Bassoon - Fruitport Blogs

Seeing Double
By: Summer Geldersma
Everything you
need to know
to make your
own reed.
What different types of scales are there?
Letter from the
Editor
T
Thank you for choosing the spring edition of A
Musicians Dream. My team and I decided to
dedicate this month’s issue to everything double
reed. From the low pitched bassoon to the high
pitched oboe, and we included the history of
popular double reed instruments.
I have always been fascinated by the bassoon since I first heard it in elementary
school, and I knew that is what I wanted to play. Being a bassoon player myself,
this issue hits extremely close to home. I wanted to share my passion with all the
readers of A Musicians Dream. We are anticipating a huge turnout in readers and
thank you so much for helping us get this magazine booming. For you brass fans
this summer’s edition will be all about the low brass and the following edition on
the high brass (don’t think we forgot about brass. I know it’s frustrating that all
prior editions have been woodwind themed, but were getting to you.)
Summer Geldersma
Summer Geldersma, Editor-in-Chief
Page 2
Reed Making 101
So you want to know how to make your own reeds? Reed making is a difficult and time consuming
process, but it has its advantages. It would be great to never have to go to the store and buy a reed
that you’re not sure is going to sound good. Making your own guarantees you a quality reed every
time.
Step 1: Soak the cane for at least 4 hours, overnight if you can.
Step 2: Measure where you are going to put the brass wire.
Step 3: Carve grooves where you made your marks to make the reed more stable.
Step 4: Bend the reed in half carefully! If the reed starts to crack you did not soak it long enough.
Go back and soak it some more.
Step 5: Cut 3” of wire to wrap around the bottom of the reed to keep it together.
Step 6: Use twine to hold the reed together tightly.
Step 7: Insert your mandrel into the bottom of the reed to secure an opening for your bocal.
Step 8: You’re going to need to leave it for at least a week.
Step 9: Unwrap the twine carefully and remove all wire.
Step 10: Fold some fine grit sand paper into a tube and open the reed.
Step 11: Sand the reed flat and smooth then make a tight seal.
Step 12: Add new wire to the bottom of the reed (which should be on the mandrel) and tighten all
the way
Step 13: Wrap the whole bottom of the reed with string of your choice.
Step 14: Cover the string with duco cement (don’t worry about clumps it will sink into the string) let
sit for 24 hours.
Step 15: This is where you clip the top of the reed and sand it to your liking. Remember, every reed
is different even if they’re made in the same batch.
Step 16: You’re done! Make sure to soak your reed before playing, and don’t get discouraged your
first few times if the reed doesn’t work. Remember reed making can take years to master.
Page 3
How common is your instrument?
elow is the instrumentation in Fruitport High Schools top ensemble. As you can see,
there are only two double reed players in the band, one bassoonist and one oboe player.
They don’t even have an English horn player! Why is it they have so few double reed
players? “Double reed instruments are expensive, so there are not enough for more
people to play them,” says Logan Vanderlaan, a senior at Fruitport. Others speculate that it is
because double reeds are hard to play. While there is no definite answer the fact of the matter is
there are very few double reed players and after the senior bassoonist graduates there will be
B
FHS Wind Ensemble Instrumentation
Flute/Piccolo
Oboe
Clarinet
Trumpet
French Horn
Alto Saxaphone
Tenor Saxaphone
Trombone
Euphonium
Bass Clarinet
Baritone Saxaphone
Bassoon
Tuba
Percussion
even less. With no bassoonist, the band will not have as full of a sound. It’s sad to think that no
one has the incentive to learn a beautiful new instrument and enlighten themselves to the world
of double reeds.
Page 4
Q & A with a Bassoonist
Q. What’s the difference between a bassoon and an oboe?
A. The bassoon and oboe are both very distinct instruments; although they are
both played with a double reed, they are very different. The first big difference some will notice
is the shape and size. The bassoon is much larger and curved in an uneven “u” shape, while the
oboe is one straight significantly smaller tube. Another difference easy to see is that the
bassoon plays in a much lower register than the oboe. Bassoons read bass clef, while oboes
read treble clef. One final difference is the way to horns are held, the bassoon is so large it
comes with a seat strap or a neck strap, whereas the oboe is small and held similarly to a
clarinet.
Q. What’s the hardest part of playing the bassoon?
A. “The hardest part of playing the bassoon was switching clefs,” says Summer
Geldersma, Fruitport High Schools top bassoonist. “I started out in sixth grade playing the
clarinet. I thought it was too easy and wanted to switch to oboe. Unfortunately, our band had
too many oboe players so my middle school band director suggested playing the bassoon, I
(reluctantly) agreed. At first it was hard to perfect my embouchure, but after a few years of
hard practice I feel I have a good emboucher. Learning bass clef was torture, tenor clef was
even worse. Once I hit high school I wanted to march; however bassoon was not allowed in
high school marching band (with no mouth piece if you fall the bocal could go right through the
soft palette) so the band director had me march clarinet seeing as I still knew how to play.
Switching back and forth from marching season to concert season is one of my biggest
challenges.”
Q.
What would you recommend to prospective bassoonists?
A. Learn bass clef and do some serious thumb calisthenics. You will be using
muscles in your thumbs you didn’t even know existed! There are 9 keys for your left thumb and
4 for your right; this is more keys than any wind instrument. Also, don’t get discouraged if it
takes a while to produce a quality sound. Bassoon is an incredibly hard instrument to learn and
even harder to master. If you were good at a different instrument, that unfortunately means
nothing. Playing a double reed instrument is the hardest thing to learn. It is so different than a
single reed or brass instruments so if you think it’s too hard don’t give up. It is so worth it to
learn and have one of the most unique instruments in the band.
Page 5
How can playing a double reed instrument
reduce my risk of sleep apnea?
What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is defined as “a chronic medical condition where the affected
person repeatedly stops breathing during sleep. These episodes last 10 seconds or
more and cause oxygen levels in the blood to drop. It can be caused by obstruction of
the upper airway, resulting in obstructive sleep apnea, or by a failure of the brain to
initiate a breath, called central sleep apnea.”
Some current research is showing that musicians who play a high resistance
instrument such as the bassoon, oboe, or English horn have a significantly lower risk of
developing
obstructive sleep
apnea. Musicians
who play the double
reed instruments
must use different
muscles in their
mouths and throats
than other wind
musicians or vocal
musicians. Doctors
want to try to teach
sleep apnea patients
or those at high risk
of sleep apnea how
to use those
muscles. Dr. Ward
however realized
that it would be
extremely difficult to
have patients develop the proper embouchure in the short amount of time needed. Dr.
Nicholson believes it would be beneficial to target the specific muscle group used to
play a double reed instrument and teach people how to use those muscles instead of
trying to teach them double reed instruments.
Page 6
B
All about scales
eing a musician you
probably know that
there are many different
kinds of scales. Major
and natural minor being
the most popular, you may know
that in major scales from the
starting note there is a pattern of
the steps: whole, whole, half,
whole, whole, whole half. The
most common scale, Bb is the first
most musicians learn. On bassoon
that scale looks something like
this:
Bb. If you want to play a harmonic
minor scale you simply raise the
7th note of the scale a half step on
both the way up and the way back
down. To play a melodic minor
scale you raise the 6th and 7th notes
a half step on the way up and
lower them back down on the way
down. Less common types of
scales include augmented, and
pentatonic. In an augmented scale,
there is a whole step between each
pitch. Pentatonic scales are very
different from the rest of the scales
If
you
have trouble reading bass clef the
notes are Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb.
There is a really neat trick Mr.
Showich (the Fruitport high school
band director) taught me. Going
from major to minor you simply
add three flats. So the Bb scale
instead of just having B and E
flatted you would add A, D, and
G. So your natural minor scale
would be Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab,
because all other scales contain 7
notes and the octave, but as the
name indicated the pentatonic
scale only contains 5 notes. These
notes don’t follow a specific
pattern due to the fact that they
can be major or minor. Pentatonic
scales are prominently used in
jazz.
Page 7
Everything you could ever want to
know about double reed instruments.
The most common double reed
instruments are bassoons, oboes, and English
horns.
are not variations on the oboe and all musicians
use the same style of oboe. Modern orchestras
call for 3 oboe players, sometimes a fourth is
used but they are usually designated as the
English horn player. According to New York
Times it seems less people want the
commitment of being a professional oboe player
because oboes are generally used as the
leaders of the woodwind section and play
concertos almost every night. Many professional
oboe players stay with their orchestra for
decades which makes it difficult because many
of the oboists retire around the same time and
finding an oboist who fits the dynamic of the
orchestra can take a lot of time. One of the most
famous oboe solos is Dance
of the Swans from
will have an
Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
The modern day bassoon originated
from Martin Hotteterre’s original design in which
he completely altered the design. Before
Hotteterre’s design the bassoon was made of
one single tube, but Hotteterre thought it would
allow for greater accuracy if the bassoon was
made of more tubes. The modern bassoon is
made of 4 tubes a bocal and the reed. He also
added two keys to lower the bassoons range to
very low Bb. The bassoon was originally used in
orchestras to add to the bass line because it is
the second lowest woodwind instrument behind
the contrabassoon. Modern
''A new person
band pieces usually call for
two bassoons with a third on
incredibly difficult 10 years in
contrabassoon. The first
The English horn is
front of them, because everything
bassoon is usually used to
a decedent of the early
is new, everything is exposed. You
perform solos, and the
oboe. Despite the name it
have
to
have
nerves
of
steel.”
second bassoon usually
isn’t English, nor does it look
-Mr. Jarvi
doubles the bass line with
like a horn (horns are
much less of the melody
typically brass i.e. a trumpet
than the first bassoon. There are two types of
or tuba) The English horn looks like a larger
modern day bassoons, the German style (which
version of the modern oboe with a huge bulb
is the most common) and the French style
shaped bell and a bent double reed. The English
(which is only used in France and some parts of
horn is not a very common instrument, but some
Spain). The French bassoon has a less full
of the most famous pieces with English horn
solos come from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
sound than the German bassoon and some
Stone and also Schindler's List. Both films
speculate that that is why the German bassoon
is more often used. The bassoons also use
scores were done by John Williams, who
different fingering charts because the German
actually also did the scores too many famous
bassoons have more keys than the French style.
movies such as Star Wars, E.T.: The Extra
Two famous bassoon solos are the grandfather
Terrestrial, Jaws, and Superman.
theme from Peter and the Wolf and the
Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Disney’s Fantasia.
The modern day oboe made its
th
appearance in the mid-17 century, where it was
used for the melody in military bands until the
clarinet took its place. Unlike the bassoon there
Page 8
University of Michigan for Bassoon
performance
A
top school to become a bassoon performance major is the
University of Michigan located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The
bassoon professor at Michigan, Dr. Jeffery Lyman, has
established himself as one of the top bassoon performers, teachers, and
historians in all of the United States. Dr. Lyman has performed all over the
country as both a bassoonist and a contrabassoonist. Some of the
orchestras he has performed with include the Metropolitan Opera, the
Detroit
Symphony
Orchestra, the
Los Angeles
Philharmonic,
and the
Philadelphia
Orchestra. At
the University of
Michigan there
is a studio
dedicated to
bassoon
performance.
Only the top
bassoon players get in and it is mostly a graduate program, good luck
getting in as a freshman. They also have a summer programs for young
students. The camp is held from June 30th- July 13th this year. They offer
reed making and music theory classes as well as private lessons, chamber
music, and individual practice time. The cost for these two weeks is only
$1,750. That is a very fair price for all your child will be learning about the
bassoon and themselves.
Page 9
Where they began
W
e were curious to see where bassoonists started. No one
starts out on the bassoon. It is far too difficult to learn for
someone who has never played before an instrument before.
The first bassoonist we talked to said that she started out on
clarinet, the second said that she started out on saxophone,
and the third said that her first wind instrument was the flute, but her first
instrument was actually the piano at age 6. As you can see there is no specific
instrument a student needs to start out on. Amanda King, author of the article
The Big Switch says that it is a difficult process for a band director to choose a
student to make “The Big Switch”. She feels that it is best to switch a very
bright child to bassoon in either 7th or 8th grade because the child is generally
bigger and can expand their hands to reach all the keys. King also feels that it is
beneficial to have the student be someone who reeds bass clef such as a
trombone or piano player. She feels that makes it easier because the student
isn’t spending their whole time learning to read a new clef instead of the
instrument. King also recommends getting a student with a good work ethic
because switching instruments means that they will be behind the rest of the
band and have to work that much harder. Children may be anxious at first but a
key to finding a good bassoonist is to get the student excited. A good way to do
this is to bring in a professional or college level performer and have them do a
show for the kids. The more people know about the bassoon the more likely
they are to want to play it. Two of the bassoonists we interviewed actually
wanted to play oboe but were denied. It is difficult to get someone to want to
play bassoon but once they start, they’ll realize it was the right choice.
Works Cited
C, Jon. "Of InTerest To ME MusiCal Instruements SEGMENt 2 ParT 1! The English
Horn." Band Geek 101 RSS. N.p., 9 Mar. 2011. Web. 14 May 2013.
"Cor Anglais." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Oct. 2013. Web. 14 May 2013.
Page 10
Cross, Dan. "Five Positions of the Pentatonic Scale For Guitar." About.com Guitar. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.
Densing, J.M., and E. E. Hubbard. "What Is the Difference Between a Basoon and Oboe."
WiseGeek. Conjecture, n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.
Gallagher, Lauren. "Mariinsky Swans 'n Sync." San Francisco Examiner. N.p., 11 Oct. 2012.
Web. 14 May 2013.
"Jeffrey Lyman." UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.
"John Williams." Johnwilliams,org. N.p., 5 June 2006. Web. 14 May 2013.
King, Amanda. "Banddirector.com." #1 Online Resource for Band Directors! N.p., 2008. Web.
14 May 2013.
Laura. "Beginner's Guide to Bassoon Reed Making." Beginner's Guide to Bassoon Reed
Making. N.p., 4 June 2010. Web. 14 May 2013.
"Man with Sleeping Apnea and CPAP Machine." 123RF Stock Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 14
May 2013.
Moyer, Paula. "APSS: Playing a Bassoon Protects Against Sleep Apnea." APSS: Playing a
Bassoon Protects Against Sleep Apnea. N.p., 10 June 2009. Web. 14 May 2013.
"Music at Virginia Tech." | Department of Music. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.
"Need To See The Bass ClefScales?" Bass Clef Scales. N.p., 2008. Web. 14 May 2013.
"Oboe." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 May 2013. Web. 14 May 2013.
"The University of MIchigan Bassoon Studio." The University of MIchigan Bassoon Studio.
N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.
Wakin, Daniel J. "Suddenly, 'Oboist Wanted' Signs Are Everywhere." - NYTimes.com.
N.p., 12 Feb. 2005. Web. 14 May 2013.
Williams, Merlin. "German vs. French System Bassoons? Which Is Better?" N.p., 28 Mar.
2012. Web. 14 May 2013.
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