Oboe Review Selmer Oboes and Evans Oboe Reeds
by Shannon Kennedy
You may be thinking - "What insane person doubles on oboe?" - Well, I do. The reason I
play oboe is very simple - musicals! That horrible Reed 2 Book that no one ever wants to
play because of the oboe parts. I've found this chair opened up to me numerous times because
I could and was willing to play oboe, which when you get paid, is never a bad thing.
I play on a Selmer oboe, which I found does the job because with oboes, the reed you play is
more important than the horn (in my opinion). The Selmer oboe isn't a must-have oboe, but it is affordable
and was available when I needed it. So, back to the reeds - I use Evans Medium Hard reeds on oboe to create
the sound that I like. Evans reeds are handmade to ensure the quality of the reed and I've also foud them to
be quite consistant.
So, in my opinion, as far as oboe goes, the reed plays the most important role. And just as a sidente -
you want to use a harder reed because it gives you an "oboe player" sound on the horn - not a "doubler" sound.
Its important that you sound like you have equal ability on all your horns - even if you really don't.
