The Revelations come in waves…

Tuesday April 29 2008

So today I received the Tabuteau book I previously blogged about, and much to my surprise, there’s a great CD in it! This CD alone is probably worth the $25 dollars I paid for the book ($5 off for the preorder) and it’s a better sound quality than the Tabuteau Lessons CD. There’s a lot more of him playing excerpts, talking about ideas, and demonstrating them, and everything for me is coming into focus. Along with my recent C series oboe experience, I’m starting to be able to see how his whole setup was: his ability to control the wind and color.

I read the beginning of the book at instantly became very interested. I couldn’t put it down. David McGill’s Sound in Motion is going to have to wait.)

A quote from the CD right off hand:

“It does not mean a crescendo. On the contrary, when I go up, I think of smoke which is lighter than and goes up. Most of people, they go up, they play louder. Look! A crescendo going up, a diminuendo going down. I do exactly the contrary. To me a diminuendo is a sign of ascending.”

Hm— one could ponder that for hours.

Seriously, I think this could be the most important book for all oboists ever published.

In Seattle…

Friday April 25 2008

I’m in Seattle today. I spent a good amount of time with Adam Shapiro, who I met on my previous trip up here. This time we got down to some real business, starting off with trying his oboes again, and finely tuning 4 RDG… 2 reeds exactly to his taste. He was very please with them, and he ended up with a total of 5 really good reeds that he liked. 

Meanwhile, he’s been incredibly generous by lending me his Stanesby-Kube Baroque oboe, and taught me some fingerings. I left his house with three baroque oboe reeds.

Besides reeds, we played with his profilers, my gouging machines, and played duets. it was great with both of us playing on Howarth XLs, and we blended quite nicely. We both have very similar playing styles, and in many ways it felt like playing with your teacher: same ideas and concepts and tone. Except he kicked my butt on the technical passages. Hard. 

Anyways, it was a good time, and I’m very grateful for his hospitality and time. I was also hoping to go up to Peter’s in Bellingham, but I’m not feeling well today so I think I should take it easy. I have to drive back tomorrow.

Read the Rest

Finally!

Wednesday April 23 2008

From my email box yesterday:

Greetings from Amazon.com.

We thought you’d like to know that we shipped your items, and that this
completes your order.

The following items have been shipped to you by Amazon.com: – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –×Qty      Item                          Price  Shipped  Subtotal – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –×Amazon.com items (Sold by Amazon.com, LLC…):
2    Marcel Tabuteau: How Do Yo—  $29.95      2  $59.90

Shipped via UPS… (estimated arrival date: 29-April-2008).

Onl9y 4 months later than the original printed date—

The Rudest Service I’ve Ever Had…

Monday April 21 2008

—was definitely from Frederich Weiner.

I ordered 1 pound of Glotin oboe cane for $200/lb. It was shipped and I received it.

First I weighed it to make sure it was 1 pound, which it was.

Then I cut open the Fedex envelope that it came in and inspected the tubes. Unfortunately, they had worm track marks, which you could actually see from the outside. So I called them—

They said they came prepackaged, and they don’t get shoved into a FedEx envelope, so they didn’t want to accept the return. I insisted that this was they way it came, so after about 15 minutes of discussing it, and checking with the manager, they agreed to accept it back—

So I shipped it back—

And two weeks later my credit card wasn’t refunded—

So I wrote them to ask if they had received it—

And they said they had, but it hadn’t been “opened yet”.

And two days later they send me an email saying:

We came across 14 pieces that have inside the cane a white fuzzy thing. When the cane comes to us the cane is in a big box in some sort of packing. It is possible the packing gets caught in the tubes ad just stays there. We will give you a refund.

So I called them to speak with the manager and explain to her the problem with the cane and why she shouldn’t send it out to anyone else.

And the manager (named Sharon) said she didn’t see what I was talking about. I explained the worm track marks which were in over 50% of the tubes. She ARGUED… with me, and was insistent that “We don’t see what you see.” which was ridiculous because she obviously doesn’t know oboe cane or doesn’t work with it if she couldn’t spot it. Finally she said they would refund my money, and HUNG… UP ON ME. This is the CUSTOMER… SERVICE… MANAGER… who is hanging up on the customers.

So unfortunately from the whole experience, I am out $20 for shipping, and a bunch of shipping time. I ended up just ordering Grimaud from Mr. Weber.

I will NEVER… order again from Frederich Weiner again. And oddly enough, they are no longer selling the cane. Hm— I wonder why. Could it be because— IT’S INFESTED…!?!?!?!?

Rude rude rude.

The Rudest Service I’ve Ever Had…

Monday April 21 2008

—was definitely from Frederich Weiner.

I ordered 1 pound of Glotin oboe cane for $200/lb. It was shipped and I received it.

First I weighed it to make sure it was 1 pound, which it was.

Then I cut open the Fedex envelope that it came in and inspected the tubes. Unfortunately, they had worm track marks, which you could actually see from the outside. So I called them—

They said they came prepackaged, and they don’t get shoved into a FedEx envelope, so they didn’t want to accept the return. I insisted that this was they way it came, so after about 15 minutes of discussing it, and checking with the manager, they agreed to accept it back—

So I shipped it back—

And two weeks later my credit card wasn’t refunded—

So I wrote them to ask if they had received it—

And they said they had, but it hadn’t been “opened yet”.

And two days later they send me an email saying:

We came across 14 pieces that have inside the cane a white fuzzy thing. When the cane comes to us the cane is in a big box in some sort of packing. It is possible the packing gets caught in the tubes ad just stays there. We will give you a refund.

So I called them to speak with the manager and explain to her the problem with the cane and why she shouldn’t send it out to anyone else.

And the manager (named Sharon) said she didn’t see what I was talking about. I explained the worm track marks which were in over 50% of the tubes. She ARGUED… with me, and was insistent that “We don’t see what you see.” which was ridiculous because she obviously doesn’t know oboe cane or doesn’t work with it if she couldn’t spot it. Finally she said they would refund my money, and HUNG… UP ON ME. This is the CUSTOMER… SERVICE… MANAGER… who is hanging up on the customers.

So unfortunately from the whole experience, I am out $20 for shipping, and a bunch of shipping time. I ended up just ordering Grimaud from Mr. Weber.

I will NEVER… order again from Frederich Weiner again. And oddly enough, they are no longer selling the cane. Hm— I wonder why. Could it be because— IT’S INFESTED…!?!?!?!?

Rude rude rude.