Questions tagged [bassoon]
For questions on the bassoon, a double-reed conical bore woodwind instrument.
14 questions
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What does laissez vibrer mean on a wind instrument?
I'm a bassoonist and when I play in a wind band I often get given a trombone part.
Sometimes I have to transpose a score because it is in E♭𝄞. And sometimes I have to transpose passages that are too ...
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Do nickel-free bassoons exist?
I am allergic to nickel. I come up in itchy bumps after contact.
I would like to try playing bassoon but all the ones I have looked at have nickel silver keys, which isn't silver at all but is nickel.
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Bassoon line in Pink Floyd song
I played bassoon all through high school and was lured away by rock and roll. Someday I'd like to take it up again and probably will.
My question concerns the bassoon line in the Pink Floyd song, "...
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Remote purchase of bassoon
If one can't get to the location of the bassoon is there a way to verify condition? For example are there photos I should request? Last played 7 years ago...
If closest music repair location is ...
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Are Baroque Bassoons more difficult to play?
In an article introducing The Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet, it mentions that
The muffled, dark-sounding bassoon of the baroque era was so hard to
play in tune that composers didn't write solos ...
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Why doesn't the bassoon play any notes in the beginning of RV 484?
In Vivaldi's Concerto in E minor for Bassoon, RV 484, you can hear the violins introduce the theme, and then the bassoon enters to play solo.
In every video I watch the procedure is the same: first ...
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How to clean a neglected bassoon
I acquired a bassoon recently from my school.
It appears the previous owner was less than routine with their cleaning of the instrument, and there is a (prepare yourself) thin layer of congealed ...
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Bassoon intonation problems on low notes
A professional bassoonist told me that I shouldn't write below a bassoon's low F because those low notes are too difficult to play in tune. However, the piece I'm writing is very much dependent on a ...
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Bassoon naming convention
I've been playing the bassoon for just short of two years now and I've been wondering why the standard issue bassoon is called a 'C bassoon' or 'bassoon in C' when the instrument is pitched in F.
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Bassoon vs tenor bassoon (tenoroon)
My 11 year old son wants to take up the tenor bassoon (also called a "tenoroon"). He's done a lot of research and watching YouTube, etc. I am trying to find the best one for him.
Will he be ...
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Alternatives to Marching with Bassoon
Situation: I am currently a bassoon player, and I am in marching band. I have marched only once with the bassoon before, and I know that the bassoon is both unsafe and impractical for marching. After ...
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What are some good tips for vibrato on a bassoon?
I understand it requires control of the diaphragm and air pressure, but how does one modulate it and are there any good exercises for training vibrato on a bassoon?
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What is the convention for splitting 4 parts of the same instrument in a score?
I'm orchestrating a piece and distributing a chord among 4 bassoons.
If I were writing the French Horn part, I'd know one of the common practices would be to have two staves: one for Horns 1 and 3, ...
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What is the benefit of soaking double reeds in water?
My bassoon teacher advises me to soak my reed in water before playing. Apparently water has properties that my saliva alone doesn't. Why would this be useful?
Also I have seen Oboe players doing this,...
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