r/bassoon

My son is going to be doing a 3 day “bassoon fest” this week, and one thing they said in the “what to bring” is a metronome. He has one on his phone, but they also said in the “what not to bring” is a phone (keep it in your bag on silent til breaks and lunch). Is there a good metronome that works well for bassoon players? Or will any metronome do?

Hey, as title suggests. I’ve got a Schott BSN4 that I’m playing on for a church. I’ve only played Foxes in my time as a student, graduated college and haven’t been able to afford my own. The church was looking for a bassoonist and were planning on getting a bassoon anyway, so I joined up and am playing on their instrument. It was used, a student bassoon that I think a band director had got his son, who wound up not wanting to keep playing it.

Anyway, my time with this instrument has been a bit of a struggle, to say the least. Between my 5 years off, unfamiliar model, and reed troubles, I’ve been struggling. Then Wednesday, I got my boot swab stuck in the U joint. I don’t know how, that’s never happened to me before, but the church took it to musician supply and had it removed. Now I’m having issue with the f# key, and low E and lower won’t speak.

This has prompted me to actually take action and try to find a bassoonist or specialist or someone who would know more, which I’ve wanted to do since I got my hands on this instrument. I’m in the Midlands area of South Carolina, if there’s anyone local who might be able to help me out or point me in the right direction. I’m open to DMs so people aren’t doxxing themselves or anything.

And bring on the berating! I deserve it, I mean how do you get a boot swab stuck??

Thanks in advance, I’ve been looking forward to getting back to playing and this instrument has been a road block to feeling the elation I remember before I graduated.

Hello bassoonists! I'm looking for a case solution for a bit of an oddball problem: flying with a natural trumpet. The longest part, the bell, is about 57cm long, just too long to fit in a standard trumpet case. I've looked at a lot of cases for a lot of instruments, and I think the Bonna MB2 Gentleman might be my best bet, but I was hoping for some real-world measurements of internal and external dimensions.

What are the actual measurements of the interior space and exterior of the case? How has flying with this case been for you? I know it's a little longer than the long dimension of a standard carry-on, but I think it might fit within the sizer corner-to-corner?

Thanks for your time!

Hi. After many years of being away from the bassoon and contrabassoon, I've decided I can't live without them any longer and have decided to take the plunge and buy them both.

Heckle says they are no longer taking orders, die to backlog and years of waiting tjmes.

So I have looked at the Moosmann website, contacted Bernd and listened to many performances on YouTube. They look and sound great but they are expensive.

A couple of others are Schreiber and Kronwalt. Some of the Fox models also sound great.

I had a Heckel back in the 70s, so I know a good bassoon.

If anyone here has compared Moosmann (pref. 222E) with Schreiber, or even Amati I'd love to know. Thanks.

Hi folks,

I've been asked to play with an acoustic guitar and solo vocalists. They are unmic'd and very quiet! When I try to play quietly enough to not take over my tone suffers greatly and I drop a lot of notes. I've asked them if they can mic up. But is there anything else I can do? (It's an odd situation since usually I'm the one that can't be heard over the band or orchestra!)

Hello all!

I'm going to IDRS to hopefully buy a new bassoon, and I wanted to post online first to see if anyone's selling something that might be a good fit! I'm studying bassoon in college, and I'm looking to upgrade from my plastic bassoon to something on the lighter/smaller/freer-blowing side like a Renard or a 201. My budget is ~20k, but I would consider going a bit over that if something was an amazing fit.

I'd also love any suggestions on other models to try while I'm there!

Hi!

I’m going into my senior year of undergrad and gearing up for grad school auditions. I currently play on a Fox 222 which has served me well but doesn’t include all of the key work i’d need to survive into my graduate studies and career. I’m wondering if anyone has the next step up, a Fox 220 or Fox 240, or something else of similar make that they are looking to sell?

It would be incredibly helpful as well if the seller would be willing to receive payment in the form of installments 🙏

Please DM me if this is the case!
Thanks!

With a concert tonight I am trying to set my mind at rest by reminding myself that in high summer in 18th century Austria the bassoons would have been even more out of tune due to being less precisely and technically built.

And also that likely being servants the musicians would have been sleeping in garrets and have had an even poorer night's sleep.

And finally that their clothes and wigs and the heat of the opera house or ballroom (Candles! Crowds! Sweaty people who had their last bath at Easter!) the players' fingers would be even more sweaty.

At least, that's my excuse for missing a few notes in Marriage of Figaro.

if anyone has a fingering chart for the amati system contrabassoon please let me know. i just got one and most fingering charts online are for fox or heckel systems. also i know there was a amati fingering chart posted on this subreddit before but the link no longer works. if anyone could point me in the right direction i would be so happy!