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Woodwind Society!

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Doublereedfreak

My saxophones hurt my lips so much. I recently started soprano and it kills me. I swear I'm going to go through my lip. It's not even that I'm biting, I just use a lot of pressure. It must be my oboist embouchure. :frown:

Yay another soprano player! I don't play oboe but I think you need to relax your embouchure quite a lot. Clarinet is my main instrument and my teacher always has me playing sax first in lessons because it needs a looser embouchure and playing clarinet just before messes it up.

I've been playing clarinet for six years and sop sax for about 2. I originally wanted to play flute but I couldn't blow it :frown:

so they gave me a clarinet instead. I took grade 5 on sax in December, and because I didn't want to do both at the same time, put grade 8 clarinet off until this term. I've got some competitions/music festival things this week... I should probably go practice instead of wasting time on here... There's some tomorrow.

Reply 101

Doublereedfreak

I like sop. It just kills me though :smile:

I'll just consciously try not to bite. Ooooh my tunings going to be awful though. :biggrin:

Reply 102

Meliae

Doublereedfreak

I like sop. It just kills me though :smile:

I'll just consciously try not to bite. Ooooh my tunings going to be awful though. :biggrin:

How are you with getting low Cs and Bs? I can just about do them on a good day but half the time they shoot up an octave. It doesn't help that my left hand little finger can barely reach the keys...

Reply 103

Doublereedfreak

I'm fine with low notes. But as I've only had it about a month or two, I'm struggling with getting above a d, d sharp on a good day.

Reply 104

Meliae

Interesting... I don't have any trouble getting the higher notes (except maybe doing the fingering quickly enough - it's really awkward). I guess I don't put enough air down for the lower ones. It's weird because on clarinet the low notes are the easiest, although the high notes are fine too.

I remember when I hadn't been playing long though, and I first had to play above the break, D-G (on the top few lines of the stave - not the ones miles above it) sounded really high to me (and my parents) and now it's just normal, not high at all.

Reply 105

sexysax

Low notes do need a lot of air, but technically you should be using the same amount of air throughout the instrument. Try playing a low B-flat and just taking your right hand fingers off - you should get the G/G# sounding with much more air flow.

Reply 106

Doublereedfreak

I want to play bari sax. It's so gooood. I'll settle for soprano though :smile:

I'm a bit fickle I think instrument-wise.

Reply 107

tinkerbellejess

I really want to play sax in our jazzband, but the leader won't let me! I stick out a bit like a sore thumb on flute though! (And there's 3 of us, more than enough!) And I'm not allowed to play brass either there :frown:

(which I do actually play already!)

Reply 108

sexysax

So far today, my practice has been reasonably ok. I hope tomorrow it's good for my lesson!!

Reply 109

tinkerbellejess

I did about half an hour, until my bf got really fed up of my high notes (and I subjected him to harmonics too) lol

Reply 110

Yuna47

Sounds like a good day all round! :biggrin:

I spent some more of my student loan on an old rosewood clarinet for restoration - should make for an interesting summer project, just need to wait for the Woodwind Repair Manual to be delivered before I splurge out on all the necessary bits and pieces! :smile:

(Also, it would be very much appreciated if someone would be kind enough to cut up my debit card :rolleyes:

)

Here's something else I'm curious about - has anyone here ever hit a rut (mine has lasted the last seven or so years...) where no matter how hard you try, your brain can no longer keep up with your fingers when playing something like the flute? :s-smilie:

I guess what I mean is that I have to think too hard about what I'm playing and there's like a delayed reaction or something, my brain doesn't move fast enough anymore. :redface:

Maybe all those years of playing computer games really did fry my brain! :eek:

Reply 111

sexysax

My lesson wasn't too bad :smile:

Reply 112

*Dreamer*

I play the clarinet, but I gave up the lessons and play it whenever I'm in the blues mood...

Does anyone know any musical books up 2 grade 8 clarinet that are good?

Thanks!!

Reply 113

Yuna47

I'm afraid I can't help you there (I pretty much play whatever Uematsu-san has composed that I can get my hands on!) but there are plenty of knowledgable peeps here that can! :smile:

Pads - any types that are better than the others for clarinet? Leather have any advantages? Gore-tex?

Springs - once again, many types - any expert opinions on the best type to go for? (Or should I chose the ones with pretty blue colours? :rolleyes:

) Or be lazy and buy a set for £6.93? :p:

so I'm wondering how in the name of Sephiroth I can disinfect the clarinet given that rosewood looooooves absorbing moisture. Ideas? Bore oil - use that as a cleaner? :s-smilie:

My choices are pretty limited, I guess! In the meantime I have officially declared it as a biohazard (level 3, going on 4 - it was like opening a mummy's tomb - if I drop dead in a few days, you'll know why! :biggrin:

)

I am really looking forward to this summer project though! :biggrin:

Reply 114

MetroGnome

Yuna47

Disinfection and sanitization - bit of a problem here. The rosewood clarinet came, it was once a beautiful instrument but has been neglected for a long time. It's minging. Beastie poo etc, etc so I'm wondering how in the name of Sephiroth I can disinfect the clarinet given that rosewood looooooves absorbing moisture. Ideas? Bore oil - use that as a cleaner? My choices are pretty limited, I guess! In the meantime I have officially declared it as a biohazard (level 3, going on 4 - it was like opening a mummy's tomb - if I drop dead in a few days, you'll know why! )

Maybe not for disinfecting etc, but my old teacher said that lighter fluid's good (with cotton buds) for cleaning the metal keys. Remeber to stay away from fire if you try that though :biggrin:

Reply 115

Yuna47

:lc: Wouldn't be the first time I've done something daft like that although the last time was in a lab... :biggrin:

That's a cool thing to know - thanks for the tip! :smile:

(Still a biohazard though - maybe I should fumigate it first? :rolleyes:

)

Reply 116

Kolya

Yuna47

Is the place as sweet as it looks?!

It is. I bought an SR-Tech mouthpiece there after trying nine mouthpieces out in one of the soundproof booths.

Reply 117

my:favorite:things...

I feel like joining in! i'm an oboist who would love to play cor as well but lacks money :smile:

Reply 118

Yuna47

my:favorite:things...

I feel like joining in! i'm an oboist who would love to play cor as well but lacks money :smile:

I know what you mean! lol! (Love the avatar by the way - Happy Tree Friends rocks :biggrin:

)

They say money is the root of all evil but I could do so much with it if I had some!

I'm curious about the oboe - is any of the fingering similar to another instrument? I notice there are different system thingies too - are some simplified, stripped-down versions (the student models etc) and if someone was looking to buy one on a limited budget (thank goodness the student loan ain't getting dished out again 'til the new academic year - stops me doing anything rash!) what kind of things would someone be looking for? Specific extra keys and things?

And let's say a plastic one because I'm so incredibly clumsy (see my previous posts :p:

and to prove that, the clarinet is on the blink again - I've knocked something out of line... again!)

^_^

Reply 119

my:favorite:things...

Yuna47

I know what you mean! lol! (Love the avatar by the way - Happy Tree Friends rocks :biggrin:

and to prove that, the clarinet is on the blink again - I've knocked something out of line... again!)

^_^

The fingering is not dissimilar to a flute. You would be wanting a thumbplate system as thats most commonly used in the UK. There are various classes (so to speak) of keysystem, mine is semi profesional i think which basically means it has some extra trill keys, i will find a link for the Howarths website (AKA Oboe mecca) as they have a second hand list of slightly cheaper oboes. Not that they decrease in value much, £800 would get you a decent student oboe i think so its quite an investment.

and please please don't buy a plastic oboe!! EVER!!

Will be back with the link and more info if you want it.