English Horn Tuning problem
Thursday August 23 2007
Today I completed the final 5 reeds for my large order from Jillian Camwell for her oboe class at Simpson College. I had the house to myself while my wife and mother went out blackberry picking to make jam with, and I used it to the fullest. I had a good long time with my English Horn, and found that it is very very sharp (due to the age, no doubt). In fact, when playtesting it, I didn’t realize just how sharp it was, but this is not too alarming, since there are many ways to work with this. My first step will be to try other shapes. While driving down to Mr. Weber, I’ll stop in at Forrests Music and pick up an RDG… 1 and RDG… -1 English Horn Tip, to see if the width will help bring the pitch down. If this fails, Mr. Hurd wrote me with an interesting solution:
Another approach is to simply install (affix) a disc made of Delrin into the bottom of the reed receiver, perhaps 2-4 mm in height. This would eliminate the need to use longer than usual bocals. Usually a disc will bring the horn to pitch without incurring any side effects. Tom Hiniker is a master of this procedure. Likely $60 at most—
Since I am already very curious of the man’s work (which has become legendary!) this is certainly a tempting option. I know he does amazing bore adjustments to some instruments, and would be curious if he thought he could do anything to my horn as well. He might even be able to pick out an even better bocal than the Hiniker bore size 13, length 2 bocal that I’m using currently! Lots to think about.
Awesome
Wednesday August 22 2007
is the word I would describe my Loree English Horn. It plays like a dream. Everything I hoped it would be and more.
I spent 5 hours at Kennelly Keys Music in Lynnwood, Washington with Mr. Paul Woltz as he took all of the keys off my English horn, checked the tone holes to make sure the surfaces were even, located the faulty pads/pads which were potentially troublesome, and replaced them. Total bill: $300 for a fantastic job. I’d recommend him to anyone in the Seattle area. He’s the nicest man you’ll ever meet, and did a Class A job. Apparently other people agree with me.
I can’t BELIEVE… Mr. Hurd sold me his horn for a grand total of $3,300. I’m the luckiest man alive.
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A trip to Mr. Hurd
Tuesday August 21 2007
Well, my wife and I drove the extra 90 miles north of Seattle to visit the home of Mr. Peter Hurd, where he took the time to lay out all of his English Horns that were NOT… in the shop. It was a great time! He had a couple of Malernes (a stencil instrument commonly finished by Laubin) along with a couple of Gordets (finished by Ben Storch) and a couple of Kreuls. Then he had a couple other names I didn’t know, his English Horn (a Loree Z series from around 1910(?)) and the Loree English Horn that I previously blogged about. Unfortunately, many of the horns were leaking and out of adjustment, but I did get a good sense of what I liked and what I didn’t like.
I didn’t like his Malernes. They felt stuffy, and not resonant in the way that I am looking for. Peter chalked it up to them being out of adjustment, but I could still tell enough about them that I didn’t like them. I DID… like his beautiful old Loree Horn, which had a LOT… of ring in the sound. It was great! I felt like I could play all day on it. I also enjoyed one of his Kreuls, which had a low Bb key on it! It was VERY… resonant, in adjustment, and had a very dark tone. It felt like when you played it the earth shook, and I felt like I could do a lot. The real question mark in the batch was the GG Loree English Horn that I previously blogged about. The thumb octave key pad was sticking, and when I first played it, I struggled to get much sound out of it. I quickly got frustrated with it and put it down, moving to others on the table that were more user friendly. After playing all of them though, I went back to the GG Loree and pressed real hard (to make the keys seal enough) and THERE… IT WAS…!!! The big, resonant, colorful Loree sound! I looked at Peter, and he just looked unphased. I said “Are you sure you want to sell this?” and he just nodded. So, guess what? I bought it!
He gave me a name of a man in Vancouver, Washington who does a flat rate overhaul of $600 which includes a full replacement of pads, springs, and adjustment, so I’m planning on taking the horn to him. the Loree itself was $3000, so a great English horn for $3600! What a steal! And a Hiniker Bocal! (We went through several, and picked out the one which worked best with it.)
The Kreul is still there, and is selling for $6700, which was just too much for my budget. It is a very nice horn, and will make someone very happy. It’s very very resonant, but after playing enough instruments, I clearly felt the “Loree flexibility” in the horn, a flexibility which allows a wider range of color changes and tonal flexibility. So, I’m very proud of the horn.
Meanwhile, he also showed me an oboe he bought with the English Horn as a set, which is something like an SS, also from 80 years ago. I played it and it was very VERY… resonant. It had a beautiful, sweet sound with a full midrange of overtones. It certainly also has a younger, livelier tone to it, for which Mr. Hurd suggested we name it “Vincent”. So we brokered a deal: $5000 for the both of them. The oboe needs some major repairs (3 cracks, 2 through the toneholes, for which Mr. Hurd has so generously offered to pay for) and a lot of pads replaced, but I’m sure this horn will be in fantastic condition by the time I get it fixed up. Who knows!? Maybe the blog name will change to Vincenttheoboe.wordpress.com!
I do anticipate I will have to spend about $1000 total to get them both fixed up but I am pleased with both purchases.
And yes, I strongly recommend anyone who is interested in various types of horns and oboes to take the extra drive to meet this man. He’s very enjoyable, and his wife is also quite a kind and hospitable woman.
2 CDs
Monday August 20 2007
I recently bought two CDs, both works by Barber.
The first one is conducted by Marin Alsop, one of my heroes, and a fantastic American Music interpreter. Back in the day, she used to be the conductor of the Eugene Symphony. Being the protege of the first oboist who happened to be the personnel manager, I got to hang around backstage during rehearsals a lot and attended many concerts. Later, I got to do an internship with him as we went to Santa Cruz to do the Cabrillo Music Festival, where he did production and Maestra Alsop conducted. I got to spend more time with her, and enjoyed seeing the “real” side of her. I admire her very much, and continue to follow her career.
The CD is very interesting and features several rare works, including Barber’s unfinished work, Canzonetta, and the Capricorn Concerto, named after his recluse retirement home where he drank his life away in depression and despair. I really enjoyed the pieces, and I appreciated the ways she as a conductor was able to interpret it. However, I did not enjoy the oboist’s playing, which felt very choppy to me. When I listen for legato, I listen for one who “plays in between the note”, and has flawless transitions from note to note without change in color, dynamic, tonal quality, etc. It is the same as if someone were singing, they don’t change their color, dynamic, and tone quality as they sing each note. It sounds even, flowing, and smooth. I clearly prefer Lucarelli’s recording of the Canzonetta, although the strings in Maestra Alsop’s CD is clearly more “shimmery”
The second CD I bought was an old recording of the Atlanta Symphony performing works by Barber. It was quite nice as well, and I particularly enjoyed Patrick McFarland’s English Horn playing. His solo in the School for Scandal Overture has beautiful phrasing, and very controlled nuances. It is certainly some of the nicer English Horn playing I’ve ever heard. (My favorite still being St. Louis Symphony, Ravel Piano Concerto in G with Alicia de Larrocha.)
