Some of the contents of the pages on this site are Copyright © 2016 NJH Music | [Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] Why the oboe tunes the orchestra (fwd)
I have come across three general reasons why the oboe has been historically used to tune the orchestra. The overtone structure (number of harmonics as well as their relative strengths) is more similar to that of the strings' in that there are far more, and of greater individual intensity, than that of the other wind instruments. A greater percentage of the acoustical energy of a given note is distributed throughout the harmonics than of the fundament. This allows the strings to match up their overtones with those of the oboe more easily than with, say, the clarinet or the flute. The flute, for instance, (and similarly the organ pipe) have relatively few and quite weak overtones - nearly a pure sine wave. This is why pipe organs have numerous ranks of 'lingual' (reeded) pipes to balance their 'labial' (open) pipes, and have entire sets of 'tierce' pipes to individually reinforce the octave, fifth, seventh, etc. overtones of a given fundament pipe. The second reason I've heard is that 'back in the good old days' when woodwind technology was not as good as it is now the tuning range of the oboe was far less than in contemporary instruments. Thus the oboe, being relatively fixed at one pitch, was tuned up or down to by the rest of the orchestra. I can't, however, personally vouch for the accuracy of my information on these limitations to the early oboe. The third reason is related to the first in that, as a result of the timbre of the oboe, its sound 'cuts' through the general hubbub of the orchestra and can therefore be heard by everyone in the room. Interestingly enough, the characterization of the oboe's sound as being the "purest' is diametrically opposite of what you would expect by the use of that term. A sine wave is by definition a pure note: 100% of the acoustical energy is in the fundament. The oboe sounds like an oboe precisely because it has a greater percentage of its acoustical energy distributed amongst its harmonics as compared to its fundament - check it out with your pocket spectrum analyzer. Assuming, of course, a good player; otherwise it just sounds like a duck! (wry grin). Finally, as a tuba player myself, I can vouch for the reason many bands tune to the tuba: it's easier to see the pencil mark on the tuning slide! I welcome any comments, opinions or other information you may have to make my understanding of this more complete and accurate. Kevin Petersen, Tuba "I play loud and work cheap" P.S. I have found Passport Design's ENCORE program to be buggy and their help desk utterly impossible to reach. Several friends of mine use FINALE and, steep learning curve aside, swear by it. I've seen score and parts from FINALE and they look really sharp - nearly typeset quality. One of the greatest advantages of any of these programs in my mind is the ability to listen to your work and use your ear to 'proof' it out for errors before pulling the score and parts -- TAKE NOTE MAECEANAS (publishers of Lowry Sketchbook). And, of course, there are no copying errors in the parts as well. -- unsubscribe or receive the list in digest form, mail a message of 'help' to listserver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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