Last Sunday I debuted the oboe d'Amore at church on worship team and for communion.
Our team was short an electric bass, an electric guitar, and vocalist because of out of town family commitments. So, the team members included myself on d'amore, Ben on the grand piano, Janet on her bass viol, and Josh on drums. It was more acoustic sounding, except that we were miked.
We got a lot of good complements, and people even clapped several times. The songs were all traditional Christmas hymns with a more contemporary setting. I improvise - that is make up - my parts with an emphasis on sustained tones with some embellishments and a few fancy noodly stuff thrown in. Fun. I also throw in the melody at times.
Everything is recorded, so in awhile, Ben will give me a recording of everything I have played in the last couple of months. Then I will see if it really sounded as good as we all felt it sounded! Reality check.
My daughter said it sounded good - which is high praise coming from her! She's pretty picky. She also noticed that I was having a little trouble with breathing, which no one else noticed. I was. I had to use my asthma inhaler just before we played, and my lungs hurt just a wee bit. While my breathing on the d'amore is much more comfortable than it was a couple of months ago when I started playing her, there is still some discomfort.
So, I'm going to have to finally admit that my asthma is a bigger problem for me than what I want to face up to. Off to the doc. in the new year. I'm so much better than I was even a year ago - actually Sept. of 2013 was the last time I had bronchitis. That is a long stretch for me! Maybe I can make it to be never having bronchitis again, let alone the flu or pneumonia! Music must have healing properties at least to the extent that playing a wind instrument makes a person want to have more air! It motivates me to get the help I need so I can keep blowing for many more years. :-)
My husband and I also did communion music. We played Of the Father's Love Begotten and Thou Who Wast Rich. Thou... uses the French melody Quelle Est Cette Odeur Agréable.
Here's something I wrote about the hymn Thou Who Wast Rich. from last year. When I wrote this blog post last year, I had just returned from Honduras a few weeks before. My pastor friend and his family were really trying to change the church culture in the area where he lived. The prosperity Gospel with its emphasis on giving to wealthy preachers was something he abhored. In fact, in his church, he didn't even talk about tithing! His people were poor, so how could he ask them to give up what they themselves needed to live on? He and his wife were the ones being generous and encouraging true generosity, not giving in order to become rich or to make others rich.
It is something I had been thinking about a lot as well. So, this hymn expresses a lot of what I believe to be who Christ is and then who we are expected to be as followers of Christ - generous and giving, not greedy and taking. I want to live that way, myself. Christmas is a good time to remember Christ's sacrifice and the sacrifices we are to give in His name.
It is one of my favorite Christmas hymns, or maybe one of my favorite hymns of all kinds.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Oboe True Confessions
Okay, so I did a newby kind of really embarassing thing last Saturday. It was something that I have told students, even, to never do. It's sick 'em in oboe cleaning.
You see, the top of the upper joint of the oboe is quite narrow. You have to run a kind of thin silk swab that is sown onto a strong string with a weight at the end through the bore of the instrument. It's a bit tricky, since if you're not careful or if the swab is too thick, it will get stuck.
The oboe bore is conical shaped. Anyway, I've never gotten a swab stuck. Ever. Until last Saturday.
It was really stuck. I had pulled really, really hard to get it through. Oh, my! Did I ever feel dumb.
I hadn't realized that the bore of the oboe d'Amore was even smaller at the very top than the regular oboe. The swab I use for my oboe is too large for the d'Amore. Duh!
So, on Monday I went into the local music store, and rather sheepishly confessed my transgression. The technician was in and was able to quickly get the piece of swab out. He told me that it was really jammed in there.
I knew that already. Anyway, d'Amore back in service. After Christmas, I'll take her in for a tune up. It's now broken in. He'll check it all over to make any adjustments that may be needed. Some of the notes aren't quite right pitch and response wise. It can't all be me or the reeds. Honestly, it can't!
Sunday I hope to debut the instrument for communion music at our church. We shall see. I'll play my regular oboe for worship as well.
I love this.
You see, the top of the upper joint of the oboe is quite narrow. You have to run a kind of thin silk swab that is sown onto a strong string with a weight at the end through the bore of the instrument. It's a bit tricky, since if you're not careful or if the swab is too thick, it will get stuck.
The oboe bore is conical shaped. Anyway, I've never gotten a swab stuck. Ever. Until last Saturday.
It was really stuck. I had pulled really, really hard to get it through. Oh, my! Did I ever feel dumb.
I hadn't realized that the bore of the oboe d'Amore was even smaller at the very top than the regular oboe. The swab I use for my oboe is too large for the d'Amore. Duh!
So, on Monday I went into the local music store, and rather sheepishly confessed my transgression. The technician was in and was able to quickly get the piece of swab out. He told me that it was really jammed in there.
I knew that already. Anyway, d'Amore back in service. After Christmas, I'll take her in for a tune up. It's now broken in. He'll check it all over to make any adjustments that may be needed. Some of the notes aren't quite right pitch and response wise. It can't all be me or the reeds. Honestly, it can't!
Sunday I hope to debut the instrument for communion music at our church. We shall see. I'll play my regular oboe for worship as well.
I love this.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Oboe D'Amore Update
Something very exciting arrived today. Well, I suppose not everyone would find it all that exciting, but I do. It's this!
Da L'opera Omnia Di J. S. Bach (Tuttii "Soli-duetti-trii E Passi Tecnici" Per Oboe, Oboe D'amore, Oboe Da Caccia, Taille (II Volume))
Very cool. It's from Milan. This volume has oboe, oboe d'Amore, and English Horn parts to the Christmas Oratorio, the Easter Oratorio, and a bunch of other things. Fun.
Bach was very kind to the oboe, all of them.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Oboe Update
Well, I did a crazy thing last month. I purchased an oboe d'Amore.
What do I want to do with it? Well, try to tame it in the first place. There's the breathing issue and the reed issue and the fingers issue and all that.
Breathing:
I suffer from asthma, so a few years ago when I purchased a new oboe, I needed one that was free blowing and reeds that were kind of soft. Reed making was never my favorite thing to do, so I talked to a fellow oboe player who was also trying to return to the instrument. She was suffering from lyme disease. Because of her physical limitations, she had started to use ready made reeds and had purchased an oboe that was easier to play than her Loree from when she was actively playing.
I thought that was a great idea, given the amount of time as well as the amount of money I had to invest in reeds. Reedmaking takes about half of an oboe players time, and I wanted to just play and not whittle so much. I still have to adjust the reeds, but that's not so bad.
The Fox 300 I purchased is an asthmatic's dream oboe. Yes, you lose some projection and richness, but it sounds very nice. It has all the bells and whistles of any professional oboe. Also, I don't have to worry about it cracking, like my old oboe did.
Now the d'Amore is a different animal, but not too different. My asthma is much better than it was a few years ago. Our little Cocker Spaniel, Sam, has been gone about 3 years, now. Our parakeets died a year or so ago. So, we are pet free. They were our daughter's pets, but all parents know how that goes. I made some other changes in bedding and stuff like that, and it has made a huge difference.
So, I thought maybe I could fill up a larger oboe made of Grenadilla. Man, I have to work hard to build up stamina - which is a good thing. It's coming along, but that part surprised me. I never had problems with the English Horn when I played it in college, but that was how long ago, now?
This is very good for me in so many ways.
Reeds
I may have to break down and start making my own. The reeds I purchased for the d'Amore are not very well made. I have to practically remake them anyway. We shall see.
Of course, for an oboe player, it's always the reed, the reed, the reed... :-) What a bunch of whiners we are!
Fingers
Stubborn little things. They have to learn new positions, but not new fingerings. Old dogs always have trouble learning new tricks, but my sisu will prevail.
Sisu is what makes Finns sit in a hot sauna and then go jump in a frozen lake. So, it makes us do crazy things.
"Sisu is a Finnish word generally meaning determination, bravery, and resilience."
- Wikkipedia
My goal with all of this? Okay, so now comes the really weird part. I want to play Gospel blues oboe. My muse is Mahalia Jackson.
Also, I have been playing my regular oboe in the worship team at our church. I love that, since I get to improvise my own parts. It's getting so I don't really need the lead sheet, so I am slowly weaning myself away from the printed page. Of course, the worship songs are straight, so it is easier for me to get into it.
The blues are a different genre, of course. We shall see. I'm trying to record something every day on Sound Cloud. That keeps me motivated. Also, I can check my progress.
Another thing I want to do is learn the d'Amore parts to Bach's works. A book is coming in the mail and is supposed to arrive on Christmas Eve.
Never too late to dream new dreams and try new things. You never know where they may lead.
What do I want to do with it? Well, try to tame it in the first place. There's the breathing issue and the reed issue and the fingers issue and all that.
Breathing:
I suffer from asthma, so a few years ago when I purchased a new oboe, I needed one that was free blowing and reeds that were kind of soft. Reed making was never my favorite thing to do, so I talked to a fellow oboe player who was also trying to return to the instrument. She was suffering from lyme disease. Because of her physical limitations, she had started to use ready made reeds and had purchased an oboe that was easier to play than her Loree from when she was actively playing.
I thought that was a great idea, given the amount of time as well as the amount of money I had to invest in reeds. Reedmaking takes about half of an oboe players time, and I wanted to just play and not whittle so much. I still have to adjust the reeds, but that's not so bad.
The Fox 300 I purchased is an asthmatic's dream oboe. Yes, you lose some projection and richness, but it sounds very nice. It has all the bells and whistles of any professional oboe. Also, I don't have to worry about it cracking, like my old oboe did.
Now the d'Amore is a different animal, but not too different. My asthma is much better than it was a few years ago. Our little Cocker Spaniel, Sam, has been gone about 3 years, now. Our parakeets died a year or so ago. So, we are pet free. They were our daughter's pets, but all parents know how that goes. I made some other changes in bedding and stuff like that, and it has made a huge difference.
So, I thought maybe I could fill up a larger oboe made of Grenadilla. Man, I have to work hard to build up stamina - which is a good thing. It's coming along, but that part surprised me. I never had problems with the English Horn when I played it in college, but that was how long ago, now?
This is very good for me in so many ways.
Reeds
I may have to break down and start making my own. The reeds I purchased for the d'Amore are not very well made. I have to practically remake them anyway. We shall see.
Of course, for an oboe player, it's always the reed, the reed, the reed... :-) What a bunch of whiners we are!
Fingers
Stubborn little things. They have to learn new positions, but not new fingerings. Old dogs always have trouble learning new tricks, but my sisu will prevail.
Sisu is what makes Finns sit in a hot sauna and then go jump in a frozen lake. So, it makes us do crazy things.
"Sisu is a Finnish word generally meaning determination, bravery, and resilience."
- Wikkipedia
My goal with all of this? Okay, so now comes the really weird part. I want to play Gospel blues oboe. My muse is Mahalia Jackson.
Also, I have been playing my regular oboe in the worship team at our church. I love that, since I get to improvise my own parts. It's getting so I don't really need the lead sheet, so I am slowly weaning myself away from the printed page. Of course, the worship songs are straight, so it is easier for me to get into it.
The blues are a different genre, of course. We shall see. I'm trying to record something every day on Sound Cloud. That keeps me motivated. Also, I can check my progress.
Another thing I want to do is learn the d'Amore parts to Bach's works. A book is coming in the mail and is supposed to arrive on Christmas Eve.
Never too late to dream new dreams and try new things. You never know where they may lead.
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