH in a college setting?

Thanks for your help!

I just realized whenever I travel from my parents home to my home my Reeds change a lot. I fucked up sooo many reeds because I sharpened them easier to play at my parents house (600m above sea level) but when I traveled back to my home (50m above sea level) they are way to light and easy to play. 🤣 How is that? Is there some way I can avoid that?

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of playing these three oboes?:

901P

901A

2001

they’re all made by marigaux, and I am leaning towards the 2001 but I’ve never tried the 901P, is there a significant difference or how was your experience playing these models (or any other models)

unfortunately the howarth XL they had at the oboe shop did not sound very good, which was disappointing since I tried my friends XL and it was nice

View Poll

https://preview.redd.it/brrktb08h2id1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40440a6d356f7ac6d4e4a2b59058005afb074e49

https://preview.redd.it/6qajuc08h2id1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d64ff43040f210bda4d8a24c2b80c94b9c785b8a

https://preview.redd.it/dp0cec08h2id1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bc4cd05e77ccdfca3c559626bd90496f8d67ae7

For a friend, hes ready to upgrade and has been considering it. He doesnt have reddit. Hes rented in the past, so hes been able to get a discount. He would buy it for 5300 usd, and he hopes it can last as a proffesional model for many years to come. Thoughts?

I’ve been asked to play english horn for a concert and ive never played it before. I know the fingerings are roughly the same, but in terms of technique, what differences are there?

Hey guys, I'm a pianist and my little brother has enlisted me to accompany him at his school soirée performance! Can anyone recommend a short piece for oboe and piano that will be playable for him i.e. around grade 2 level (or at least give me directions to find repertoire myself)? It should only be around 2 minutes long.

Thanks heaps

I’m having trouble with this unusual trilling, (I have only been doing oboe for a year), and I am having trouble with trilling from a-flat to b-flat. Any suggestions or tips?

I'm not sure if I have carpal tunnel or some other condition but whenever I play oboe my right hand gets this piercing and burning pain in my wrist. It feels like I'm getting stabbed or my hand is ripping itself apart. I've always felt pain when playing oboe though it's normally been bearable. I only play for around 1-2 hours a day but It's gotten to the point where I can't even write things down or use a computer mouse without feeling this.

A lot of my family members have osteoporosis and arthritis but I'm not sure if that is part of the issue. What should I do about this? I really don't want to quit oboe.

when I press down on the E flat key, it doesn’t rise back up it just stays down, I’ve checked everywhere. I’m a beginner oboe student so I have no idea what to do nor how it happened, can someone help?