Why would anybody want to play the oboe?
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2011
- A video of interest to any oboe player. Made it to 200,000 views. I was surprised that this video wasn't loaded when I searched. From a 1997 broadcast. Thanks for watching. Tell us that you play the oboe too. Or leave a comment or question. Where do you get good cane lately?
- Hudba
When playing the oboe, there are times when you ask yourself, "Why did I ever pick this stupid thing?" because it seems that no matter how hard you try, your intonation is terrible. But then you find the right spot, your tone is rich and full, and you let your fingers fly in an incredible dance. All of your efforts come together, so you listen to yourself and can't help but to smile. That's when you say, "That's why I picked the oboe."
Thank you for this video.
Playing the oboe is putting your soul on a column of air and letting it sing...
After squeezing it at high velocities through a tiny hole with a back-pressure that makes your face feel like it will explode. The oboe is beautiful while playing. The oboist ? Never while playing.
Good comment. I learned from my teachers thought that instead of pinching, regard the embouchure as a kind of gasket seal around the reed. Also, as Marcel Tabuteau said and other oboists have said, breath completely out, then make the tone. It is surprising how much air is still in the lungs after you breath out. This really reduces the back pressure you are talking about. If you haven't obtained it, Tabuteau has a great CD he made near the end of his life where he discusses this and other subjects.
7:15 - "You get that little buzz in your mouth, and you hear that sweet, piercing sound. And you decide nothing else will ever be good enough for you. It's a strange thing, the oboe."
Brother, you pretty much summed it up right there.
"...and you decide nothing else will ever be good enough for you." -this is so true. I don't know if every Oboist gets this, but I know I certainly do. It has the most beautiful sound I have ever heard, and I feel so proud just to know that I play one of the most beautiful musical instruments that exist. :')
probably should have been practicing during this video
Oh, that's marveous! Lol.
I should have been making reeds :)
I am that kid who walked up to his band director and asked to try out the oboe.
same!
Same. I had no idea what I was getting into... That was five years ago and I'm still with it into high school! oh the pain we just keep wanting more lol
same
same, but im waiting to play it
Same, but my band directors refuse to teach me.
I started playing the Oboe when I was 11, I'm fourteen now, from the video I've seen I have still got a long way to go! Hahaha high 5 to other Oboe players
*high fives* HAIL OBOES
Are you still playing
Nieve Stenton That’s wonderful and get a professional teacher to keep you on the right track, as you’re already advanced and now you are other instrumentalists inspiration.
How is it now?
High five!
Proud to Be a Oboist!
YES.ME TOO
*BE AN OBOIST
Same!! #OboePlayers
Sane
Preach!
I play the oboe. I started with the Alto Saxophone and I didn't like it and I was about to quit the band but then I discovered the oboe and after 2 years of playing I got into an Arts school. I love it so much.
Katherine Cabrera I play clarinet but I'm now interested in learning oboe as a doubling instrument. I'm a freshman music education major at University of Massachusetts Lowell and the woodwinds are the main thing that drew my attention in an orchestra. I've been wanting to double on oboe since my senior year of high school but had no guts to tell my band director I wanted to learn oboe because he would have flipped his shit and laughed! It looks very common to make your own reeds for oboe but is it possible just to buy some? I think it would be easier that way instead of putting all my time and energy into hand making them and failing. Reed making looks like it's very time consuming but the oboe is the 2nd most beautiful woodwind instrument I hear.
musiciangal02453 I also play clarinet and want to play oboe!
beautiful sound..difficult instrument....
Try French Horn if you want difficult! It's like trying to crochet whilst being attacked by a bear, while you mother is watching.
Pick it up like a flute and just blow?!!! I spent freaking hours perfecting my tone!!!
I had the same reaction :) Flute is on the other end of the resistance spectrum to the oboe.....it only ever truly occurs to me how much effort it takes to blow the flute when I watch my beginner students.
Yeah, the technical demands of the flute are very high.You are expected to tongue at ridiculous speeds, play impossibly long phrases, stay in tune, play the piccolo (much harder than it looks but worth it), deal with the flute's dynamic capabilities and still sound beautiful.
Yeah, I agree with what you guys are saying. I'm a clarinetist, and I do realise that it isn't as simple as the lady in the video makes it sound. I think the point she was trying to make was that for you, the embouchure hole cut into your head joint is made at the factory and is going to give you a good sound. True, there are poorly cut head joints, but the standard is pretty damn high. It doesn't change every day with the weather and you don't have to cut a new one yourself every other day and hope it works. Your embouchure hole is much more reliable than a reed and in that sense when you blow into your embouchure hole the only thing you have to worry about is problems on your end as a musician. We reed players have to fret about our reeds. We have to do all the same things you do, but we have to worry about the reed, which you don't. You will notice, though, that I'm not saying the flute is easier. The flute uses a lot more air than other wood winds and is a lot more resistant. It doesn't have a reed, but it has its own challenges.
Duncanmn I agree, but the way she said it was a bit...
Totally. I know. I was just saying what I thought she meant by it. It wasn't supposed to be a slight. Even though it came out that way. lol I feel your pain, too. People tell me my instrument is easy all the time...
I just started playing oboe recently, and I've already found a love for it. playing has helped me through a lot of things
The oboe? The Devil's reed? The ill wind that nobody blows good; suffocation on a stick?
Why wouldn't anyone want to play an instrument that demands total dedication in the construction of a vital component guaranteed to fail almost as soon as you finish shaping it, if it's even usable once it's first finished?
An instrument where an inadequate student's instrument costs more than some lower level professional grade clarinets and a few used cars?
Because I love the sound of an oboe, and if I could afford one I'd buy one. Nothing else sounds even close to an oboe.
Exactly! I myself have the honor if having an onoe
Oboe*
Spangle TheStallion
I admit to being jealous.
"Suffocation on a stick"
most accurate thing I've ever heard.
Sofia Nishimura
But it still sounds wonderful. I admire anyone who can do that.
I'm a retired oboe player. I played two Laubins in my career, by the way, and I've been to Mr. Laubin's shop. Fascinating to watch the amazing craftsmen at work. (I still have nightmares about reeds and I imagine I will to my dying day!) :-)
us oboe players are a rare sort, ask any of us and we'll tell ya there's no going back once you've started and though there may be horror story's of cracked skulls from the intense pressure if ur too young it is an art form that is revered by many and therefore I tell you all ' I am proud to be an oboe
I love the oboe, just like they preach!
It's just as difficult as they say, people.
It's a physical challenge as well as a balancing act.
Sara Packard it's kinda easy.....
Ethical I know it gets harder but it's kinda easy, the main concept of playing it.
I'm in grade 9 and just started playing oboe. I have never played any other wind instruments before but I thought I'd give band music a shot. My teacher was showing my class all the different instruments we could choose from and she played the oboe.. I fell in love!! I didn't realize just how hard it is! I almost quit after a couple months but I'm glad I didn't :) It's a great feeling when you play that solo perfectly!! :)
I am a soloist for the oboe in my school and I find the oboe something out of this world! Nobody in my family plays the oboe but when this girl that came to my school to show us the sound I different instruments, I fell in love! It was love at first sight!
my highschool band hasn't had an oboe player in a while and last Friday my friend and I asked our director if we could learn it. she wasn't very confident but I'm excited!
How did it go?
I was supposed to play the clarinet like my cousin....but my dam self changed my mind at the last second from clarinet to oboe. My god I spent my first year trying to make a sound
. But now I got it!!!!
Both my parents played the Oboe. Professionally. They were good! And I’ll never forget the sound as I went to sleep every night listening to them. I miss it very much.
I don't play the oboe, but my daughter does. She decided when she was 7 that it is the instrument for her. Now she's 12. She's been playing oboe for 9 months after a semester proving her musical ability on the flute. In addition to playing at school, I have her taking private lessons. She has already volunteered to go to the intermediate school next spring to demonstrate the oboe to students interested in joining the band next year. Recently she announced that she would like to be a band direct
I've been playing flute for 11 years and picked up the oboe at the beginning of 2022 because there was no oboist in my church's orchestra. Around 9 or 10 months later, here I am, in a love-hate relationship with the oboe. I can't play for too long and I'm always uncertain of my reeds' moods for that practice session; but the sense of accomplishment that I feel when the note blends beautifully with the orchestra really keeps me going. Ah, what an instrument!
the oboe is the absolute love of my life.
you still play the oboe?
When I first joined band, I ended up vetoing every instrument (although I almost chose clarinet, but decided against it, I can’t remember why.) My mother told me, “hey, this instrument is weird, and you are too!” So, I was interested, and so we rented an oboe from a music store! I was pretty bad for the first 4 years of playing it, but last year and this year I’ve started taking lessons and improved drastically. In fact, I almost made district this year (my first ever actual audition), and I got a score of 78! I got my first ever wooden oboe last year (a YOB-441) and have been hoping to start making my own reeds soon too. I’m going to keep practicing as much as I can with my busy school schedule, and I hope to get really good at my instrument.
My high school band have never had an oboist and now there proud to have me in there !!
This is an awesome video! I, too, am still in love with this instrument after a quarter century of playing it and for all the reasons described. There's nothing in the world like it!
Fascinating documentary. I'm teaching myself the oboe. It's a real challenge after playing the flute for 25 years! I love it!
Thanks for posting this video, I play the oboe for fun these days but I am very grateful I put the time in when I was young to be able to get all the solos in community bands :) That is definitely what makes it worth it.
I saw this video about a year ago at a masterclass with Mr. Robinson. Thank you very much for uploading this video.
One day I said to my band teacher, "hey, can I play the oboe?" and he said sure. I had NO idea what I had signed up for.
I'm a music teacher in Chattanooga Tennessee and was delighted to see a classmate, Sherry Syler, discussing the love of playing oboe. I was a violinist as well as a singer, and we played as an orchestra frequently. I didn't follow her career until I saw a website for the New York Phil. last year, and she was pictured in the oboe section. Brava! Sherry!
My english horn player told me about this video this morning in rehearsal, glad it's available for everyone. Joe! Greetings from your old friends in Mexico! The Xalapa oboe section.
This video made me so happy! I play oboe, and have spend years of people thinking that I play the clarinet. I enjoyed hearing how great musicians love oboes. I will definitely show this to my former band teacher, who also plays oboe.
I started playing the oboe when i was 10, I'm 19 now and I've played in several amateur orchestras, ranging from band to symphonic to a musical-specific orchestra.
There have been times when i would cry in frustration listening back to my performances, not liking the way i sounded. Times when i was embarrassingly redfaced and out of breath, like after playing the swan lake solo for the first time. times when i would break down after having to do an audition for an orchestra or doing a musical exam.
But in the end i love the sound of the oboe, there are bad days but they are so worth it for the fun experiences I've had in the orchestras I've played it, and knowing you are able to play an instrument that only very few people do (relatively).
I've had a few periods of very few practice, close to zero, and i would be afraid that i would forget everything I've learned. But when i pick up the instrument again and start practicing more intensively I'm realizing how much more i can do now, I'm able to do vibrato, I'm able to reach the high F above the bar. I'm able to play in tune in the third octave, I've finally unlearned my bad habit of sliding to the right E-flat key from the C-sharp key.
The oboe has become a real friend for me, and I know that I'll keep on playing it for a long time.
Because it has a sound like no other instrument and touches the heart in ways that no other instrument does.
My wife says it's so true - the same reed can be different on different days and even start off great and then suddenly die and misbehave.She says she always has 3 ready as spares and regularly quietly beeps them to see how they are behaving, so a new one can be popped in as needed.
I was once a bassoon player, and I can relate to this. But I can say that the bassoon's larger reed allowed a bit more leeway than that skinny little thing that my oboist friends had to blow through.
Because of this:
Henrik Chaim Goldschmidt plays "Gabriel's Oboe"
(look for it on youtube)
I play the oboe and bassoon and piano and its awesome
Hi, i have 3 years studying oboe, i love this marvelous instrument, it´s a really hard instrument, a lot of practice, a lot of concentration but i enjoy every time playing it, even when i should practice scales, arpeggios or bloody studies. im learning the art of the reed making, and i say wow! it is a entire new world of learnning, thanks for posting the video, it almost make me cry at the last part. almost i forget it! im a mexican oboe student =D
I've been playing the oboe for 3 years and I love it ! But I wouldn't be this good without my I or mentor ! Your the best thanks for everything :)
The oboe is a screaming death stick
the oboe is a very BOOTIFUL instrument, and it may sound like a duck in labor at first but once you learn a few notes the sound will be bootiful as well
Haha I’m the only oboe in my band class.There’s only 2 other oboe players in my school.
Annabelle Farley but it will be beautiful if it’s played correctly,
I played oboe for 16 years in a various army bands. I switched from sax and took lesson with a wonderful college professor who made me fall in love with the instrument. I guess since I didn't know what I was getting myself into I stuck with. My first horn was a Lesher my second horn was a Loree, my last oboe was a Laubin which I LOVED DEARLY!
I was 19 and auditioned for the USAF Academy Band and passed the audition. In 1975 we flew to Washington DC and played on the US Capitol steps 2 days in a row. The same place where the insurrection on January 6, 2021 took place.
Both are beautiful in their own way. There is some lovely music for the clarinet.
I'm from Uruguay and I play the oboe too, I think that it's an amazing instrument and I love play it! excellent video!
I get good cane from Hodge Products. I'm a real fan of her Alliaud cane. I play on a Laubin from the 1960's. And I love playing oboe!
+Christina Brown You are the first to reply to my question about finding good cane. I also use Alliaud cane, from ebay seller goreedfactory. Try the medium-soft.
I played the oboe a lot from 11 to 18 and now after a very busy career when I didn't play at all, I am picking it up again in my 50s. And yes - I remember why I fell in love with it in the first place, but it's still a fickle thing to play!
Even though I play the Violin and Piano, I always loved the Oboe and Harp, I'm grateful there are Oboe players.
loved this video..so true about the oboe. does anyone know of anymore videos like this? Wonderful video...
I was a clarinet player in the Australian Army (Sydney 1972) and the section was so sloppy what when a vacancy came up for Oboe, I applied for it. I loved the sound and studied under the best teacher (Pauline Strait, Sydney Con). Then I learned how exposed an Oboe can be. It taught me the fears of being a soloist with an instrument that requires constant attention. I learnt more about being a MUSICIAN on Oboe than any other instrument.
I LOVE playing the oboe. The sound is so beautiful.❤
The oboe is an amazing instrument! I love playing it.
👍I'm going to play the oboe and I just joined band in my middle school and it seems cool and fun I'm excited👍
Well I hope you're going on into year two!
Joseph Robinson, the oboist in this video who played with the NY Philharmonic, is from my home town of Lenoir, NC. We are very proud of him and the scores of other musicians who came from the small town who went on to play in the major orchestras of America. Lenoir, NC - a musical jewel.
One of my best friends has been a professional oboist all her life...She is very fine.. When we were roommates at Eastman, I always wondered how she could stand the sound...and blow through that little reed. I have since learned to love the sound.....and understand her attachment to the instrument. Myself, I am attached to the piano in the same fashion...so there isn't a lot of difference there!!!
Amen, I never regretted playing the oboe, and I, too, am addicted to it's beautiful magnanimous sound...
I love how this line of dialogue fits perfectly with the background music. "We don't know where oboists come from, but THANK GOD THEY'RE HERE," right as the oboe solo reaches the end. It actually leaves me a bit teary eyed!
I love playing oboe. It creates a beautiful sound
I love the oboe. It's one of my favorite instruments to play!
The voice of an oboe speaks to me above all the other sounds of the orchestra. And the voice of an English horn, also.
when i started playing the oboe i was like 6 years old and i couldn't just handle cuz it was so heave for my age . My teacher helpd get through this nad now after 7 years i am one of the 3 best oboes in me philharmonic !! OBOE IS MY LOVE
I randomly picked an instrument and liked the name oboe and little did I know what I was gonna get myself into.
I play the oboe and I love the beautiful sound it makes. I'm happy my teacher handed it to me.
One of the hardest but yet sweetest sounding instruments
chriss1152 ONE OF the sweetest sounding IF you actually play it right. Flutes can be sweet too! And so can clarinets.
I'm an oboe player and i can't answer the question of the video because you only now you want to play oboe when you play it because it's an amazing feeling to make that beatiful sound that comes out of it and when you make it you will be adicted to it
Agreed. I absolutely love the sound of the oboe.
When I asked my band teacher if I could play the oboe, he barely said yes. I understand now, after two years of playing, how difficult the oboe can be. I'm glad I picked it though. Over all, it is a lovely instrument.
I found this fascinating and illuminating. It is as was said, the quest for a beautiful sound and voice. I am having the career I never had, in my 70's. It should keep the brain alive. I am fascinated by oboe, oboe d'amore and English horn, what we in UK call a Cor Anglais, Rigoutat made wonderful instruments for me.
I'm in 7th Grade, and I have two years of Oboe under my belt. Whenever I get the chance to play, it feels wonderful. I play with flutes, and when they play a note on a high register, I lose my ears! I also played the Clarinet in 5th Grade, and that was an amazing experience.
All and all, I think everyone should take a moment to thank Oboists, and what they do for our orchestras.
Thank you for this, I finally feel honored about being an oboe, everyone makes fun of me for my different sound, and it's hard to stay commuted, but these compliments always make me feel better
Cosmonaut989 Nothing wrong with selecting a more challengeing instrument. In 7th grade I started out on the trumpet. But I was better than the rest of the other trumpet
players. So at my band directors request, I switched to French Horn, where I worked up to 1st chair and even made all city and all district bands
Chose to play almost 7 years ago in elementary school. I insisted I played oboe even though I am from a line of flute players. I refused to play anything else and I am still happy with that decision. In my opinion, oboe, English horn, and bassoon have the best sound of any other instrument there is.
Really cool
I play the oboe, I got to go in trying the different instruments for band in grade school and I found it the easiest to make sound with. I couldn't blow into the flute or make tone out of the clarinet. I almost picked the sax, I could make notes with it and the keys were easier to reach. My mom said she loved the sound of the oboe, so I picked the oboe. I love my oboe. I've had it since 1989.
I play the Oboe! 20 years and still going!
I'm 15. I started oboe when I was in 6th grade. I was not born saying I wanted to play oboe, but I heard it on a video and from then on I had decided to play. I would never change now that I've started because it is just so beautiful!
Try to keep your hand in it, no matter what, David. You have worked so hard.
I am In 5th grade,(just started it) and band is coming up. I picked the oboe. I love it without quite playing it yet. (Well I tried it out like a test blow and got a long sound. Because I blew a long time.) I am so exited!!😃 My parents are picking out the rental stuff Thursday!!😄😄😄😄😄💗💗
The oboe reed is like a newborn baby, its so sensitive and easily damageable. Cold temperature can change the sound, when you are in a airplane, the reed sound will change once you land! That's what makes the oboe so special!
When I joined band oboe was the only instrument I could make a sound out of, it was the only instrument I wanted to make a sound out of, but I didn't know anybody who played it.
Clarinet was my first instrument, but I changed to oboe in seventh grade because I liked the sound of it. I'm in tenth grade now and it's an outlet for my negative emotions. Honestly, my oboe is my best friend and I can't imagine what my life would be like without it.
Because the sound is amazing
I love playing the oboe, have been for 3 years. Sadly though, my time allowed with my beloved instrument is limited. I'm only in middle school, so once I leave and go to high school the only option they got is Marching Band. Nothing against it, but really, I feel like I can only play the oboe. And as we all know, it's reed suicide to go marching with an oboe :'3 Hopefully when I grow older I might be able to take up oboe again and feel the warm literal vibrations in my heart
you could join an orchestra out of school like me :)
Wow, no concert band or wind ensemble?! What a shame!!! How can a high school band director completely forget about the beauty of a concert ensemble?!
That soooo sad you should make a wood wind ensemble with your friends. I'm in a rock band on guitar it's really fun! (Of course Oboe is my favorite and I would give up all of my instruments for it) Star with a school event maybe a talent show post it on CZcams and see if someone will offer you a gig. That what I did.
damn this was 6 years ago, wonder how your life’s been like now
i started at 12 now im 23 and im playing in orchestra and 5 days ago i bought an english horn . it really sound beatiful .
Yes I've been playing the oboe since 1965, and I have made many reeds, and still do, and they keep getting better. It's and art in itself, and worth if for all the beautiful music that's written for it. My father a Yale Music School pianist who graduated in three years said when I was 10, and I didn't want to play any other instruments they had, he said, why don't you play the oboe, you'll get all the solos .... I said ok and he bought me reeds and then I learned to make my own shortly after
"You might look at oboe playing as a kind of musical bungee-jumping."
Exactly that. The oboe sounds wonderful, but it's hell to learn.
I play the oboe because it produces an amazing sound (if played well). Also, it's not mainstream like flute or violin.
Why would anybody want to play the oboe?
Single most beautiful orchestral instrument invented. The others are fantastic as well, but double-reed instruments are astoundingly beautiful - the Oboe being absolutely magnificent, but the bassoon and cor anglais also astoundingly beautiful.
I started in 5th grade and am currently in 7th. I hope if i keep practicing I maybe will sound like those musicians one day.
1st played the violin from 3rd to 5th grade. when i got middle school, i transitioned to wind ensemble/band. so when my band director had me trying out instruments, i tried the flute, could barely make a sound lol tried the trumpet, it was alright, tried percussion, blah.... then he gave me the oboe, i was like whoa....thts different. he said ill probably be the only one...so i gave it a shot. played it from 6th to 12th grade. it came naturally. i really enjoyed it. im 28 now, and i miss it.
The oboe is the most beautiful, haunting instrument. I love oboe music.
I started off playing clarinet, but switched to oboe. It takes a bit of getting used to, but the fingerings are similar.
The oboe is my third favourite instrument after the violin and piano. It's just so mysterious, especially when playing Celtic music
This short video was shown as an intermission filler during a 1997 NY Live from Lincoln Center. The host is Hugh Downs, he hosted the concert broadcasts during those years.
In first grade, the symphony came to my school, and there was an oboe soloist. After that day, I started learning everything I could about music. Infer
Oboe is life. I've been playing for 7 years now. I started out thinking I was playing the clarinet... and then I realized that I definitely had the wrong instrument, but I was too embarrassed to tell the band director I messed up... and then I was glad I never spoke up because oboe rocks. I'm a little embarrassed about this fact, but I don't know how to make my own reeds. 7 years and still don't know! I have the basic materials (knife, bore, a few pieces of cane, the little chopping block, etc) but never really learned. I've done it a few times under guidance, but not enough to be able to do it on my own with success.
I have been playing the flute for almost six years now and have been trying to learn how to play the oboe for six months. My flute playing most definately sounds a lot better than my oboe playing, but I can't help but love the oboe more.
I am pretty much beginner on soprano sax. But the truth is I play that because its as close as I can get to the sound of an oboe, that heavenly beautiful instrument.
Oboe is pretty hard but it does sound beautiful when you keep practicing.
gave up my dream 50 years ago and regret it so...I loved it so much; yet lived in fear of my reed drying up, cracking or just getting funky...yes, it was too risky for me..gave me anxiety!
Bellamente complejo y demandante, todo un reto para mí, espero dar la talla para algún día ejecutar las más bellas melodías con él.