You play so beautifully that you made the student model sound phenomenal just like you did on your high end oboe. This goes to show that oftentimes people who blame their deficiencies on their instruments are totally unjustified because you made that student Yamaha sound like a million bucks!
Awww thanks!! It's certainly easier to play on the pro model. I definitely felt like I wasn't able to get as soft on the Yamaha as easily as I would like.
Intriguing! The performance on the Yamaha actually sounded really nice, though it wasn't given as much dynamic shading. I'm wondering if a way to think about this is that the differences involve the dynamic range and the ease of achieving dynamics. Whenever people are trying out oboes at the store where I work, I always say to be sure and try testing the dynamics, how a dramatic crescendo or diminuendo sounds on the instrument. The philosophy at the store is that (due to missing keys) the best strategy is to rent a 200-series oboe for the first year, then buy an intermediate level if the student want to stick with it. The Howarth had a nice core to the tone. The Yamaha a little "spread" in comparison, but it's hard to describe quantitatively. If I get some time I'm going to through the two segments onto Audacity and run them through the harmonic analysis programs, see what there is to see. (Quibble: plastic can sound just as nice as wood if it is well made. And a lot of wood oboes now, even pro, are lined with plastic, so I'm not sure if it's the plastic itself that makes for an inferior sound itself or the workmanship involved.)
Wow, there's so much more depth on your oboe than on the Yamaha...I honestly wouldn't have paid attention to the difference before watching this, so thank you!
My Oboe journey ended this year due to arthritis and now I am learning the Trumpet, I use to have a Laubin. 😢😢😢. You have a beautiful sound on any Oboe!.
I have a selmer oboe that I was taught on by an oboe teacher who gave his approval of it. I quit band after abdominal surgery from appendicitis and then pulled it out only randomly for two decades. I started playing again a few years ago and the month before covid bought a new wood oboe, but I focus on the old selmer because I don't worry about breaking it. The best thing during covid was learning to transcribe music and now I can play anything I want by transferring the notes into a key the oboe can play. Wanting to play is the most important thing of all to improve. You won't improve if you don't have the will to keep playing. I spent decades not playing because of how hard it was to find oboe music (I was taught to use flute music as oboe was never found and flute is written for different attributes as they are different instruments and even then I didn't like their music.) The only oboe book I had, besides the teaching books, for over a decade was an 8 song Christmas pamphlet. For putting music into tune with oboe, oboe sounds more like violin in it's low register and more like flute in it's really high register. Oboe notes are clearer though where flute melts and mingles. The Key oboe notes are right on the staff starting around A to just above. Those are the singing iconic notes that composers specifically write for oboe if you ever listen to film scores (which are what I enjoy playing most.) I have also worked on my ear training and can identify notes by sound and write them down when I hear an oboe playing a pretty melody to practice later. Stinky me, I also have studied the note fingering for other instruments and write them down when people show their hands playing tunes I like on youtube- the piano and the guitar, they are more difficult to transcribe into a solo instrument of course because of chords. That is where trial and error comes into play as you try to find the single within that clusters range that fits. I have learned and bought other instruments looking for something easy like, guitar, piano, violin, folk instruments like tin whistles and ocarinas however I always go back to the oboe because it was my first real instrument after the fundamental plastic recorder playing in 3rd grade. The oboe just calls.
Hello Ron. My name is José Miguel and I am from Spain. You are an amazing oboist because playing with a student Yamaha oboe it sounded really well. Congratulations!
Thank you! It would be great to hear your ideas about buying a professional oboe. Our daughter has been playing for 2 years and the teachers are telling us that we should invest in a more expensive oboe (she is renting the middle school's oboe now - - a wooden Fox). She wants to play oboe in college, but I doubt that music will be her major (she has lots of other interests).
They both sounded good. The Howarth was more mellow though and the performance had a lot more dynamic fluctuation. However, it was actually a little bit flatter than the Yamaha- particularly at the beginning of phrases.
I’m a Loree oboe and Puchner EH player. You should compare the XL with the composite top joint and other professional oboes that are plastic (marigaux altuglas, Hiniker synthetic come to mind). In my opinion reed is a bigger factor in sound and dynamics than wood vs plastic instrument
I rented my first oboe from my teacher, so I don't know the price of it. It was also made of plastic, but the Eb5 was extremely often off by sometimes a whole note. I now have an Yamaha wooden oboe which was around 3-4k but I'm very satisfied with it. I will probably never be a professional, so I don't need anything more. What was extremely important for me when selecting it was a good sound quality in the higher and lower range, since that's the range that I use most often. Also, I wanted a fully automatic oboe which doesn't have the third octave key on the side since I always got finger cramps when I tried to use it. I have had it for almost five years now and even though I've neglected cleaning it for four of them, it still sound is a solid instrument and the wood (miraculously!) has no cracks (If I could tell younger me anything, it would be that I should've cleaned it at all) After graduation and my gap year, I probably will try the other double reeds as well, especially English Horn. I currently have to play an English Horn solo on the oboe and even though I have a very solid sound in my lower register, it still doesn't compare to the even distribution of sound quality that the English Horn has.
My $725 Yinfente rosewood oboe from Amazon plays better than some student models and looks stunning. It's mechanically inferior, but I made some adjustments and it's more than adequate for my needs as a volunteer in the local orchestra. I definitely have to manipulate the pitch of certain notes more than I did on my conservatory model Fox or my Loree. Your howarth sounds lovely. My dream oboe is a Marigaux
Hi, we have rented the YOB 241 for our daughter as it is her first time to learn oboe. As you mentioned, there are some keys missing from the student model. However, do you have a complete finger chart for YOB-241?
I am returning to oboe for the 1st time since high school(52 years). I returned the school Selmer oboe when I graduated. Starting back, and playing in a community band, do you think I would be ok with a Selmer for awhile?
First, more playing, less theatrics. Second, dynamic refers to the difference between the loudest and softest sound -- for anyone that's interested. In any event, I couldn't help but notice how much more resonances the wood instrument sounded over the plastic. The student oboe wasn't bad, but its also not as warm and hollow sounding as its wooden counterpart.
@@JewelBlueIbanez is your also made by Bulgheroni or hans kurel? i'd love to hear your oboe! mine had serious voicing issues when i bought mine. but david made mine brand new and now its even and in tune.
HI. The excerpt sounds great on both instruments (probably because you're a professional, right?). So, is it possible to make beautiful music on the 241?
It's certainly possible to make beautiful music on the 241 but it will be limiting in some ways! I am astounded by the musicality of my students who play on this instrument.
You've potentially saved me a good deal of $ with this video.. I've been thinking about buying one and learning to play for a long while; but thought I HAD to have a wood instrument/spend north of $2000. But the plastic model actually sounds fine! How many notes are actually missing on the 241 vs the 441 Yamaha?
No wood required! On the 241 you're missing the low B-flat, a bunch of trill keys, and the 3rd octave keys so the super high notes are more difficult. The 241 is great and definitely what I recommend for beginners - just make sure it has the left F key! It's a non-negotiable.
I have been considering to learn oboe. I am not sure If I will get wood one or plastic since I am a 15 year old gifted child so I am worried that I might learn everything in 10 minutes like I normally do.
Start with renting a good plastic oboe like this YOB241 with left F. I was in the gifted program back in my school days and what I liked so much about the oboe was its consistent challenges. Hope it's a good fit for you! Definitely get a good teacher though!
Hi, Ron. Here's a suggestion for one or more future videos/posts. I'm an experienced amateur musician who is now learning oboe (I've been playing for about 4 months). I've been looking at method books on line, but there are too many to choose from. Do you have favourites for various levels of oboe skills? Could you tell us about them? Method books really helped me to get better on trumpet, and I'm hoping that a good oboe method book (or two) would help me to improve on oboe. Thanks!
My little brother has some expensive oboe from few hundred in school and has expensive one and has handed down inherited rose wood one he got from a teacher that was like his mentore he has bisness making reads Aaron Lakota reeds
For me, a pro oboeplayer, not a great difference. And the way you sound is the same, as , e.g. Eugene Izotow. At a blind test the only evident thing is a american scraped reed.
Fair enough! For me I do feel like I have more overtones to the sound on the pro oboe, and of course I could start much more quietly on the pro. I felt like the student model wants to quit at the softer dynamic. Bingo on the American scraped reed, and I'll take it as a huge compliment being compared to Izotov for sound!
I feel it is much easier to achieve a professional sound using your type of reed. But it makes oboe less personal instrument. You sound like Izotow, Izotow sounds like Liang Wang... At the contrary- Leleux sounds like Leleux, Mayer sounds like Mayer, Ortega sounds like Ortega...It is just my point of view.
@@Skvertven thanks for sharing your opinion. I do disagree with you about Liang and Izotov, I could tell them apart in a blind test with ease, while I would have much trouble telling apart most European principals if I'm being honest. It's got much more to do with familiarity with the school than with anything else, I believe.
You sound just like yourself and not like any other player, and I”m well acquainted with Izotov and Mayer as performers, among many others. Just gorgeous playing on your part! And, the Howarth XL sounds beautiful in your hands and quite noticeably better than the student plastic/resin Yamaha regarding dynamics, resonance and tone color. Although, you did show how it’s the player that’s the most important on the Yamaha, as someone else noted. How did you end up with a Howarth XL? I think there is still a great prevalence of professionals playing Loree in the U.S. so I think the stories are quite interesting of why they don’t. I play a Marigaux English horn myself and love it. My oboe is a Loree Royal and am thinking of investing in a resin/plastic Fox or other plastic resin oboe. If you could ever play test the more professional resin/plastic oboe models, that would be great. I”m thinking of investing in one since I think there will be more outdoor playing in the future.
@@katechambers3302 thanks for your comment! I would love to do more oboe reviews and am figuring out the logistics that go along with that! I have been playing my XL since 2014. I picked it out at IDRS NYC and tried around 20 oboes that day. I had previously played Lorees, but preferred the evenness of scale and tone between registers on the Howarth. To me it also has a bit more "oomph" in the louds. I still play on a Loree English horn though! They make many lovely instruments.
Actually I liked the sound of the Yamaha over the Howarth on that Swan Lake Solo. The Howarth sounds a little suffocated, the Yamaha has more clarity. Myself, I am a Rigoutat fan for clarity.
There was a lot more nuisance in your playing with the professional model than the student model, and that was the biggest difference for me. Of course you being a professional player, you sound great on both oboes, but you sound PHENOMENAL on the professional oboe.
Random question! What oboe do you play on?? Comment below!
Rigoutat model 'j' and a Rigoutat English Horn
Hiniker and Puchner
Hmm. For first Yamaha YOB :)
Loree royal!!
Patricola r7
You play so beautifully that you made the student model sound phenomenal just like you did on your high end oboe. This goes to show that oftentimes people who blame their deficiencies on their instruments are totally unjustified because you made that student Yamaha sound like a million bucks!
Awww thanks!! It's certainly easier to play on the pro model. I definitely felt like I wasn't able to get as soft on the Yamaha as easily as I would like.
Intriguing! The performance on the Yamaha actually sounded really nice, though it wasn't given as much dynamic shading. I'm wondering if a way to think about this is that the differences involve the dynamic range and the ease of achieving dynamics. Whenever people are trying out oboes at the store where I work, I always say to be sure and try testing the dynamics, how a dramatic crescendo or diminuendo sounds on the instrument. The philosophy at the store is that (due to missing keys) the best strategy is to rent a 200-series oboe for the first year, then buy an intermediate level if the student want to stick with it. The Howarth had a nice core to the tone. The Yamaha a little "spread" in comparison, but it's hard to describe quantitatively. If I get some time I'm going to through the two segments onto Audacity and run them through the harmonic analysis programs, see what there is to see. (Quibble: plastic can sound just as nice as wood if it is well made. And a lot of wood oboes now, even pro, are lined with plastic, so I'm not sure if it's the plastic itself that makes for an inferior sound itself or the workmanship involved.)
Wow, there's so much more depth on your oboe than on the Yamaha...I honestly wouldn't have paid attention to the difference before watching this, so thank you!
it really illustrates his comment re: dynamic range
My Oboe journey ended this year due to arthritis and now I am learning the Trumpet, I use to have a Laubin. 😢😢😢. You have a beautiful sound on any Oboe!.
I have a selmer oboe that I was taught on by an oboe teacher who gave his approval of it. I quit band after abdominal surgery from appendicitis and then pulled it out only randomly for two decades. I started playing again a few years ago and the month before covid bought a new wood oboe, but I focus on the old selmer because I don't worry about breaking it. The best thing during covid was learning to transcribe music and now I can play anything I want by transferring the notes into a key the oboe can play. Wanting to play is the most important thing of all to improve. You won't improve if you don't have the will to keep playing. I spent decades not playing because of how hard it was to find oboe music (I was taught to use flute music as oboe was never found and flute is written for different attributes as they are different instruments and even then I didn't like their music.) The only oboe book I had, besides the teaching books, for over a decade was an 8 song Christmas pamphlet. For putting music into tune with oboe, oboe sounds more like violin in it's low register and more like flute in it's really high register. Oboe notes are clearer though where flute melts and mingles. The Key oboe notes are right on the staff starting around A to just above. Those are the singing iconic notes that composers specifically write for oboe if you ever listen to film scores (which are what I enjoy playing most.) I have also worked on my ear training and can identify notes by sound and write them down when I hear an oboe playing a pretty melody to practice later. Stinky me, I also have studied the note fingering for other instruments and write them down when people show their hands playing tunes I like on youtube- the piano and the guitar, they are more difficult to transcribe into a solo instrument of course because of chords. That is where trial and error comes into play as you try to find the single within that clusters range that fits. I have learned and bought other instruments looking for something easy like, guitar, piano, violin, folk instruments like tin whistles and ocarinas however I always go back to the oboe because it was my first real instrument after the fundamental plastic recorder playing in 3rd grade. The oboe just calls.
Hello Ron. My name is José Miguel and I am from Spain. You are an amazing oboist because playing with a student Yamaha oboe it sounded really well. Congratulations!
Thank you so much!!
Thank you! It would be great to hear your ideas about buying a professional oboe. Our daughter has been playing for 2 years and the teachers are telling us that we should invest in a more expensive oboe (she is renting the middle school's oboe now - - a wooden Fox). She wants to play oboe in college, but I doubt that music will be her major (she has lots of other interests).
The Howarth just sounds so much better to me. It just has that mellowness and sweetness.
Agreed!!
They both sounded good. The Howarth was more mellow though and the performance had a lot more dynamic fluctuation. However, it was actually a little bit flatter than the Yamaha- particularly at the beginning of phrases.
I’m a Loree oboe and Puchner EH player. You should compare the XL with the composite top joint and other professional oboes that are plastic (marigaux altuglas, Hiniker synthetic come to mind). In my opinion reed is a bigger factor in sound and dynamics than wood vs plastic instrument
There is a distinct characteristic to the instrument material that cannot compensated by a reed.
I rented my first oboe from my teacher, so I don't know the price of it. It was also made of plastic, but the Eb5 was extremely often off by sometimes a whole note. I now have an Yamaha wooden oboe which was around 3-4k but I'm very satisfied with it. I will probably never be a professional, so I don't need anything more. What was extremely important for me when selecting it was a good sound quality in the higher and lower range, since that's the range that I use most often. Also, I wanted a fully automatic oboe which doesn't have the third octave key on the side since I always got finger cramps when I tried to use it.
I have had it for almost five years now and even though I've neglected cleaning it for four of them, it still sound is a solid instrument and the wood (miraculously!) has no cracks (If I could tell younger me anything, it would be that I should've cleaned it at all)
After graduation and my gap year, I probably will try the other double reeds as well, especially English Horn. I currently have to play an English Horn solo on the oboe and even though I have a very solid sound in my lower register, it still doesn't compare to the even distribution of sound quality that the English Horn has.
I love your content! I am a oboe lover!
My $725 Yinfente rosewood oboe from Amazon plays better than some student models and looks stunning. It's mechanically inferior, but I made some adjustments and it's more than adequate for my needs as a volunteer in the local orchestra. I definitely have to manipulate the pitch of certain notes more than I did on my conservatory model Fox or my Loree. Your howarth sounds lovely. My dream oboe is a Marigaux
they both sounded gorgeous!!! but i think you could make a 50 dollar oboe sound great!!!
He makes my pink oboe sing, I can tell you that... 🥰
Hi, we have rented the YOB 241 for our daughter as it is her first time to learn oboe. As you mentioned, there are some keys missing from the student model. However, do you have a complete finger chart for YOB-241?
I am returning to oboe for the 1st time since high school(52 years). I returned the school Selmer oboe when I graduated. Starting back, and playing in a community band, do you think I would be ok with a Selmer for awhile?
How does the Yamaha YOB-241 compare to the Singer's Day SD-6449S?
First, more playing, less theatrics. Second, dynamic refers to the difference between the loudest and softest sound -- for anyone that's interested.
In any event, I couldn't help but notice how much more resonances the wood instrument sounded over the plastic. The student oboe wasn't bad, but its also not as warm and hollow sounding as its wooden counterpart.
Are you playing the same Reed on both instruments?
Hi Thomas, yes I am!
I play on a gordet which is made by Bulgheroni i got it voiced by David Teitelbaum and it has an amazing dark tone.
Eunhon93 I have the same. It’s super heavy and dark sounding. Mine’s 60+ years old.
@@JewelBlueIbanez is your also made by Bulgheroni or hans kurel? i'd love to hear your oboe! mine had serious voicing issues when i bought mine. but david made mine brand new and now its even and in tune.
Are you familiar with Bulgheroni 'student model' oboe? Plays beautifully
HI. The excerpt sounds great on both instruments (probably because you're a professional, right?). So, is it possible to make beautiful music on the 241?
It's certainly possible to make beautiful music on the 241 but it will be limiting in some ways! I am astounded by the musicality of my students who play on this instrument.
You've potentially saved me a good deal of $ with this video.. I've been thinking about buying one and learning to play for a long while; but thought I HAD to have a wood instrument/spend north of $2000. But the plastic model actually sounds fine! How many notes are actually missing on the 241 vs the 441 Yamaha?
No wood required! On the 241 you're missing the low B-flat, a bunch of trill keys, and the 3rd octave keys so the super high notes are more difficult. The 241 is great and definitely what I recommend for beginners - just make sure it has the left F key! It's a non-negotiable.
the plastic Yamaha here is North of $2000
Hello... great playing ....... Can a person play oboe if there missing teeth or wear dentures
What's the song you played? 3:36
force thrme star wars
swan lake op 20 act ii - pyotr tchaikovsky
Hi, Ron. Do you have an opinion on Nobel brand oboes?
Sorry, I'm not familiar with Nobel brand oboes!
@@oboeari Ooooh! Maybe an idea for one or your videos in future.
Your oboe has the same name as a park near me
Awesome content!!
Thanks, Adam!!
I have been considering to learn oboe. I am not sure If I will get wood one or plastic since I am a 15 year old gifted child so I am worried that I might learn everything in 10 minutes like I normally do.
Start with renting a good plastic oboe like this YOB241 with left F. I was in the gifted program back in my school days and what I liked so much about the oboe was its consistent challenges. Hope it's a good fit for you! Definitely get a good teacher though!
Ok thank you once I start on oboe I’ll let ya know how it went
Is anyone gonna mention when he said plastic, one of the Kardashians popped up 😂😂
Agradezco los subtitulo en español, gracias eres un grande 🙌
Hi, Ron. Here's a suggestion for one or more future videos/posts. I'm an experienced amateur musician who is now learning oboe (I've been playing for about 4 months). I've been looking at method books on line, but there are too many to choose from. Do you have favourites for various levels of oboe skills? Could you tell us about them? Method books really helped me to get better on trumpet, and I'm hoping that a good oboe method book (or two) would help me to improve on oboe. Thanks!
Great idea!! Thanks!!
@@oboeari Yes please to that content suggestion! A good method and lyrical exercises inspire a longer practise session.
Howarth xl
3:35 and 4:38 to hear the difference.
What song is that? It was beautiful.
swan lake op 20 act ii - pyotr tchaikovsky
My little brother has some expensive oboe from few hundred in school and has expensive one and has handed down inherited rose wood one he got from a teacher that was like his mentore he has bisness making reads Aaron Lakota reeds
❤️
It makes me so nervous when you wave your hand around your reed!
Question: do you know to play cor anglais?
Yes I do! I have some upcoming videos featuring the Cor anglais coming up!!
oboeron wooow! You are amazing!
oof no low Bb
Can I ask name of song 4:01
It's the solo from Swan Lake!
Thank you very much!!❤❤@@oboeari
988
For me, a pro oboeplayer, not a great difference. And the way you sound is the same, as , e.g. Eugene Izotow. At a blind test the only evident thing is a american scraped reed.
Fair enough! For me I do feel like I have more overtones to the sound on the pro oboe, and of course I could start much more quietly on the pro. I felt like the student model wants to quit at the softer dynamic. Bingo on the American scraped reed, and I'll take it as a huge compliment being compared to Izotov for sound!
I feel it is much easier to achieve a professional sound using your type of reed. But it makes oboe less personal instrument. You sound like Izotow, Izotow sounds like Liang Wang... At the contrary- Leleux sounds like Leleux, Mayer sounds like Mayer, Ortega sounds like Ortega...It is just my point of view.
@@Skvertven thanks for sharing your opinion. I do disagree with you about Liang and Izotov, I could tell them apart in a blind test with ease, while I would have much trouble telling apart most European principals if I'm being honest. It's got much more to do with familiarity with the school than with anything else, I believe.
You sound just like yourself and not like any other player, and I”m well acquainted with Izotov and Mayer as performers, among many others. Just gorgeous playing on your part! And, the Howarth XL sounds beautiful in your hands and quite noticeably better than the student plastic/resin Yamaha regarding dynamics, resonance and tone color. Although, you did show how it’s the player that’s the most important on the Yamaha, as someone else noted. How did you end up with a Howarth XL? I think there is still a great prevalence of professionals playing Loree in the U.S. so I think the stories are quite interesting of why they don’t. I play a Marigaux English horn myself and love it. My oboe is a Loree Royal and am thinking of investing in a resin/plastic Fox or other plastic resin oboe. If you could ever play test the more professional resin/plastic oboe models, that would be great. I”m thinking of investing in one since I think there will be more outdoor playing in the future.
@@katechambers3302 thanks for your comment! I would love to do more oboe reviews and am figuring out the logistics that go along with that!
I have been playing my XL since 2014. I picked it out at IDRS NYC and tried around 20 oboes that day. I had previously played Lorees, but preferred the evenness of scale and tone between registers on the Howarth. To me it also has a bit more "oomph" in the louds.
I still play on a Loree English horn though! They make many lovely instruments.
Actually I liked the sound of the Yamaha over the Howarth on that Swan Lake Solo. The Howarth sounds a little suffocated, the Yamaha has more clarity. Myself, I am a Rigoutat fan for clarity.
I think I actually have the first Oboe 😰
what do you mea you "think"? either you do, or you don't!
@@malthus101 i don’t know the logo is faded off bc it’s a school insturment
There was a lot more nuisance in your playing with the professional model than the student model, and that was the biggest difference for me.
Of course you being a professional player, you sound great on both oboes, but you sound PHENOMENAL on the professional oboe.
Thank you so much!!
Do you mean nuance?
Yamaha definitely sounds better than the expensive oboe😂
My intermediate flute was 1000... while a student oboe is 2000... :( yall live on the brink of poverty
Tell me about it 😭😭😭😭
Professional oboe needs a professional player ....any one note misplayed causes a distortion .........the beginner one is more easy to use
there is no difference....i think when you are that good it just doesn't matter anymore
Please do not make the loud clap at the beginning of your videos. It is extremely loud with earbuds.