Bassoon and Oboe

[dss62467]

I'm watching Enrico Pace on my iPod right now and they keep showing the woodwinds on the orchestra.  I'm just wondering how people get interested in those 2 instruments.   you never hear of famous bassoon players, right?   Think they're all sort of just the clarinet and you can jump from any of them as the orchestra needs you?  It doesn't seem like a very sexy choice.  I played the clarinet a bit in middle school.  Couldn't stand the spit falling out the bottom onto my shoes.

[oxy60]

That is one of the dangers of a hot humid breath playing a cold wind instrument!

[pianowolfi]

A clarinet has nothing to do with an oboe or bassoon. The latter are double reed instruments, the former is a single reed instrument. So players can't just change between both species. And they are both irreplaceable in the orchestra. I.E. sexy anyway.

[retrouvailles]

Part of the reason why you never hear about famous oboe or bassoon players is that there just isn't as much written for those two instruments compared to other orchestral instruments, such as the clarinet or violin. There also aren't many showcase pieces written for them (although a lot of composers as of late are fixing that). Another problem is that these two instruments are probably the hardest to play well out of all of the orchestral instruments (you could possibly include the horn also). Finding a true virtuoso specialist in either of these two instruments that could be compared to a violin or piano virtuoso is a lot harder because of that. However, they do exist!

[dss62467]

i was watching some YouTube video yesterday that showed the woodwinds really having some fun with the piece they were playing.   The players I had been watching the other day looked like they were ready to fall asleep.   

I would agree that any instrument is irreplaceable in the orchestra (even the triangle has its importance).  I guess I'd just really like to hear someone who rocks the oboe.   I used to hate the bagpipes and accordian until I heard someone who could really let loose. 

[oxy60]

Yusef Lateef plays both oboe and bassoon. I also saw him play the Dulciana at a session in '05. It is not the kind of music we discuss on this board but he is a giant in the jazz world..

[retrouvailles]

Yusef Lateef plays both oboe and bassoon. I also saw him play the Dulciana at a session in '05. It is not the kind of music we discuss on this board but he is a giant in the jazz world..

I cannot imagine an oboist/bassoonist being a giant in the jazz world. I am not that big of a jazz fan, but I have never heard of him before. Perhaps he is a giant in your part of the world, but not here so much.

I would agree that any instrument is irreplaceable in the orchestra (even the triangle has its importance).

Well, there is no "triangle player", but rather a percussionist that plays everything in that section (or multiple percussionists). Actually, percussionists have very virtuosic parts in some pieces (either as a timpanist or otherwise), so percussionists have come into their own as of late in the orchestral world, and there are quite a few percussionists who are virtuosos.

[Bob]

You knew there had to be some.  Haha.


Jazz oboe

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Oboe *and* bassoon! 

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Jazz basoon

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It seems harder to find jazz basoon stuff. 



This bassoonist has achieve a new level of hipness. 

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Cameras are so small now.  I hadn't thought about a recording like this before.  You can definitely hear that guy's part.

[dss62467]

How cool is that?!?  Thanks Bob.... I'll give these a good viewing when I get home from work.  YouTube is blocked here at work.  Can't imagine why.   Ha!

Then I'll come back on here and cry everyone's pardon for being an ignorant girl with not enough orchestral music on her iPod to say anything about whether or not oboes and bassoons are sexy instruments.   I am building it up, though.   What can I say?  I'm a rocker at heart.

[Bob]

Those are some I found with a quick search.  I didn't look too hard for those.

The oboe and somewhat with the bassoon, they sounded a bit Middle Eastern to me at first.  It's probably just an initial reaction.

Someone out there is playing jazz on every instrument I would imagine.

[oxy60]

I cannot imagine an oboist/bassoonist being a giant in the jazz world. I am not that big of a jazz fan, but I have never heard of him before. Perhaps he is a giant in your part of the world, but not here so much.

Check out his bio. He may not be everyone's cup of tea.

[liordavid]

why does everybody think that the oboe is more like a duck than the bassoon?

[oxy60]

You have the quote backwards. That quack sound (which players try to minimize) comes from  playing the notes in succession at the register change point. All reed instruments have the same problem, some more difficult to solve than others.