oboeinsight

Tonight the conductor told one of our (male) musicians, “You’re early.”

I thought he said, “You’re girlie.”

Yeah. Really. That’s what I thought. Is this OldBoeBrain™ or what?

I’m sure any reed player has had to deal with mold. Let’s face it; we put pieces of cane in our (not-so-perfectly-clean) mouths. They get wet. They get put back in reed cases that don’t always circulate air well so reeds stay moist. What a perfect place to grow mold, don’t you think?

I rarely get mold on my reeds. My cases allow for better air circulation, I think. And of course I do, for the most part (yes, on occasion I “cheat”), brush my teeth before I play. But I have sometimes seen my reeds get a little grungy where the sides meet. I toss those reeds, unless they are so incredible I can’t bear the thought. If that’s the case I soak them in hydrogen peroxide or a solution I purchased sold specifically to sterilize our reeds (not that I believe the stuff really does … I’m skeptical that way).

But I have an issue and I’d love some help on this one. Anybody out there know about pink mold? No, not on my reeds, thank you very much, but on someone else’s. One of the reeds was very new, so it wasn’t an age thing. The person says teeth are being brushed before playing. Could this be a sign of some sort of infection? I would think maybe the player’s mouth should be swabbed. But I’m no doctor or biologist or anything. Anyone have thoughts on this?

PattyRamble™ time:

Yesterday was a first for me. I played oboe for the two church services. I’ve done that before, to be sure. But yesterday? Yesterday I didn’t bring a speck ‘o music. I decided that I was ready to go up and create. And I did. I had a basic plan and I had a tune that I was thinking I might incorporate in to my improvisation. And I truly enjoyed doing it!

Funny thing about improvisational playing on oboe. For me, at least. I don’t miss attacks! There’s something about not having anything in print. I don’t see the notes I might miss, maybe? I don’t know. But things feel not only freer, but much easier. Go figure. And of course it felt like it was coming from my heart … truly as personal as possible. For a church service maybe that’s a good thing …?

And now I move on to work …

Last week I was catching my breath after playing the Ravel set. I was also working on the recital music (the UCSC faculty recital) and trying to clean a rather messy house. I did teach, of course. But this week it’s back to PW™ (Playing Work). Symphony starts up again. Nothing stressful this time, at least as far as I know, but the schedule means I’m rather busy (and, sadly, had to cancel an afternoon of students).

It’s good to get back to symphony, and opera begins shortly after, with the recital tucked in there for good measure. But I know that this is the start of the busy season. Symphony to Opera to Symphony to Nutcracker. And probably a few extra jobs in there once contractors start lining them up.

Considering the difficult times we live in economically I’m extremely thankful for all the work. But one year … and I say this every year at this point … one year I’m going to “gift myself” and take Nutcracker off. Really. And I’m putting that here in writing so I can look back on it and remember I’ve made it very public. One year I want to take back Christmas. But not this year.

But today? Today is a “quick clean” of the house so that it doesn’t go too far downhill while I’m at symphony this week. And then it’s reeds reeds reeds. And dinner. I will get dinner started … right … now!