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DEFINING THE BASSOON by Alan Fox
During
the 20th Century, the bassoon has undergone a steady evolution in
its performance characteristics, responding to long-term trends in
the pitch of orchestras as well as to the demands of larger
concert halls and the varying tastes of performers and audiences
throughout the world.
In an effort to provide instruments with maximum characteristics
of projection and flexibility, while meeting sophisticated
standards for intonation, tone quality and resonance, we have
reviewed (and in some cases, resurrected) many of the earlier
methods, materials, and acoustical designs that are currently in
use in professional orchestras. The results show up in five
different woods employed in he manufacture of our instruments,
each of which has been combined, experimentally, with most of the
acoustical designs, the most interesting ones being offered as
options to the appropriate models.
There are currently four acoustical variations in the design of
Fox Bassoons. Each has a distinctive tone quality and each
presents variations in the compromise between security and
flexibility.
The oldest design is the "Long Bore". It is identified by a very
warm "round" tone, evenly balanced, with excellent intonation
throughout the entire range. It is the most secure design and its
tone quality fits well into chamber music, as well as orchestral
second bassoon parts. It is currently used to make Fox Models I,
II, III and IV and Renard Models 220, 222, 41 and 51.
The most flexible design is the "Short Bore." It is characterized
by a tone quality that is more "open" than the long bore. It is
voiced to permit the performer to open up and "sing" in solo
register and its tone quality lends itself to solo performance.
Fox Models 101 and 201 and Renard Model 240 are "Short Bore"
bassoons.
The demand for power by modern orchestras has prompted the designs
of the two newest models. Both have thicker walls than their
earlier counterparts, with longer, larger, more resonant tone
holes. Their tone quality is bigger, yet slightly less
concentrated than the short or long bore models. They are somewhat
more work to play,but they deliver more power when pushed, yet
easily handle soft attacks.
The Model 601 is the slightly longer version. It is slightly
flatter and has a slightly warmer tone.
The Model 660 is slightly shorter, is pitched slightly higher and
is a little more open. Both are designed to accommodate a wide
range of mechanical options, with the player being encouraged to
select those that are most appealing, including the type of wood.
Complimenting the designs are the five wood types:
• Mountain Maple (Berg Ahorn) from Yugoslavia is the most popular
wood. It is of intermediate specific gravity and its warm tone
quality places it comfortably in the middle of respected bassoon
characteristics. Its main weakness is its relatively high cost,
which limits its use to more expensive instruments. It is the
standard for all of our professional models.
• Black Maple comes from North America, and derives its original
reference in bassoon history to the experiments by Karl Almenrader
in the early 1800's. It is heavier than Mountain Maple, resulting
in stronger projection with slightly less flexibility. When
combined with certain reeds and air columns, the tone quality can
be quite lovely, and those who prefer it are usually first chair
players.
• Big Leaf Maple is the lightest of the woods we use, resulting in
the most flexible instruments. It is preferred for second chair
orchestral parts because of the ease with which it blends with the
other instruments.
• Red Maple is a less expensive cousin to Mountain Maple, having a
slightly coarser grain, but similar performance characteristics.
• Sugar Maple is the most durable of the woods. It was the primary
choice of our earlier professional instru- ments, and it still is
used in models that are popular with public schools. Its tone
quality is slightly brighter than the other woods, and it combines
most favorably with the darker qualities of the long bore design.
It has excellent projection but is somewhat less flexible than
Mountain Maple.
Because of the many possible variations, and the difficulty in
familiarizing oneself with all the options, we have selected
specific woods that work well with each model. Where professional
instruments are involved, however, we want you to be aware that
these variations exist, and that we can usually arrange to have
examples available to try 4 at the factory, with some advanced
notice.
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