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Nowadays, some of the large oboe manufacturers do not have the luxury of seasoning the wood as in 'the old days.' A common practice nowadays is simply to dry the wood for a year or two in an insulated box ('kiln') at 125 degrees. After the rounds have seasoned, any cracked or warped pieces will (should) be discarded. In this manner, the wood will be able to experience all the changes in temperature and humidity, and dry ever so slowly. Then the rounds will be set aside for perhaps (ideally) another 5 years or so. After the initial seasoning process, the un-cracked, un-warped billets will be turned round, and a small pilot hole drilled completely through the pieces. 'Seasoning' oboes woods, according to usual convention, means that the wood is cut into billets, the billets then placed in an unheated warehouse or barn on stickers for air circulation for perhaps 10-20 years. Much of the wood presently used for mass produced wooden oboe instruments tends to be 'open' (coarse) grain, from young trees, and exceedingly prone to cracking, or even 'exploding.' Not only is much of the wood used nowadays for oboe production of lesser quality than in decades past, the wood is not truly 'seasoned.' The quality of wood found in many instruments offered by some major manufacturers nowadays seems to be of much poorer quality than wood found in instruments made prior to 1990. The only use possible good use for a tuner would be to test the length of a reed or bocal to establish a comfortable A. Simply put, playing to a tuner will produce completely arbitrary results. It is not possible to separate the observer from the observed when playing to an electronic tuner. However, please know that my reviews of Puchner instruments below reflect my genuine assessments.Ī note about tuners – I will offer the advice of my late friend Wally Bhosys, oboist with the Metropolitan Opera The English horn I felt was (by far) the “best in show” at IRDS 2011 is by Puchner, and I have contracted to represent Puchner oboes, oboes d'amore, and English horns in North America. However, at the 2011 IDRS convention, I came across a make English horn that is in a league of its own, far superior to any other English horn by any other present day maker. “Your air” is not “my air,” “your scale” is not likely to be “my scale,” your compensations will differ from my compensations, your reed will not be my reed, and your own “personal resonance” will be different from anyone else's “personal resonance” when playing an oboe instrument.įor many years past, collecting and trading oboe instruments, I have had opportunity to take on various makers Please keep in mind that how an oboe “takes the air” is different, often vastly different, from player to player.

The opinions expressed below represent only my experience with various makes and models of oboe family instruments so far.

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