I find my new Legere reed to be quite heavy. It is rated as medium-soft. I've read that you can dunk the reed in boiling water, one second at a time, and it will become easier to blow.

Has anyone tried this?

I'm reluctant to play around with a reed that cost $150

I purchased a legere american scrape synthetic reed. It works fine, however it is very tight putting it my oboe, infact, I had to use pliers to get it out. Any suggestions on how to make it go in/out easier? I have already tried grease and it didn’t work.

Wanted to give my daughter a way to keep a couple instruments out in her room while practicing. Pretty happy with how they turned out.

Edit to add: a few notes.

The whole idea here is instrument safety - these aren't for storage. They're for practice session use so she doesn't have to lay instrument down on desk or bed (where they could get sat on or bumped, and not using a freestanding stand that can get knocked over.

These are mounted directly to studs in the wall and strong enough you could climb on them.

I bought cheap instrument stands and just used the main cone part, threaded into the mahogany that was predrilled and threads tapped.

https://imgur.com/a/6KTqM93

For anyone that owns a high-end oboe and isn't a professional, how do you justify it? Do you play in a community orchestra, or does the instrument collect dust on the shelf? I'm considering purchasing a professional-level instrument, though I'm an amateur with 5 years of playing. Not completely sure if the investment is worth making for my personal enjoyment, or if it's an unnecessary purchase. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

Hi my name is Charles and I have recently started an oboe reed business called Reeds by Chuck! I currently sell pro oboe reeds with many different staple options as well as oboe reed blanks. I am still working on getting my "student oboe reeds" ready for sale, but I am getting close with those as well! I will also be adding more goodies to the shop as things move along. Currently I am making custom bedazzled reed soaker cups!

You can find my shop here:

https://reedsbychuck.etsy.com

I'm a high schooler looking to transition from flute to oboe. I’ve been playing on a student Yamaha YFL-281, but I’ve outgrown it and want to switch to the oboe because my band doesn't have any Oboists. (The band also doesn't have any bassoonists or hornists, but I can't read bass clef or transpose very easily. Also, I really prefer the tone of the oboe, so I decided to go with that.) Does anyone have good tips for someone starting out? I’m also looking for instrument recommendations. I’d like a Grenadilla wood oboe with a full conservatory key system, good ergonomics, and a nice tone. I would like something that can get me through my senior year. I would also like recommendations for reeds, keeping in mind that I live in Houston, TX and would like to be able to go to an in-person shop. I've heard the Bocal Majority has good reeds, but I would like other recommendations just in case.

I'm playing this etude and another for an audition and I'm wondering if it has a known composer. The other piece I'm playing is Schumann so I feel like this etude would be from a well known composer too.

I am a newer oboe player but have noticed this funky goose sound while playing, and was wondering how can I get past it, what are your tips.

Hi folks, me again! I've been commissioned to write a 3-5 minute oboe piece for an oboist who likes pretty thorny modernist stuff - she's just finished her master's in oboe performance. I have two questions about this extract. Is it playable at all? And if it is playable, which tempo is more comfortable/are both tempos comfortable? I like it in 54 perfectly fine, but I think it has a little more bite at 63. Also: if it isn't playable, is there a way I can keep this contour with some small changes that would make it more comfortable for the player? Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I am starting prep on DMA audition materials. The biggest set is making a program of 60 minutes of solo rep and 5 orchestral excerpts. So I'm trying to see of this would be balanced and has an appropriate amount of styles.

Solo Rep:

Telemann: Oboe Sonata in G-minor (from Tafelmusik)

Alyssa Morris: Ruminations for Unaccompanied Oboe

Pasculli: Ricordi di Napoli

Poulenc: Oboe Sonata

Lebrun: Oboe Concerto No.1 in D-minor

Orchestra Excerpts:

Bach: Canata No. 82 "Ich habe genug"

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 mvmt. 2

Brahms: Violin Concerto mvmt. 2

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin mvmt. 1 (the opening solo)

Mahler: Symphony No. 3 mvmt. 2

I tried getting something for most of the various time periods. But I'm trying to see if I have a good variety of different styles going. I am open to any suggestions y'all may have too

Thanks

I just got it and I’m so glad I got it used rather than new.

I just want to double check. I got a gouger that is 10.5 MM

i need to buy a pregouger. I assume i buy 9.75-10.5 not 10.5-11.25.

Just need some guidance.

thanks

Hello, my little brother (11) is also playing the oboe.

He is quite the energetic guy and i want to challenge him.

I can make this myself (although quite time consuming), but wondered if anyone already has a sheet with scales and intervals?

Thanks for the help!

Amateur reed maker and day time engineer here. I wanted to visualize the sound of the reeds I make so I made this website - it visualize the harmonics on the spectrogram on log scale like the birding apps. It is still lacking quite a few things especially in the guide section so I would love some suggestions and inputs from fellow oboists!

I also put the mathematics model of the crow detection in 2nd/3rd pic ;) kudos to Claude code

Site deployed here; GitHub link here; feature requests and collaborations welcomed <3

For those wondering, my samples are all American scrapes. I’d love to see some European scrape crow spectrograms too so feel free to post a snip here if you tried it out;)

youtube link. Even though I am a pianist, the oboe is still my favorite instrument. If I could go back in time i would have chosen to play & learn the oboe instead, been composing music for oboe for 3 years, for my own pleasure. Today I want to share it, because i think it deserves to be heard, maybe I am thinking too highly of my oboe composition capabilities, maybe not. You can decide if you want to give it a listen. It's a 3-part baroque oboe concerto - BAROQUE STYLE.

The second link is for the sheet music

Thanks in advance.

https://roaringpenguin.bandcamp.com/album/fomobomofo

I currently have a audition that told us to prepare and perform all 12 major scales in 2 octave but, I have not gotten used to the fingering of notes above high C#, what shld I do the audition is tmr😬

I can't find a used one anywhere. I've been asked to take over for another reedmaker using their setup, so I'm panicking a bit. It can't be a Mack++ or MackPfeiffer (I can't spell), can only be a Mack+.

I’ve been playing the oboe for maybe 2 months now and the one thing my teacher always has to remind me of is biting and being too tense. It’s been very difficult for me to find that flexibility with the embouchure. So could jaw Botox like for TMJ or masseter Botox help? Looking at google the main muscles treated are typically the masseter, Temporalis, and the Lateral/Medial Pterygoid… could treating all or some of these muscles help or hurt with playing oboe?

I recently picked my oboe back up to start playing and practice again but now I have a snakebite piercing and I’m wondering if the piercing will affect my playing ability.

I'm constantly thinking what instrument I should learn first (oboe, organ, viola or cello), and I need to know what is the hardest part of learning the oboe.

Is it the embochure? Fingering? Breath control? Scraping the reeds?Maybe something else?

For me as a language freak, learning the embouchure would be like learning a weird consonant, and as someone who loves singing breath control also seems doable, but my perspective may be twisted due to having no experience with reeds.

And yeah, I know the most important thing is finding a teacher.

Note: I don't want to play in the orchestra, I just really like oboe's timbre, as it doesn't sound nasal and hoarse like the clarinet + it doesn't transpose.

I'm building one in my studio and can't quite decide on the height. Of course everything is relative but I'm curious to hear your desk setups.

Hi all, I have a job interview coming up for a local music service. They want an oboe teacher, but there aren't any students! The job would be to travel around local schools to give workshops, performances and generally encourage the oboe and woodwind as a viable option. This is the same music service I learned with as a child so I really would like to help out.

I've already got some ideas but I thought who better to ask than lots of lovely oboists! So what do you guys think is the best way to encourage kids to pick the oboe over other more common instruments? The service has lots of orchestras and bands, loads of spare oboes they'll lend for free, and discounted lesson fees already.

Thanks in advance 😊

Hi all, so I'm back and got a Fox 333 Oboe! Rental. But! I'm having issues with my embouchure. I did a trial run with the music store and the biggest concerns were finger placement, breath support, and leakage issues in the embouchure. After doing a test where I wrapped my who mouth around the reed and blew, we determined everything else is a matter or training and precision and practice.

The embouchure. Unfortunately for me I've have multiple reconstructive surgeries that leave my mouth a little different from others. Bilateral cleft is the kong way of saying it if you know what that means but functionally it means I have a weak upper lip that gets tired fast. But after some rest, the intial tone sounds like a note.

Now if you've read all this, you might be asking why the **** did you decide to learn one of the hardest wind insturemnts when you knowingly had physical limitations? Because I like a challenge and naive or not, I think it is possible to get really good and I would like to have that accomplishment.

So the actual question. What are some embouchure drills I can do to really fix and strengthen my weak small upper lip? I'm also compiling a list of teachers to reach out to so the more recommendations the better! Online or textbook resources or ANYTHING of great merit is very appreciated.

I look forward to this journey of starting all over with music again :D

(The crack dream is to play fluently on Oboe Clarinet and Soprano Sax, even if it takes 30-40 years)

DFW TEXAS BTW