The reed is possibly the most crucial link in the chain of acoustical elements needed to produce an oboe sound. For the nearly 300 years since the appearance of the French oboe, players have painstakingly evolved this highly individualized skill. But because of their fragile nature, original historical examples of oboe reeds are practically nonexistent. David Ledet has produced a unique study of techniques for styling oboe reeds by analyzing in detail 168 examples of reeds by 81 artists from 14 countries. Each reed is strikingly photographed both in reflected light and in silhoutte, thus clearly illustrating the relative thickness and shaping of the various sections of the reed. The precise dimensions of each example are compiled in an elaborate table. As background to his reed survey, Ledet discusses the various aspects of tone production (respiration, articulation, embouchure, and acoustics), gives a brief history of the instrument, and offers valuable advice about pedagogical techniques. The artists' reflections on their reedmaking techniques and brief biographical sketches introduce the photographs. Ledet often refers the reader to readily available phonographic recordings that either convey the essence of an oboist's sound or suggest the singularity of a national reed style. Ledet concludes that reed styles can be classified into five major regional categories: French, American, English, Dutch, and Viennese. The book documents examples of reedmaking by such world-renowned musicians as Robert Bloom (Bach Aria Group), Henri de Busscher (1880-1978, Los Angeles Philharmonic), Janet Craxton (Royal Opera House, London), Peter Graeme (Melos Ensemble), Harold Gomberg (New YorkPhilharmonic), John Mack (Cleveland Orchestra), Ronald Roseman (New York Woodwind Quintet and Juilliard School of Music), Ray Still (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), and the celebrated Marcel Tabuteau (1887-1966, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Curtis Institute of Music), who has exerted a greater influence on oboe playing in America than any other musician. Ledet has been compiling data for over thirty years and notes when a player's ideas have changed over time. Since some of the artists included are now deceased, Oboe Reed Styles will be a valuable historical as well as technical record, essential for teachers, performers, and students of all ages and abilities.

WIND INSTRUMENTS. Oboe Art and Method is a complete and comprehensive guide to oboe technique. Author Martin Schuring, a veteran oboe performer and instructor, describes in detail all of the basic techniques of playing (breathing, embouchure, finger technique, articulation) and reed making, with expert tips and step-by-step instructions for how best to perform each of these tasks with grace and technical efficiency. Schuring's descriptions are straightforward and articulate, designed to encourage students to focus on the basic techniques of tone production as a springboard for more nuanced artistic development. Key sections address long-tone and scale practice in ways that go beyond advice most teachers will give their pupils, and the author's focus on embouchure development cultivates supported breathing and blowing to help provide the best foundation for aspiring oboists. A reliable source of practical and time-tested advice.

The oboe, including its earlier forms the shawm and the hautboy, is an instrument with a long and rich history. In this book two distinguished oboist-musicologists trace that history from its beginnings to the present time, discussing how and why the oboe evolved, what music was written for it, and which players were prominent. Geoffrey Burgess and Bruce Haynes begin by describing the oboe’s prehistory and subsequent development out of the shawm in the mid-seventeenth century. They then examine later stages of the instrument, from the classical hautboy to the transition to a keyed oboe and eventually the Conservatoire-system oboe. The authors consider the instrument’s place in Romantic and Modernist music and analyze traditional and avant-garde developments after World War II. Noting the oboe’s appearance in paintings and other iconography, as well as in distinctive musical contexts, they examine what this reveals about the instrument’s social function in different eras. Throughout the book they discuss the great performers, from the pioneers of the seventeenth century to the traveling virtuosi of the eighteenth, the masters of the romantic period and the legends of the twentieth century such as Gillet, Goossens, Tabuteau, and Holliger. With its extensive illustrations, useful technical appendices, and discography, this is a comprehensive and authoritative volume that will be the essential companion for every woodwind student and performer.

The material in the Gekeler Method for Oboe is divided in two parts. The studies in Part I are for the purpose of developing musical style and interpretation; those in Part II are for the study of scales and intervals, and for improvement of articulation.

After decades of experimentation, musicians have begun to utilize a strikingly colorful palette of sounds on woodwind instruments. Flute, clarinet, and saxophone players, in many different musical settings, regularly use sounds that were unheard of in the middle of the twentieth century. Oboists, in comparison, have lagged somewhat behind their more adventurous colleagues. In writing Oboe Unbound: Contemporary Techniques, author Libby Van Cleve opens up the tradition-bound assumptions of the instrument’s capabilities. Not only does she include descriptions of the instrument’s standard technique from range and reeds to the use of vibrato, but she also discusses recent techniques, such as multiphonics, microtones, altered timbres, and extended range, to name a few. Van Cleve bolsters this book with numerous music examples and professionally-tested fingering charts, and concludes with basic information about the use of electronics for amplification, recording, and sound enhancement. The book’s appendixes include a substantial bibliography of music and literature and a discography including jazz, non-western, and art music recordings. The revised edition incorporates new information about resources now available through the internet and marks the launch of a website that includes examples of all the contemporary sounds as well as audio and video recordings of unreleased compositions.