Question for oboe players

Hey, guys, it's been a while! Hope you've all been doing good!

I want your help! I decided that I want to fiddle around a little bit with the oboe. So I got a Boosey and Hawkes regent oboe and some soft reeds and I started honking.

Problem is, this oboe seems to be a thumbplate model. But the thumbplate fingering charts I've studied thus far correspond to different notes. For example, I see that g is

Thumb - XXX

But for my oboe, g is Thumb - XXO

Also, I can't figure out how to produce a C. I saw "Taking off the thumb and XOO", but that doesn't do it.

I also don't have any oboists where I'm living in (not even a single person), so...help me!!! :w00t:

Is there another fingering chart for this model?

Should I take it to a repairsperson (=it's broken)?

Is there probably something wrong with my embouchure that causes the difficulties with producing the correct tone (apart from the things wrong with my embouchure that make my oboe sound like a horny duck suffering from lead poisoning)? :sadtears:

I can't help, unfortunately... just about everyone in the states plays the Conservatory system. You'll have to find a suitable fingering chart for the thumb-plate system. :-/ It's more popular in Europe.

Which C? One in the middle of the staff, or the low C ("middle C") ? If you mean the former, try using only your first finger (left index), no thumb. To get B, you add the thumb. To get Bb, thumb is off, first two fingers are down. A is the same as Bb, only with the thumb. All notes further down have the thumb down. I think a lot of thumbplate systems are different (there are regular ones and these hybrid ones), let me know if those fingers are what you are looking for and if they work. =/

Edit: could you be mistaking a third octave key for a thumb plate? I don't know how a third octave key works, but I'm sure if you don't know what it is it could mess with you.

Hey, that's what I have found out as well, trying to find a solution to my problem. But this is not the answer.

I am talking about the C in the middle of the staff. I have found that, to produce that C, I can use the fingering for D (Thumb oXX-XXX). Generally, these fingerings work as if it were in a Bb transposition. Are there transposing oboes (not cor anglais)?

I have also figured out how to produce "written" C, by lifting all fingers and releasing the thumb and using a little side key of the left hand!!!?! Help, I'm getting even more confused!

Where did you get this oboe? Perhaps you have an oboe d'amore and you're blowing it a bit sharp? the d'amore is in the key of A, I'm not sure that B&H sells them, though.

Compare the bells:

D'amore: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Oboe_d%27Amore.jpg

regular oboe: http://slosymphony.com/Library/images/symphony_kids/etudesinstruments/23oboe.jpg

I got it off ebay.

But I'm positive it's an oboe...

'kay. :)

Well, I'm pretty sure B&H sold fingering charts with their oboes after a quick Googling bout, maybe you could track one of those down and see what's up. Assuming you don't have much prior woodwind experience, I would try and take it to a shop somewhere near by - if anything they could give it a good look over and maybe even play-test it and tell you everything is alright. Any woodwind tech should be able to play notes on an oboe, if not actually music, so they might stand a chance at helping you out. G'luck! :happy:

here's a note I found after a quick (non-thorough) Google search:

The two notes that are different from that chart (as it's for conservatiore system only) are Bb on middle line and the C above it, and the high Bb and C:

Bb: xxo|ooo Left thumb OFF thumbplate

C: xoo|ooo Left thumb OFF thumbplate

Bb and C in the upper register is the same, but open the 2nd 8ve key with the middle joint of your left index finger.

But you do need to keep your left thumb on the thumbplate for all other notes.

James H., I guess I'll try putting my hands on a B&H fingering chart! Unfortunately, in the place where I live, there are NO woodwind repair shops. The nearest one I know is 500 kms away...and I have to take a boat as well to go there! :blush: If I had one nearby, I would already be there!

Flint, I've already found (and tried) that one out...no luck!

Considering I don't have any woodwind experience (just a little bit of flute), could it be a reed/embouchure problem? The problem is consistent for all the notes I approach.

It could be an embouchure issue... but if you're using the correct fingerings and it's still not working, it very well could be a mechanical issue. Oboes are very complex in that regard.

Maybe you might want to buy one good handmade reed so you can troubleshoot. Several people in my area suggest Charles reeds, they have a website - http://www.charlesmusic.com/

If you're not sure about the reed you have now, you might want to find a reed maker near you or at least that will ship to your area without great charge. At Charles I believe they have just a few people making reeds. All day. And they play test each reed and toss it if it isn't good. So you can be sure when you get a reed from them, it's already likely in good playing order (unless you bought a blank or one with minimal finishing). Perhaps the reed you got now needs finished and you don't know quite how to do that and the only way to learn is to get a teacher (unfortunately). An unfinished/poor reed could really mess with a beginner and make them think all sorts of things are wrong with the actual instrument. I wouldn't trust a double reed sold by anybody that doesn't play a double reed instrument unless I know exactly what I'm buying before hand (such as a locally stocked Charles).

So you reckon the reed is a possibility for you? If not, keep honking away, perhaps seek out a double reed forum somewhere.

I bought an imperial (model up from a regent) boosey and hawkes off ebay in november and have been teaching myself since. The problem with a lot of the B&H ones on there is that they are VERY old in some cases.

Most boosey and hawkes oboes tend to be a dual system oboe, so they can cope with both english (thumbplate it's sometimes called) and the conservatoire styles. My flute teacher said most people in England tend to use the english system and that the fingerings show more resembalance with the flute, so i decided to use that system. I don't know much about the conservatoire fingerings, but from what i've heard the C you are describing and the F# immediately above that can wear out quickly (particularly on older models, an admiralcy pattern on mine puts it in the royal navy in 1913!) and the tone difference between the two different styles is vastly different. I'm not sure whether it could differ to the extent of not working for conservatoire style, but its something to think about.

I took mine to an oboe specialist and he repaired it for me. It cost