Editor's Note:
In addition to his work as president of the IDRS,
Lowry Riggins is a member of the faculty at the Northwest Louisiana University
at Monroe. He is also first oboist of the Monroe Symphony.
For years I have told my music education students that if any company were to take the time to manufacture an instrument with the same loving care given to the wood instruments that they would have an instrument which would be just as good as the wooden one. Then a few years ago I began hearing about a new Loree-a PLASTIC Loree! !
Naturally I wondered about this new oboe - "Would it respond well? What kind of sound would I get with it? Would it really be worth the price?-(even more than the wood model). Would it hold its value?" Then at the I.D.R.S. meeting in Los Angeles I finally had an opportunity to play one, which along with several grenadilla wood models, was being displayed by Robert Gilbert. (Playing new instruments is just ONE of the joys of attending our annual meetings!) I was impressed as I tried the plastic model and then the standard wood instruments on display, but I felt that I did not have time to really give the instrument a fair trial.
Returning home I stewed over that oboe for about a month and then decided that Central Bank should certainly be able to afford a new oboe! I called Mr. Gilbert and in a few days received the oboe. Since many of you have probably not had the opportunity to play one of these instruments I thought I would share a few impressions, ideas, and experiences with you.
My first impression was that it sure "looked like" a regular wood instrument. Loree has not produced a shiny "plastic looking" instrument. By tooling the body the finish produced is really remarkably like the wood instrument. Yet, at the price, I was disappointed and still am, that the oboe did not have Teflon adjusting screws.
Upon playing the oboe I felt that it had excellent response with good pitch and tone quality. In short, it seemed to be a standard Loree in every respect. I have now played the oboe in a variety of situations and have become quite content with it. I did have some problems and there are some differences. My experiences are with this one instrument and I would welcome an exchange of ideas and experiences with others. These are my own personal observations and thoughts, so certainly take them with a grain of salt.
First - and quite important - "You get what you get!" I do not believe that the plastic oboes "break in" over a period of time as do the wood instruments. Mine has played the same since the day I got it. So-if you like it, you like it, but don't expect to play on it a year and THEN have the instrument you want. How it plays that first week is the same as it will play six months later, and I would guess even years later.
A possible plus of some dimension occurs to me concerning this characteristic. Wood instruments seem to "age" partly because of the hydroscopic nature of wood which causes the fibres inside the bore to raise slightly over a period of time and actually change the playing characteristics of the instrument. Obviously plastic will not do this so the question remains to be answered as to whether these instruments will continue to play the same for years!
After playing on the instrument for a week or so I began to wonder about being able to "push" the instrument. I seemed to feel a reluctance on its part to accepting that last little bit of intensity which is often required in a large concert hall. Nevertheless I decided to use it on the first concert of the year by the Monroe Symphony Orchestra without mentioning it to my fellow musicians. By doing so I discovered that this was NOT a problem for me. Our civic center is not that large so I felt comfortable. I would be interested in hearing from some of you who must play in large concert halls. I still "think" I can push the wood instrument a bit further than the plastic, but it may be my imagination. The fact does not bother me in the least and I no longer even think about it.
But it has not all been happy time! There was a time when I almost decided NOT to purchase the instrument. The first problem I had was in simply putting the oboe together. In spite of liberal use of cork grease and frequent cleaning of the tenons I was practically having to force the joints together. Since I have had a great deal of experience in repair I decided to do something about that. Careful examination revealed that the tenon caps were rough and even out of round and I could see the shiny places which resulted when metal rubbed against metal.
I took some 400 Wet or Dry sandpaper and removed the shiny spots. I would then clean the joint carefully, put the pieces together with a slight twisting motion and examine it again for shiny spots. I continued to do this until the instrument would go together with ease and not leave any shiny spots on the tenon cap.
The next problem was a fourth space E which tended to break downward at the slightest opportunity. This nearly drove me crazy. I checked reeds by playing them in other instruments, talked with others about the problem, and even called Mr. Gilbert, all to no avail. Finally I decided that something had to be wrong so I took the oboe apart completely and checked everything as I put it together. I finally discovered that the only thing wrong was a leak in the low B-flat resonance pad. I replaced this pad and the E cleared up. I have had no problem with it since that time.
Then I began to have water come out of the same four or five tone holes every time I played the oboe. I would clean it out, let it dry, and then have the same problem in the same holes within minutes of beginning to play again. I finally stripped the top joint of all keys and began a search for some kind of "gunk" in the tone holes which could be causing the problem. Finally, by bouncing a leak light through the bore I found that the tone holes which were collecting moisture all had a kind of wafer or washer of plastic right at the point where the straight part of the tone hole meets the undercutting. This was causing condensation and funneling the water right up through the tone hole. I removed these wafers and have since had little problem with moisture coming out of a tone hole. When it does occur, I simply dry the instrument thoroughly and continue to play.
An aside at this point is that the plastic oboe has proved to me what I had always suspected, that a feather does little more than spread the moisture around the bore. With the plastic instrument not having the absorption characteristics of wood I find it best to follow the use of the feather with the use of a cloth swab. I say "follow" because I get better results this way. The cloth alone has a tendency to push the moisture into the tone holes where it gathers dirt, hardens and gradually forms a sort of ring which makes the tone hole smaller and adversely affects the playing characteristics of the oboe. The feather alone simply spreads the moisture about and it will NOT dry under normal conditions for quite some time, even overnight in the case! So I first spread the moisture around with the feather, and then pull the drop swab SLOWLY into the bore giving it plenty of time to absorb the moisture. I have also changed a lifetime habit and now do NOT swab my oboe until after the performance. Because of the nature of the plastic I feel that once I get the moisture running through the bore without problems, my best bet is to leave it alone!
I also believe that the nature of plastic is one of the reasons that Loree has had a few problems. Plastic tools quite differently and with difficulty, and this is probably why some manufacturing defects were present in my instrument. It shouldn't take them long to clear up those details, so if you're thinking of purchasing an oboe, and you are not quite sure about plastic, but you keep thinking about how many wood instruments crack, then let me suggest that you try one. Since beginning to play mine I have had no reason to regret the decision to purchase and I plan to continue playing it for quite some time. It may even be the last oboe I purchase!
Oh-one last item-plastic reacts to cold, even coolness much faster and more so than wood. When you first get the oboe out to play, it's quite likely that one or more keys will stick somewhat until you have the instrument warmed to playing temperature.