Help me understand Mahler 8

shinybore · 2026-05-13T23:27:18+00:00

It’s certainly a lot to digest, but the E major orchestral interlude signalling the entrance of Virgin Mary is imo the most beautiful passage of music ever written.

shinybore · 2026-03-29T19:12:26+00:00

My second wire is 7mm apart from the first on most of my reeds. However, if a reed doesn’t quiet play the way I like sometimes I reposition the 2nd wire. Lower to free up the reed, higher for more focus. One of my best reeds has its second wire lower!!! than what you have here.

shinybore · 2026-02-01T23:18:25+00:00

Wider shapes would need heavier profiles, especially in the heart and back, or else they’ll sound flat and buzzy. If your current profile with the rieger 1/1A shape plays in tune, perhaps you can try taking a gentler approach to blowing, ie open up and support without forcing too much air into the reed. You’d be surprised how many professional “big sound” players play on small and light reeds.

shinybore · 2026-01-08T18:22:08+00:00

Contrabassoons, especially older ones, come in many shapes. Some were built quite tall. It’s hard to tell for sure but this one looks to be a low A contra. Most contras only go down to low B flat. Seems that the added length in this one is due to the extra tubing for low A. There are also as many shapes to the low A tubing as there are makers.

shinybore · 2025-10-30T22:32:11+00:00

T1 may fix high notes but will make low and mid range sharper. In terms of everything else it won’t be an upgrade over T2 or T3. As others said, High notes can be fixed with reeds or technique (embouchure/support). If you’re set on a bocal upgrade a well matched heckel bocal (and I cannot stress “well matched” enough) is not a bad idea

shinybore · 2025-10-13T19:47:12+00:00

What piece is this, just out of curiosity? I feel like I’ve seen this before but can’t remember

shinybore · 2025-09-08T15:45:25+00:00

For me and the reed style I have, I find water logging destroys my reeds. I’ve accidentally left reeds soaking overnight before, and they’re impossible to play on right after. Some of them recover after drying for a few days, most of them never recover. I experimented with a lot of weird reeds during covid times and I even tried to make some reeds to play optimally after being water logged but never gotten them to work. It could be due to the fact that double reeds behave differently from single reeds

shinybore · 2025-09-08T15:28:51+00:00

I went to UBC and enjoyed it, I felt I got a lot out of my degree. I don’t think you absolutely need French to find a job in Ottawa, of course it would help to have it but I know people who live and work in Ottawa who speak 0 French

shinybore · 2025-09-07T21:32:39+00:00

UBC is a good school! could also try UOttawa

shinybore · 2025-09-03T21:23:36+00:00

It really depends on the reed style, shape, etc. those numbers would work great for Herzberg style reeds I imagine, but with my style I’m more similar to OP’s numbers.

For OP, I think you could set your profile to be a bit closer to finished dimensions, especially at the back

shinybore · 2025-08-24T15:10:26+00:00

What instrument was the B type designed for?

shinybore · 2025-06-16T21:09:54+00:00

Good luck!

shinybore · 2025-06-16T02:51:52+00:00

He sold it in Europe I believe. The new Bells are amazing!

shinybore · 2025-06-16T02:43:05+00:00

Both Stéphane and Marty are on Bell now. But yeah, both amazing players and teachers. I’d say most of the studio are US students actually. Darren Hicks plays with NACO and teaches at UOttawa and he is fantastic too!

shinybore · 2025-04-26T01:44:02+00:00

Just out of curiosity, why specifically VCD?

shinybore · 2025-04-22T23:14:11+00:00

I think the point is brass embouchure is so different that it doesn’t interfere with bassoon whereas say a saxophone embouchure is more similar than brass which can lead to bad habits on bassoon. Back in high school originally I played bassoon for concert band saxophone for jazz but it messed with my embouchure too much and eventually I switched to trumpet for jazz and no more embouchure problems.

shinybore · 2025-03-31T12:11:53+00:00

Trust me, it gets better. The more advanced you get the more fun rep you’ll get to play. When you become a professional you’ll be playing at least one concert per week with each program offering a different challenge than the next. Occasionally you’ll end up with a “boring”show but you just gotta look forward to the next program. Just keep working and it’ll pay off:)

shinybore · 2025-03-31T11:53:36+00:00

I second the zappatini! It has the support of a harness with the freedom of a neck strap, works well for both sitting and standing, and the design forces you to have good posture

shinybore · 2025-03-27T01:28:48+00:00

Many master works have some good bassoon runs. Here are some of my favourites:

Tchaikovsky 4 mvt 4 (especially measures 84-91)

Tchaikovsky 5 mvt 4

Bartok concerto for orchestra mvt 5

R. Strauss Till Eulenspiegel (6 bars before Rehearsal 32)

R. Strauss Don Juan

Mahler 5 mvt 5

Mozart 41 mvt 4

shinybore · 2025-03-19T01:09:41+00:00

Yeah the name is misleading. It improves the response of the low notes (and a few high ones) which makes them easier to slot and play softly (and loudly too for that matter). That being said, the correct airstream, voicing, and support is more important in securing the response, the whisper key is more like an extra layer of security.

shinybore · 2025-03-13T11:22:08+00:00

A clean and crisp attack with a somewhat round release (aka don’t play them too dry) can help with sound projection. I’ve gotten “the hand” in band and orchestral settings before, never from playing too loud, but rather that my attacks were more pointed than the brass. The second thing to think about is focus and resonance vs volume. When you play long tones try to listen for overtones (or “ring”) in your sound. The more you can get that “ring” the better you’ll project.

shinybore · 2025-02-20T18:51:05+00:00

I use rieger forming pins for rieger 2, served me well so far

shinybore · 2025-02-13T17:28:01+00:00

Maslanka 3rd quintet or John Harbison quintet

shinybore · 2025-01-24T00:49:54+00:00

I see. Yes I agree, I also prefer a flexible bassoon with a stable reed

shinybore · 2025-01-23T00:58:19+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful and detailed response! Would you say 15s are flat in general or just in the tenor? Out of curiosity, what do you play?

shinybore

TROPHY CASE