Great Oboes of the Twentieth Century: Evolution of Tone Hole Anatomy

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THE DOUBLE REED 65 Great Oboes of the Twentieth Century: Evolution of Tone Hole Anatomy By Shelly Sublett, Alvin Swiney and Sarah J. Fitch, M.D. Editor s Note: Alvin Swiney is the owner of Affordable Music Company located in Little Rock, AR.

He has an extensive list of clients associated with major orchestras, and serves as a consultant to numerous American and European instrument makers. E-mail address: corkpad@aol.

1 THE DOUBLE REED 65 Great Oboes of the Twentieth Century: Evolution of Tone Hole Anatomy By Shelly Sublett, Alvin Swiney and Sarah J. Fitch, M.D. Editor s Note: Alvin Swiney is the owner of Affordable Music Company located in Little Rock, AR. As an apprentice, he worked extensively with the renowned woodwind technician, W. Hans Moennig. Mr. Swiney specializes in tuning, customized repairs, and sales of oboes, English horns, and bassoons. He has an extensive list of clients associated with major orchestras, and serves as a consultant to numerous American and European instrument makers. address: corkpad@aol.com Shelly Sublett is the owner of Sublett Woodwind Repair located in Memphis, TN. She apprenticed with Alvin Swiney and James Keyes, formerly of the Woodwind Clinic. Ms. Sublett has been English horn and assistant principal oboe with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra since address: shellysublett@ibm.net or shellysublett@ attglobal.net after October. Sarah J. Fitch, M.D., has practiced pediatric radiology for the last 18 years, specializing in the imaging of diseases in children. She has published numerous articles and book chapters, and has been a professor of radiology at the University of Tennessee, School of Medicine in Memphis, TN. She is a pediatric radiologist at the Arkansas Children s Hospital and an associate professor of Radiology at the University Medical School in Little Rock, AR. The authors gratefully acknowledge Andrew J. Bush, M.S. for his assistance in editing this article. undercutting shapes and bore subtleties are virtually impossible to view with the human eye. Even with the most precise gauges and calipers, it is difficult, if not impossible, to accurately measure this concealed area. In desperation, some oboe makers have been known to dissect great instruments by sawing them into slices. Today, medical technology provides us with much less destructive means such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer aided tomography (CAT scans), and radiography (X-rays), to reveal the design secrets of great twentieth century oboes. The figures in this article use modern diagnostic imaging to illustrate the evolution of these instruments. FIGURE 1: Oboe cut in half with the variety of undercutting variations. As we close the twentieth century, it is important to analyze and document the evolutionary process that has produced today s full conservatory system oboe. Early oboes had open rings and raised tone holes. Modern oboes have closed keys with pads. Traditional vent tuning was done only by varying the length and diameter of the tone hole. Today, tuning is done by varying the shape of the tone holes as well. Historically, most oboe makers, acousticians, and repairmen have been limited in their understanding of the intricate internal design of the oboe. Tone hole perturbation, FIGURE 2: Helical C.A.T. scan of oboe tone holes

66 GREAT OBOES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Helical computed tomography (C.T.) is a method of imaging that provides slices through a body or object as though one were slicing it in half.

2 66 GREAT OBOES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Helical computed tomography (C.T.) is a method of imaging that provides slices through a body or object as though one were slicing it in half. Multiple slices in a circular fashion are normally used to demonstrate internal organs of the patient. It was used in this study to demonstrate the shape of oboe tone holes in different developmental stages of this century. Helical C.T. uses X-rays to penetrate the object in a circular manner. Complex computer manipulations allow demonstration of a slice of internal shapes to be photographed. The different densities of structures such as bone, wood, fat, soft tissue or air show up as different shades of gray. This technique allows us to view the intricate grain structure of the wood and the complex undercutting of the oboe tone holes. At the turn of the century, most oboes had an open ring system. Oboe makers regularly used tone hole lengthening, chimney reduction, cylinder enlargement, and filling to tune these instruments. These raised tone holes were uniformly cylindrical. The pitch level of the oboe prior to 1900 usually ranged from A- 435 to A This relatively low pitch level allowed instrument body lengths to be made longer with maximum tone hole openings. The primary treatment of the junction between the tone hole and bore was chamfering, a technique for deburring the rough tone hole edges. These open ring oboes required great agility in performance. It was difficult to precisely cover the tone hole with the finger during technical passages. On the open ring system oboe, most manufacturers manipulated the cylinder length as a means for tuning. This technique is especially apparent in raised finger tone holes (open ring system) similar to the clarinet. It is also evident on the raised left hand finger tone holes of older Lorée oboes. FIGURE 3: Raised tone hole cylinder FIGURE 4: Leveled tone hole cylinder In 1906 the plateau model oboe was introduced, a major turning point for oboe design. George Gillet, while teaching at the Paris Conservatory, endorsed the covered keys which enabled the player to have more technical agility throughout the instrument. To make room for the padded keys, the long, raised tone holes of the open key system had to be shortened in height and reduced in diameter to accommodate the pad seat. FIGURE 5: Shortened tone hole with resonator (counter bored pad seat) Unfortunately, these design changes created a whole new set of tuning and timbre problems.by continuing to use the basic techniques found on the older open ring system, oboe makers were quite limited in their ability to perfect the scale of the newer system. Octave notes played out of tune, certain notes were stuffy and resistant, and the scale was uneven. The lower notes were also unresponsive due to the changes made on the new tone hole design. Because the 1906 plateau model oboe inhibited the use of cylinder tuning, other means of altering the pitch and timbre of oboes had to be developed. Ralph McLane, principal clarinet with the Philadelphia Orchestra, was having similar problems. The throat tone notes of his Buffet R- 13 clarinet were out of tune. Specifically, the interval between the middle E and the high B was too wide. He consulted with W. Hans Moennig, a renowned German woodwind technician. Moennig tried to correct the problem by changing the dimensions of the tone hole cylinder. Decreasing the diameter of the cylinder lowered both notes equally, and increasing the diameter raised both notes equally, but neither adjustment corrected the wide interval. Totally baffled by this tuning problem, Moennig considered this problem to be irreparable. A few months later, McLane brought a

McLane asked Moennig to replicate the dimension of this particular tone hole onto his Buffet R-13 clarinet.

3 THE DOUBLE REED 67 student quality clarinet to Moennig s shop. The instrument was terribly out of tune, but the problematic E/B interval which had haunted McLane was perfectly in tune on this cheap clarinet. McLane asked Moennig to replicate the dimension of this particular tone hole onto his Buffet R-13 clarinet. After carefully measuring the tone hole cylinder of the student clarinet, Moennig found it to be identical to that of the Buffet R-13 clarinet. Further examination from the bore revealed that the student E/B tone hole was not merely chamfered but was undercut drastically. the French school of oboe playing to American students. In 1915, Tabuteau began his professional playing career with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He struggled with the pitch and timbre problems of the plateau model oboe. To complicate tuning matters further for the performer and the manufacturer, the new pitch standard of A-440 was being utilized by many orchestral conductors including Leopold Stokowski of the Philadelphia Orchestra. After hearing of the success of the tone hole experiment on the clarinet, Tabuteau asked Moennig to try undercutting on the oboe. Uncertain of the effects of this newly discovered tuning technique, and reluctant to cause damage, Moennig removed wood from Tabuteau s oboe in a very conservative manner. These initial experiments with undercutting pointed the way to solving many of the tuning, timbre, and response problems. FIGURE 8: Straight (original) cylinder on left. FIGURE 9: Minute undercutting on right. FIGURE 6: Straight tone hole on left (original). Moennig undercut tone hole on right. At that point, Moennig sculptured a cork and fitted it into the bore of the student clarinet to block the tone hole. He coated the tone hole with bore oil and filled it with dental impression wax (a material used to take impressions of teeth). After carefully removing the cork and the wax, Moennig had a tangible model of the tone hole. He measured the angle, volume, and penetration rate of undercutting. He FIGURE 7: Undercutting tool. constructed an undercutting tool which was able to duplicate the shape of the tone hole in the student instrument. Finally, he used the undercutting tool on McLane s clarinet. This corrected McLane s tuning problem. After arriving in the United States, Marcel Tabuteau was very instrumental in introducing According to Moennig, the oboe functioned like an organ pipe. For example, the longer the pipe the flatter the pitch and the shorter the pipe, the sharper the pitch. Therefore, the further the tone hole is from the reed the lower the pitch will be. Regarding the timbre and tone color, the diameter and undercutting shape is a major tuning device. No general rule of tuning suffices for every tone hole as each tone hole has its own profile and tuning structure. In addition to manipulating tuning and timbre of a given note, undercutting can also be used to correct octave tuning, i.e. wide or narrow intervals. Tabuteau first approached Moennig about the tuning of the stuffy left hand B-flat. During the 1930s, the B-flat tone hole was cylindrical without undercutting. To remedy this problem, Mr. Moennig enlarged the tone hole diameter on the down side (area closest to the bell). This allowed the note to become free blowing

68 GREAT OBOES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FIGURE 10: Undercutting on right. without sharpening the pitch. The tuning A was also a major complaint of Tabuteau s.

Moennig undercut the lower A to free up the timbre and to raise the pitch of the upper A. He then added a FIGURE 11: Raised tone holes with drastic undercutting.

In addition, Moennig enlarged the octave vents to improve the response and timbre of the octave notes. Another problematic tone hole was the G- natural.

4 68 GREAT OBOES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FIGURE 10: Undercutting on right. without sharpening the pitch. The tuning A was also a major complaint of Tabuteau s. He felt that the A was buzzy and upper octave was flat. However, when the cylinder was enlarged, the lower A became two cents sharper than the upper A. Moennig undercut the lower A to free up the timbre and to raise the pitch of the upper A. He then added a FIGURE 11: Raised tone holes with drastic undercutting. washer to the tone hole resonator to stabilize the octave and keep the upper register from soaring in pitch. In addition, Moennig enlarged the octave vents to improve the response and timbre of the octave notes. Another problematic tone hole was the G- natural. The lower register was sharp and the upper register was flat. Moennig decreased the cylinder diameter and increased the undercutting. The F-sharp was treated in a similar fashion. FIGURE 12: Original tone hole with no undercutting. FIGURE 13: Drastic undercutting (right) of G tone hole. FIGURE 14: Large volume of undercutting. The left hand C-natural was quite bright in timbre. Moennig decreased the cylinder diameter and lowered the pad height with a key wedge. FIGURE 15: Top view of C tone hole. The B tone hole was too small and stuffy. Moennig enlarged the cylinder and undercut the tone hole. FIGURE 16: B tone hole at 12 o clock and A-flat trill tone at 9 o clock FIGURE 17: Undercutting of B tone hole and A-flat trill tone hole. Tabuteau s next complaint was the forked F. Because Tabuteau did not prefer oboes made with the forked F resonance key, Moennig had to drastically change the profile of the forked F tone hole. He enlarged the cylinder of the hole three drill sizes and undercut with an 80% penetration rate. This improved the timbre of the stuffy lower forked F while balancing the pitch of the upper octave forked F. The G-sharp tone hole was too small and was located in a problematic position on the oboe. Since the G-sharp tone hole was closest to the tenon it was quite susceptible to water build up. If the hole is undercut, the water problem becomes worse. If the hole was enlarged, the thin tone hole wall next to the tenon would become structurally weaker and was more apt to crack. Moennig enlarged the tone hole at an angle on the reed side only as undercutting or cylinder work created additional problems.

THE DOUBLE REED 69 FIGURE 18: Thin oboe wall at G-sharp tone hole. The E had a tendency to be stuffy and sharp. Even minimal undercutting or chamfering was too excessive for the short cylinder wall.

The elongated cylinder added stability to the E and eliminated the hissing timbre. The E-flat tone hole also had timbre problems.

For this reason, Moennig invented the convex undercutting tool to improve the response and pitch of larger tone holes without increasing the volume of undercutting.

However this hole was quite difficult to adjust due to its location to the water track of the oboe.

5 THE DOUBLE REED 69 FIGURE 18: Thin oboe wall at G-sharp tone hole. The E had a tendency to be stuffy and sharp. Even minimal undercutting or chamfering was too excessive for the short cylinder wall. Moennig had to completely plug this hole and reconstruct it. He would block the bore and fill the hole with glue and then redrill the graft with very little undercutting. The elongated cylinder added stability to the E and eliminated the hissing timbre. The E-flat tone hole also had timbre problems. Because the tone hole remained closed when not in use, it was susceptible to water buildup. Any increase in underutting added to this water problem. For this reason, Moennig invented the convex undercutting tool to improve the response and pitch of larger tone holes without increasing the volume of undercutting. FIGURE 21: Rounded tone hole of right wall. FIGURE 19: Elongated cylinder and lack of undercutting of E tone hole. The D tone hole was stuffy and resistant. However this hole was quite difficult to adjust due to its location to the water track of the oboe. Since the tone hole was drilled on the side of the oboe, an increase in the undercutting of the D hole caused water to flow directly into the tone hole and cause gurgling. By removing the cylinder ledge, the response and pitch could be improved without increasing the undercutting thus interrupting the water track. FIGURE 20: Subtle undercutting near the bore. The octave C-sharps were too wide. The lower C-sharp was in tune while the upper one was sharp or the upper C- sharp was in tune while the lower octave was too flat. Moennig utilized a bassoon tuning technique to correct this problem. He changed the angle of the tone hole by adding a half moon washer on the reed side of the tone hole and filing the lower side angled towards the bell. This technique lengthened the chimney and flattened the octave C-sharp in relationship to the low C-sharp. FIGURE 22: Sagittal view (front to back) of oboe shows C-sharp tone hole above bell tenon.

70 GREAT OBOES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY The low B and B-flat tone holes were stuffy and flat. Tabuteau had Moennig change the shape and volume of the these holes.

6 70 GREAT OBOES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY The low B and B-flat tone holes were stuffy and flat. Tabuteau had Moennig change the shape and volume of the these holes. Since FIGURE 23: Note enormous undercutting (100% penetration) of low B tone hole. these holes were used to extend the range of the oboe, it was not necessary to design them for octave tuning or harmonic placement. These notes were undercut with immense penetration in order to obtain maximum resonance. The process of perfecting the oboe as we know it today did not take a few months, but many years of trial and error. Difficulties with measurements of instrument dimensions using traditional methods hampered this process. Undercutting and the development of different undercutting shapes revolutionized the tuning process. Medical technology has made this evolutionary process more visible. These are a few techniques employed by some of the great players and oboe makers in the twentieth century. As we enter the new millennium higher pitch standards such as A-442, brighter tonal concepts, and greater projection requirements will assure us that these proven techniques will continue to evolve.

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