<![CDATA[bocal soup - blog]]>Thu, 25 Dec 2025 05:12:52 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[4 years later]]>Wed, 07 Jul 2021 17:20:29 GMThttps://bocalsoup.weebly.com/blog/4-years-laterIf anyone actually read this, I would feel guilty about not keeping it updated. :P

It's been four years since my last update. In that time, so much has happened. My kids both graduated high school, my mother was diagnosed with cancer, a worldwide pandemic laid waste to most if not all live music (hopefully temporarily), and I've learned a few things:
  • Home is a safe place.
  • My teaching studio is a safe space.
  • My ensembles are safe spaces.
  • My students are unbelievably resilient.
  • My family is my most constant anchor and balm.

There's more besides that:
  • Doctors don't always say the word "prognosis", even when you ask for one.. even when the person might be looking at months or weeks.
  • Even the most seemingly solid people who are driven and ambitious and brilliant can fall apart. Repeatedly. 
  • Grief doesn't have a timeline, or predictability, or reason.

And in bassoon:
  • Gouging cane is easy. So is splitting tubes and all the other steps towards making a reed.
  • Finishing that reed isn't as easy.
  • Teaching how to do these things is a great way to check your knowledge.
  • Recording can show you all the things you never knew you needed to know about your playing. 
  • Recording online with new friends works that to an even further degree.
  • Playing new music might be one of my favorite things.
  • Commissioning new works is HARD WORK. And the kind of work I'll keep doing.

My second in person lesson in the last 15-16 months starts soon. I'm so grateful for these kids, they keep me going. They kept me busy and sane through my mother's long decline and I can only hope I did the same for them when they had nothing but online classes and remote band.

Through it all, I am so fortunate to be able to do what I do, where I do it, and how I do it. If you're one of the people doing any of that with me, I cannot thank you enough.

]]><![CDATA[Cane mission]]>Wed, 23 Aug 2017 17:59:11 GMThttps://bocalsoup.weebly.com/blog/cane-missionPictureAugust 2017 Reed crime scene
Hey! So I started writing a very long and very boring post about how I'm tweaking my cane/reed process to try to approximate Williams cane.. Oh what's that? Snoring. Yeah, exactly.

Let's cut to the chase. Williams cane is my favorite. It is shaped and profiled completely dry. This stuff doesn't hit water until it's time to form. He might be one of the only people to do it this way, I really have no idea. And though the reeds that result from this process are almost always wonderful, the cane is pretty expensive. Expensive enough that I can't make student reeds from it and keep my prices low. So, I'm trying some of this dry processing, specifically with the shaping. I've got a batch of 5 dry-shaped reeds, soaking in wait for the profiling and forming processes and another 5 blanks formed and drying in wait for their bindings. I'm supposed to be resting up today as I'm home sick, but the reed gods wait for no human. They must be placated! With three different kinds of cane in there - Medir, Gonzales from Pagoola, and some junk cane from my friend in Phoenix that I've been using to test ideas and teach - I'm hoping to get some idea of how it comes out. 

Crossing fingers!
]]><![CDATA[buying a bassoon (in brief)]]>Tue, 10 Feb 2015 08:00:00 GMThttps://bocalsoup.weebly.com/blog/ebay-madness-bassoons-for-saleI have a number of students considering the purchase of their own bassoon. At this point in their development I would recommend spending $4-9k on a bassoon that would get them all the way thru high school and into college.

Having said that, there are some factors we can use to rule some sellers out. If the answer to any of these questions is NO, you most likely do NOT want to consider that instrument.
  • Is the bassoon being sold from a US or UK company or address?
  • Does the bassoon have a stated brand name?
  • Is that brand Fox, Moosmann, Schreiber, or Puchner? (Sometimes Kohlert and Moennig are ok, but the age and accompanying info has to be really good.)
  • Is the bassoon made of wood, with no major repairs listed as needed? (A little wear is ok, and even expected. If cared for well, bassoons don't really lose value and cannot be "played out".)
  • Is the bassoon less than 30 years old?
  • Does the seller have a high satisfaction percentage?
  • Is the listing accompanied by detailed photos and bassoony sounding words, like "rollers" and "high d key"?
Most reputable double reed suppliers will allow the instrument to go out on trial. Don't be afraid to ask about this, or to phone them with questions. They want you to be happy with your purchase and will do what they can to ensure it.

​Please see my other page of links for reputable double reed suppliers.]]><![CDATA[my kind of music]]>Fri, 05 Dec 2014 22:15:11 GMThttps://bocalsoup.weebly.com/blog/my-kind-of-musicReed Desk de la Cassandra
Today was a day for the making of the reeds. 

As I worked, I decided to let my shuffled iTunes have it's way with my ears. Do you ever let your <insert music-listening device/program/app/demon here> speak to you, free-reign and uninfluenced, except by what it may have collected in regular use? Fun exercise in randomness and beats the heck out of having to choose something on the tv.

The following list is what my iTunes had to say to me, start to finish and maybe a tad embarrassing in parts, but ultimately reflecting a bit of the hodge-podge eclecticism that is "My Kind Of Music". 
Carnival of the Animals: Final (Flamingos) ~ Camille Saint-Saens
Hotel California ~ Gypsy Kings
God Bless Mom ~ the Frames
Told You So ~ Barenaked Ladies
Respect Chant ~ Adam Sandler
Sonata Breve for Violin ~ Manuel Ponce
Love is an Open Door ~ Frozen soundtrack
There She Goes ~ Boo Radleys
Spiderman ~ Moxy Fruvous
Dialogue from Suite pour trio d'Anches ~ Alexandre Tansman
Brian Wilson ~ Barenaked Ladies
Punky's Dilemma ~ Simon & Garfunkel
The Aristocats ~ Disney/Maurice Chevalier
Humoresque from Trio ~ Pierre Max Dubois
Ask ~ the Smiths
Zhao ~ Moon Over Guan Mtns / Zhao Jiping
Post Punk Progression ~ Cut La Roc
Let It Be ~ the Beatles
Picturebook ~ Young Fresh Fellows
T.C.S. Rap ~ Prince and the NPG
A Cage for Two Nightingales (cello/piano) ~ Lubos Sluka
Divertimento 1: Allegro ~ W.A. Mozart
Talula ~ Tori Amos
Gone to the Movies ~ Semisonic
A Brief History of Time (part 4 of 23)
Witty Banter (live) ~ Barenaked Ladies
Mad Flava ~ Fatboy Slim
Treat Me Right ~ Elvis Presley
La Lizeta ~ Cuban Dance?
Carnival of the Animals: Intro & March of the Lions ~ Camille Saint-Saens
Pictures at an Exhibition: Ballet of Unhatched Chicks ~ Modest Mussorgsky
Wait ~ Sarah McLachlan
The Marrying Kind ~ Prince
Lolita ~ Prince
Learning to Fly ~ Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Closer to Fine ~ Indigo Girls

*Also an interesting way to track just How Much Time 2-3 little steps of the reed-making process can take. All I did today was to profile, shape, and form five reed blanks. They still need to dry out (1-2 days), have the wires tightened, be wrapped with pretty thread, sealed/glued, shoulders cut, and finished up.

]]><![CDATA[shall we dance]]>Mon, 06 Oct 2014 21:15:56 GMThttps://bocalsoup.weebly.com/blog/shall-we-danceI love it when this happens. I caught bits of the American version of this film for about the bazillionth time yesterday, and noticed something new. In the scene where Richard Gere (student) dances the Argentinian Tango with Jennifer Lopez (teacher), there is a moment where he takes charge. He is instructed not to speak and to only move when he feels it.

Teachers LIVE for this moment. The moment when the student takes off from where he/she has been guided and embarks upon their own expression of the chosen artform. ]]>