So the Carmel Trio is here at Laurier! They played at the Music Room (I think?) on Sunday night, then gave masterclasses to their respective studios, and are playing another concert today (at noon! Eeep! I need to hurry up!)

The masterclass was *amazing*. It’s always interesting to hear the similarities and differences between what Jim says, and what other oboists say…and how they say it! Dudu plays his oboe what appears to be way into his face–but he taught us an exercise about playing on the tip. He does this thing, like kissing the reed, where instead of blowing air through, you suck a tiny bit back through–and that’s how far out to start; from there he “wraps” his upper lip over the reed. It made a big difference in sound for a couple of the oboe students that played. Fantastic!

Danielle played the opening of the Mozart Concerto for him–I’m not a huge fan of Mozart, admittedly…the best way to describe it is that it doesn’t sound to me like his music has a soul. When I’ve heard that oboe concerto before, it pretty much epitomizes my perception of the composer. And…I mean…there’s nothing *wrong* with that. The classical era was all *about* background music, and highly cultured, refined work. But when Dudu played the opening? Wow. Just wow. I’ve *never* heard Mozart played like that.

I’m not sure if having a bit of a language barrier made him more dramatic than he is usually or not, but he was *insane*–singing, imitation, movement, examples…it was incredible! Sometimes the way he put things *because* of it made it easier to understand things. Like, “You’re making too much corners; everything is round,” “If you cut me, the air would come out in the same pressure,” and “We do not press the note, we stretch it from inside.”

He also compared our wind to an organ–an example which just clicked in my head. You know how organs have constant air blowing through their pipes? Our air has to be like that. And the *amount* of air being blown never changes, only the size of the tube, the amount we let escape.

I liked that.

Also–his oboe is a wonky Marigaux with a teeny top join that ends under the octave keywork. Cool!

Okay, okay. Time to make like Gadget and GO!

Expect a comic… later in the morning. So come back later. ^^

Exciting things like Site Upgrades! Wheeeee!

Kristen, Mike, and I are all sitting in the studio *right* now.
Mike is doing code-y things, Kristen is designing graphics, and I’m controlling the playlist selection and cracking the whip. (And playing with the internet.)

EDIT: Woo! Isn’t it pretty?

Also: check out this video from some bassoonists at Curtis. Oh how I sympathize with the first part, and oh how I chuckled at the last part. Can’t wait for part II!

You guys, The Oboe Insight is awesome.
Also: I’m pretty sure Patty is okay with me using her AIM address here because she’s got it prominently displayed on the site. But I don’t want to presume…