Preparations, reeds and Sandra…
Friday January 18 2008
Well, it’s T minus 2 days, and crisis struck 48 hours ago when I came down with fever and “digestive problems”. It wasn’t pretty, and kept me out of school for the past three days. I haven’t played much in the meantime, and I missed my dress rehearsal this morning, where I was going to test out 5 reeds with two oboes for my professor to hear and help me pick one.
Yes, you read that correctly. I’m using TWO… oboes, which I’m even considering relinquishing Barbara! When I told my wife this, she cried and told me I couldn’t name another oboe because it gives it too much personality, and she felt like she was giving up a family member. My wife is a very soft-hearted person (which is why she so perfectly contrasts my often harsh drastic personality) and is just full of love and care. But anyways, the other oboe I’ve been pondering is a 10 year old MP Loree, a DM bore no less! I think it’s a remarkable instrument, and I’ll be the first to admit that Sandra (upon telling me I couldn’t name another oboe, Namju named her) plays better than Barbara. She has more resonance, is smoother in notes and creamier in tone, and holds the high notes up better. As I told Peter Hurd, the owner of the instrument, it’s like with Barbara, I’m directing the car by pushing it around from the outside, from left to right, backwards and forwards. However, with Sandra, it’s like I’m driving the car, easily taking it anywhere I want.
The problem if I buy Sandra is that I’m not sure how it will effect my reedmaking for myself as well as my business. Making reeds for Sandra is VERY… difficult, and only my very finest reeds work well. The ones that are just “acceptable” for Barbara don’t sound nice at all in Sandra.
So tomorrow from 3:30-4:30 I have the concert hall and I’ll go there by myself, and maybe recruit a couple fellow oboe students to go tell me what they hear from out in the audience. I’ll probably play Sandra for the recital as I did for my last run-through in studio class on Tuesday, unless there’s a big difference in sound.
If anyone’s looking for a new “pre-owned” instrument, I’d strongly recommend giving “Sandra” a try. I believe Mr. Hurd is asking $5,500 for it. It’s in tip-top shape.
Jan 19, 2008
Ah, but can Sandra reproduce the ‘JdL buzz’???
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