Any body play oboe? [Archive] - Mandolin Cafe Forum

Jonmiller

Jan-14-2009, 4:59pm

I was given a boken/ repaired oboe by my bass player friend I play with.-How fun it has been-I've been around Irish whistle and Scottish pipes-combine these and with a finger chart nearby and so far it's been great fun.
It's a wood Lorilee.

Barb Friedland

Jan-14-2009, 5:14pm

Well not exactly lately. I used to. I still have my instrument. It's a beautiful haunting sound. Enjoy!

Eddie Sheehy

Jan-14-2009, 5:52pm

Is that a reed-instrument Jon?

Jonmiller

Jan-14-2009, 5:55pm

Yes my dear friend Ed-a double reed like in the pipe chanter, except it's exposed.

Michael Barnett

Jan-14-2009, 5:59pm

I don't, but my daughter is a first year oboe student. Picking it up nicely. Challenging, but beautiful instrument. Hoping to do some mando/oboe duets with her. Also hoping she'll pick up my spare mandolin and start playing that too.

Enjoy!

Mandobar

Jan-14-2009, 6:53pm

i was an oboe major at Manhattan School of Music. are you learning to make your own reeds?

Jonmiller

Jan-14-2009, 7:00pm

Reed making-I hope I don't need too- I just want to play!!!!.
I play mandolin and cello and church-and have always thought that oboe would be the perfect other "accompaniment" instrument. I just purchased my 2nd reed today, a bit stiffer than the first.

Mandobar

Jan-14-2009, 7:02pm

if you get at all serious about playing you will need to learn how to make your own reeds. otherwise you are at the mercy of those awful store bought reeds.

oboe is actually more of a solo instrument, rather than accompaniment. the oboe is the one who sounds the "A" note by which all the other instruments tune to in an orchestra.

JEStanek

Jan-14-2009, 8:07pm

Eddie,
Here's one of the most famous (to mainstream America) oboe pieces from the movie the Mission.
PRb8KKyenSY

Jamie

OzMando

Jan-14-2009, 9:22pm

If you're looking for something to listen to then there's an Australian lady, Diana Doherty, who is absolutely brilliant. Won't be bluegrass if that's what you're into, but that's to be exected :D

I borrowed my sisters oboe occasionally when we were all at home still. Good fun. Weird that you run out of oxygen before you run out of air to push through the instrument. There's some joke I can't remember about oboe players and decreasing brain size due to pressure on the brain. Anyway...

JEStanek

Jan-14-2009, 9:48pm

...There's some joke I can't remember about oboe players and decreasing brain size due to pressure on the brain. Anyway...

Looks like you might have borrowed the oboe too many times! :)) To the OP, that a wonderful instrument to add to the collection.

Jamie

mandocrucian

Jan-14-2009, 10:32pm

If you're looking for something to listen to then there's....
Sue (Harris) Kirkpatrick (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jnftxqe5ldse), wife of English accordionist John Kirkpatrick (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifqxq95ldfe~T1). Numerous duo albums with John. She was also in the Albion Country Band. Oboe really sounded great.

NH

Ivan Kelsall

Jan-15-2009, 2:14am

One of my favourite pieces of 'modern' music is by the French composer Jean Francais "The Flower Clock" ( H'Lorloge De Flore) for Oboe & Piano. It's a musical representation of a clock that has a flower for each of the hours,Glourious,peaceful music. I have it on record by a great Oboeist,John de Lancie who was born in Berkely CA in 1921. It's a piece of music well worth searching out & buying,
Saska ;)

Eddie Sheehy

Jan-15-2009, 2:22am

Saska, no offence intended, but I think your L and H are transposed - this is for those who are Googling the title.... L'Horloge de Flore

Eddie Sheehy

Jan-15-2009, 2:06pm

I can only imagine what "Stranger on the Shore" would sound like on an oboe - it's breathtaking on a clarinet. Hey Jon check out This LINK (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46672) in the Classics section - these menuets are also for oboe.

Mandobar

Jan-15-2009, 2:10pm

paul winter consort, paul mccandless oboe.

Tom C

Jan-15-2009, 2:22pm

I imaging those reed instruments are tough to learn as there are no patterns. You actually have to know the notes.

Mandobar

Jan-15-2009, 2:41pm

yup, no tab. although there are charts that show the fingerings. same as recorder and clarinet- but you have to learn to read music.

reed making is a whole other story. it makes changing strings seem like a picnic....at the beach.......in 70 degree weather on a sunny day.

RSomers

Jan-15-2009, 3:55pm

Jon,
I don't play one, but proud to say my daughter just became 1st chair in the state of Texas Orchestra for Oboe.
And, please make sure that this wood "lorilee" is not a loree from Paris France.
A loree just cost us 8 grand (note to parents, careful when your child gets good at an instrument), and will admit it didn't hurt to have it in this competition.
You also will need to learn to make your own reeds, and how to keep them soaked.

Mandobar

Jan-15-2009, 4:25pm

there are a lot of models in the loree family. and as with all instruments there are student level models that are around $1k used. an instrument with repairs is not as expensive, especially if the repairs are not done by a skilled double reed repair person. there is a gentleman who i went to school with who plays as well as repairs these instruments. he interned with one of the best men in the business in NYC and bought the business from him years later. his name is brian charles and he is one of THE best in the world. his business is called charles double reed.

http://www.charlesmusic.com/cgi-bin/theo?action=display_page&page=home&side_bar=yes

as i have severe asthma i no longer play, but i have kept up with some of the genre. laubin is the #1 name in oboes. made in upstate ny, they are on their 3rd generation of double reed makers. laubin's wait list at one time was 20 years. it is down to 6.

so, yes, loree makes oboes that are 8k, but they also have some lower level models as well as some used/abused stuff out there. as with all instruments you need to do the research. loree has lost some of it's "shine" over the years and cabart as well as fox have risen along with a few others. most oboes are sold through brokers, like brian charles and another of his classmates, sharon fligner. they go to the factories and "select" the instruments they feel are superior. they then bring them back to the US for sale.

not anywhere near as easy as buying a mandolin.

TomTyrrell

Jan-15-2009, 4:38pm

Elliot Luber

Jan-15-2009, 5:03pm

I believe Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh used to play oboe. He said in interviews that he learned quickly that guitar players got the girls.

Barb Friedland

Jan-15-2009, 5:09pm

if you get at all serious about playing you will need to learn how to make your own reeds. otherwise you are at the mercy of those awful store bought reeds..

Ah yes... reed making- that's what finally convinced me it was not to be my instrument. I tried and could never make a decent reed and the store bought ones really are terrible. That's what I like about mandolin. I don't have to make my strings! :)

Mandobar

Jan-15-2009, 6:43pm

actually brian charles makes great reeds. they ain't cheap though.

Mandobar

Jan-15-2009, 6:53pm

tom, i'd be interested in what brand and model the "good" oboe was. a used top of the line Laubin is around $9k if you can find one. a very nice used loree professional quality is under $5k. as with all instruments your mileage will vary and these are not instruments they sell at the corner store.

there was also a broker on the west coast at one time, mark chudrow. not sure if he is still in business.

mandolinplucker

Jan-15-2009, 6:55pm

In high school I played clarinet. A concert piece required an oboe. The teacher passed out reeds to some of the woodwind players and told us to learn to play something on the reed( no instrument. I was the only one who could make recognizable notes on it. Amazing Grace was the best I could do. I wound up playing the solo piece and pulled it off. That was my only experience with the oboe and it was enough.

Rick Lindstrom

Jan-15-2009, 7:47pm

Ahhh-

"An ill woodwind that blows nobody any good".

Especially if you are, as I was, an adolescent clarinet player that was hoodwinked into becoming one of the oboe players in the junior high school band. It marked the end of my band career and the beginning of a love of stringed, fretted instruments that continues to this day some fifty odd years later.

Somewhere I read that double reed players all eventually go crazy. It certainly made me crazy for a short time.

:)

Rick

CelticDude

Jan-15-2009, 10:23pm

Wow; I can't believe there are this many people playing oboe. On a mandolin list no less.

I also used to, along with clarinet, back in junior high and high school. Gave it up after graduating, then started banging on folk instruments. I've played tin whistle and flute for about 25 or so years, and of course mandolin for the past 2.

There is a band from Western Mass. that plays for contra dances called Wild Asparagus. One of their featured instruments is the oboe. Quite fun at a dance (he also plays flute and occasionally sax and a lombard.)

I've tried my oboe recently, and can barely get a sound out of it. I'll leave that for others. Have fun; it is a cool instrument.

DWP

Ivan Kelsall

Jan-16-2009, 1:08am

Hi Eddie - yes,you're quite right - early morning finger trouble & failing eyesight work wonders don't they - thanks for pointing that out for the folk who may be interested. It also puzzled me why 'flower' was spelled 'Flore' instead of 'Fleur'. 'Flores' is 'flowers' in Spanish ?,
Saska:confused:

OzMando

Jan-16-2009, 1:38am

"Oboe: and instrument of torture operated with cotton in the ears. There are two things worse than an oboe ... two oboes" :grin:

Ivan Kelsall

Jan-16-2009, 3:49am

Struth mate ! - That's bit severe,even from someone who's upside down,
Saska :grin:

Mandobar

Jan-16-2009, 7:36am

played correctly the tone and the sound of the oboe is quite beautiful. it is mastering the vibration of the reed that is the most difficult part.

OzMando

Jan-16-2009, 11:02am

Indeed. Truly a beautiful, enchanting instrument when played well.

TomTyrrell

Jan-16-2009, 11:04am

tom, i'd be interested in what brand and model the "good" oboe was. a used top of the line Laubin is around $9k if you can find one. a very nice used loree professional quality is under $5k. as with all instruments your mileage will vary and these are not instruments they sell at the corner store.

I don't know what it is. Her dad sent her to school with what he was assured was a highest quality professional oboe he paid a bit over $6k for.

He thinks she got taken.

Wesley

Jan-16-2009, 2:06pm

My sister used to play the Oboe. Our dog used to howl outside her door while she practiced. We would take him outside - but first chance he got he would run back to her door and howl again.

For some unusual oboe applications you could check out the English rock band Roxy Music. But as previously noted Oregon is a good band to check out.

Mandobar

Jan-16-2009, 2:31pm

tom, i hate to say this, but he may be right............

TomTyrrell

Jan-17-2009, 9:02am

I think so too but she idolizes the person who sold it to her so there isn't much that can be done. It is a really good oboe so at least she didn't end up with a piece of junk. If she plays it for 20 years the amortized cost won't be much more than a cup of Starbucks every day.

Dan Johnson

Jan-17-2009, 9:56am

Not one to toot my own horn, but, ahem... I was the second best oboe player at Hackett Middle School in Albany New York... As for the first, well, obscurity has alas claimed him...

allenhopkins

Jan-17-2009, 6:03pm

"An ill woodwind that blows nobody any good"

Or the way I heard it, "An ill wind that nobody blows good..."

My brother played oboe in high school (I played the flute, my sister alto saxophone). It was a difficult instrument, for sure. The reeds were an issue unto themselves; expensive, and you'd get one that sounded like c**p with nothing you could do about it except buy another expensive one.

I understand professional oboists often make their own reeds.

Trivia: Mitch Miller, the sing-along guy, started out as an orchestral oboist here in Rochester.

JEStanek

Jan-17-2009, 6:05pm

Dan, how many oboists were there? ;-)

Jamie

Jonmiller

Jan-17-2009, 6:49pm

My oboe is a Lorilee, from what I heard, it was Larry Lorilee started or runs a small woodwind a shop in Elkhart Indiana. it's granidillo wood, and so far I've purchased 2 reeds, and I'm still having a great time-nice long tones. It was given to me-broken but repaired. i also play a cello that was given to me after I repaired a B&D Silver Bell tenor banjo for a couple-it's a scratched up 60's solid top/ ply B and S-but sounds great to my ear.