Bassoforte article and video (with sound!)

There's a new article (autotranslation linked) on the bassoforte. It has a bit of mention of a collaboration with TU Dresden, and a mild notice by a player about the new keywork (there are no open toneholes, if I understand right). Quite interesting. Even better, there's a video, with sound! I had to skip the German interview, but there's some audio of the instrument at the beginning and end. To my ear, it sounds a bit blatty, but no doubt that will just help it "keep up with the tuba', as Guntram Wolf says.

Previously: 1, 2.

Waterlogged!

I think everyone has heard to not let reeds soak too long. "Getting waterlogged" was supposed to wreck the reed, although exactly how was never clear to me. I read something in the IDRS Journal, awhile back, that more or less convinced me that this wasn't possible, that "getting waterlogged" was basically an urban legend. The cane is fully hydrated or it isn't, goes the story, and if it takes on too much water (and how much is too much?) it would suffice to let it dry again. Since then I haven't worried too much about soaking reeds. I'd just soak the whole reed in water for a few minutes before playing, and dip occasionally. I would let them dry after I was done, but if I forgot and left the reed in water overnight, I'd just take it out and play, not obviously the worse for the experience.

Last week, I was away for a few days, and accidentally left my reed in water the whole time. In fact, I took it out only while packing for my rehearsal. Our usual conductor was away that week, and we had a sub, D, a bassoonist. She saw my reed, and remarked on it, saying that just looking at it made her lips hurt. Indeed, it was quite dark with water. I gathered that getting waterlogged makes the reed stiffer. Maybe it was just psychological, being jinxed by her remarks (plus four days without playing) but the reed really bothered me the whole rehearsal. After it dried, the tip looked like the picture: almost entirely flat, and separated and curled up at the corners. I soaked it again, and now it seems to play fine. But still, I don't think I'll let a reed get that soaked again.

A bassoon piece in a young composer competition

Check this out: there's a bassoon/piano piece in the finals of a Conservatory Canada  creative music competition. The next round is determined by popularity, so vote early, vote often. Bookmark the vote page, set a reminder on your calendar: you can vote up to once per day, until the end of October.