Whats the most important thing to learn on the oboe? w/ Peter Cooper!

Special guest Peter Cooper, principal oboe of the Colorado Symphony, shares his drill to get that sweet oboe tone no matter your skill level. Hope it works for you, let me know in the comments!
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[@phregh9676]

wow, this is golden man. instantly added into my warmup.

[@OboeFiles]

im glad! I think it helps a lot :)

[@devon-crain]

I remember a handful of years ago my first all-state experience--had a clinic with Peter and I thought it was so bizarre and obviously not helpful to do reed only exercises. I wish I could go back in time and walk myself through it properly so I could understand sooner how helpful they can be! Thanks for sharing more great resources as always Danny!

[@OboeFiles]

That’s for sharing, what else would have been useful to know/see at that age?

[@devon-crain]

@@OboeFiles I also would have benefitted greatly from a thorough, concise, anatomically-focused breakdown of how to do vibrato. Probably the first third of my undergrad was spent undoing the bad habits I made for myself learning vibrato.

[@OboeFiles]

@@devon-crain Super insightful, Im glad you were able to find a way forward, inspiring for those of us with winding paths forward

[@EllissDee4you4me]

We called these reed games, and though I hated it at the time, I keep coming back to it as a concept. As an oboist, you play the reed and the instrument is just the amplifier. Playing on just the reed has a crazy effect on intermediate students where it hyper focuses you on the fundamentals of tone production. We’d also use it as an opportunity for ear training since you can produce the first five notes of a d flat scale with just the Reed, always with a tuner.

[@macart5429]

This video was released as we were transitioning to concert season from marching band my freshman year last year(2022). This is a game-changer for not just me but for anyone else struggling out there. Just doing C-C# on the reed has improved my tone since then. I’m like a completely different person now when it comes to playing the oboe!

[@OboeFiles]

Awesome! Spread the word :)

[@deleonoboist]

Excelente video Danny!!!

[@oboerific]

Love this! Thank you so much!

[@OboeFiles]

Im glad!

[@nomorebushz]

You didn't interrelate the other episode demonstrating the practice of making the pitches down to Bb and Ab from the C pitch on the reed sans the hand, demonstrating embouchure muscle control. Both seem perfectly related to each other, and may have equal benefits of understanding for a student..

[@MrThad33]

Great video! I didn’t know Ray Still was Peter Cooper’s teacher. He was my former teacher’s teacher, too, back in the mid-1990’s. There’s a great interview of Ray Still on KZbin from the early 1990’s that was filmed at his house after he announced his retirement from the CSO. He was very analytical in his approach to playing and improving. There’s a part where he uses a plastic tube attached to a pressure gage as a training device for developing breathing technique. It was really clever. The video is on the longer side, but it’s totally worth watching. Peter Cooper might enjoy it, too.

[@carolynking4828]

Thank you so much Danny for this really helpful video, and I will definitely be trying this exercise out. I took up the oboe almost 2 months ago, and I'm learning at home, trying to teach myself! Very challenging, but wonderful!! Very helpful indeed to learn how to get better tone on the oboe, and when I practice again tomorrow, I will definitely give this a go! 🥰

[@emilief.7600]

That’s my professor!!!!

[@OboeFiles]

Your so lucky!

[@oboe2846]

Mine too!

[@erwin2468]

Thank you!! I will definitely do this :)

[@OboeFiles]

Let us know how it goes for u plz!

[@davidfisher6929]

Extremely valuable! Keep this content coming!

[@OboeFiles]

Thanks, I plan too🎉

[@brianhunt1518]

Thank you very much & I will definitely do this.

[@OboeFiles]

Awesome let us know how it works out for u!

[@gizzaimoglu378]

I always love learning new methods on reed! I was at a masterclass with Jonathan Kelly and someone was having trouble with octaves, they were squeezing their lips too hard. So Jonathan Kelly made them to only play with reed, whatever the note they were struggling with, a couple of tries of only playing the notes with reed, their control on the reed suddenly improved way better and I use this method whenever I feel tired or hard on high notes. Great video 🎉

[@OboeFiles]

oh wow Id love for you to share more about this method?

[@gizzaimoglu378]

@@OboeFiles I believe this method is essentially focuses on the lip pressure control, since the fundemental pressure seems like its on oboe but its actually right on the tip of the reed, so its actually a smaller problem than we may think. Especially on the upper octaves, high notes can be difficult to play relaxed, but when the problematic note can be played on only the reed, the pressure point becomes much more clear therefore it becomes easier to control the intonation

[@hungm.y.3809]

Thanks. Very useful video 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@OboeFiles]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kurthartle5473]

Fascinating

[@OboeFiles]

For sure right!?

[@obrigo]

Excelente video!

[@OboeFiles]

Gracias!!!

[@nicolasbraun2642]

I spent an hour in Ray Still's living room doing this reed exercise before he allowed me to play repertoire: it was an amazing experience.

[@Moises08sax]

Thanks ☑️👍

[@OboeFiles]

your welcome!

[@Graestra]

I wish all these incredible youtube resources were around when I was in school a decade ago.

[@OboeFiles]

Yeah it would have been amazing to know about the oboe community back when starting out 😜

[@maru-ib9ld]

I just started learning oboe this week. No money for a teacher but my school has an oboe that no one uses that I could borrow. Got from barely being able to manage a terrible squeaky sound on one or two notes, to being able to get the oboe to actually sound like an oboe for the first time ever, even being able to manage clean sounds rather consistently, just from following the tips from this video. Actually pretty amazing tbh, super helpful. At least now I know that probably the most useful exercise for me at this stage doesnt require me to carry my oboe around with me everywhere and i could just bring my reed around and practice somewhere private during my breaks :P

[@OboeFiles]

Awesome! Keep us posted on your progress :)

[@swissbev]

Wonderful tips! Is the C pitch the same for all types of scrapes of reeds, or just particular to the american scrape?

[@Jadzla]

Works for European short scrapes too

[@davichk]

I see several comments questioning the application of this tech tip to European reeds. What people should understand is this has to everything do with matching the nominal pitch of the reed to the scaling of the instrument. It has very little, in fact, to do with the design of a scrape and should be applicable to any reed in any oboe with the insignificant caveat that if your instrument is scaled much higher (say, A446 as opposed to A440), then the reed arguably needs to be a tiny bit sharper and vice versa. I say "insignificant" because the difference in the two reeds' "base pitches" is so much smaller than the flexibility of a reed's capability that I doubt anyone could properly gauge it... I've always done something very similar per instruction from Jack Holmes, John Mack and Stevens Hewitt, and that's basically the exact same exercise but "hands free". It's tricky, and once I had to fish a reed from the footwell of my car after it ejected accidentally (oops!), but it really ups your game regarding the control Peter & Danny are encouraging. Fun video. Great tech tip.

[@OboeFiles]

Good explanation! Thanks a bunch

[@yezariaely]

I guess the C-C# pitch exercise must be done with a watered reed, correct? How long should it be watered before that? Like

[@OboeFiles]

Soak your reed for about a minute or two

[@daantrommel67]

Thank you for this wonderful exercise, I do have a question though: In this video professor Cooper says you always want your tone between C and C#, but then you have the workshop with Dr. Parker who says your tone should be between A flat (for the lower tones) and D flat(C#, for the higher tones), this seems like a contradiction…. Hopefully you can help me out here:) I love your channel btw so keep up the good work 😊

[@OboeFiles]

This comment makes me really happy! There are in fact many ways to think and execute on voicing as there are infinite variations on reed style and imagining the desired oboe tone and color, even for different occasions. The commons idea in both approaches is to balance what your mouth is doing with what your air is doing by incorporating (lol) your whole body in the production of the tone while following your ear as a guide. I hope that helps.

[@daantrommel67]

Thank you Danny for your reply so quickly! Your answer definitely helps and clarifies! Best wishes from the Netherlands!

[@manwithlonglastname9064]

Is it bad if my lips keep trembling too much to stabilize? Will that get better or is something wrong with me? I've been doing exercises to strengthen my lips a bit.

[@OboeFiles]

Hmmm depends your reed might be too open for you. try pressing it down on it once it’s soaked. Hope that helps

[@saxtek]

What is the recommended pitch for English horn?

[@Jwellsuhhuh]

My teacher said c#

[@gothicoboist]

So I always thought Ab embouchure with a C crow....do you mean by this video that you crow at about the same pitch you set your playing embouchure?

[@OboeFiles]

I think having flexibility and control of the tone and pitch are important, there are many ways to get there :)

[@jonnyjt_st1506]

I went into a music shop yesterday, and left with an oboe reed. Lets see what happens, its hard to get the reed above B at the moment :'D

[@OboeFiles]

Maybe that the reed in question is not held together enough for this drill, but you can still learn the basics of fingerings and air flow and try to get a hand made reed to really explore your tone palette and intonation skills, best of luck on your adventure!

[@jonnyjt_st1506]

@@OboeFiles It does crow a C when I put threads in, but to get a C I have to adjust where it is in my mouth, or apply pressure.. is that normal? Its a Euro style reed too

[@davichk]

@@jonnyjt_st1506 Seems likely that your reed is "too open" (looks too much like a football between the blades). It may close up soon enough just by playing on it, but you can put a plaque between the blades and hold them flat for a while until the reed dries and then the blades won't spring back so much and it will play sharper for you. A less aggressive method is to just let it dry before putting it in your reed case. Alternatively, if you like your reeds open, put them away wet.

[@rayycqser001]

yoo idk if you’ll reply but i need help. i’ve been playing for 4 yrs now, but i have no oboe teachers so i’ve been taught by flute majors the whole time in school. obviously they’re knowledgeable so i’m a half decent player, but i js cannot get my tone down. i’ll have a beautiful tone one day and a watered down fuzzy one the next even if the reed is super dry. i tried the exercise but i cannot match the note and my reed sounds super fuzzy and watery whilst being absolutely dry. does anyone have advice?

[@OboeFiles]

Hi! Hmm yes we need to get that figured out ! send me a message on insta @oboefiles or email on my website, and we can set up a zoom lesson to work it out

[@AndreyRubtsovRU]

I fee like American and European reeds are so differen these lessones might not nessecarily apply to European reeds' players.

[@OboeFiles]

Good point I haven’t tried it on European scrape reeds

[@Jadzla]

I use European reeds (Australia) and it works just the same

[@Jadzla]

Try playing it without holding the reed, relying on embouchure only 😊

[@OboeFiles]

I’ll have to try it out :)

[@Jadzla]

@@OboeFiles it’s a good one, plus playing tunes, arpeggios etc. really strengthens the embouchure and teaches Reed control. Plus sounds impressive 😂

[@robertrichardson6162]

ρгό𝔪σŞｍ

[@nomorebushz]

You can turn the tuner way down ...

[@OboeFiles]

Hahaha yes I should have lol