A Minor Journey dot com.

Hi folks,

Last Friday I posted a question to you all to see if anyone could tell the difference between the John Packer 081 oboe and a 10-year old Marigaux 901.

As most of you seem to have noticed after listening to this recording, the two oboes in question were played in the following order:

After a week I’m increasingly impressed with the 081. Yes, it’s no professional instrument but it isn’t meant to be. However, I did manage to successfully play several fun pieces on it including the Hummel Theme & Variations and the Kalliwoda Morceau Du Salon. In order to make a nice sound I had to work a little on the higher register but the intonation was spot on. A lack of trill keys makes for a little bit of nifty fingerwork and cross-fingerings but I was able to play the pieces.

Would I buy one?

Hmmm.. Tough. I’ve got this for another two weeks. I hope to make my mind up by then. I’m often doing workshops and demonstrations to children as young as four years old. Naturally they want to grab the instrument. Having a cheap £320 instrument to play at that point is a big draw for me. I could leave “my baby” at home and kno that it would be safe from roaming hands! So ask me in two weeks’ time.

Would I recommend one for a young student?

Certainly. I only wish all of my schools would buy some new instruments like this and get rid of those terrible 40 year old, barely working, instruments that they insist on servicing in a pointless attempt to improve the instrument quality. Of course, the instrument is crippled through a lack of keywork but if you’re looking for an instrument for the first year of learning it is a fantastic candidate.

Could it revolutionise oboe takeup?

Maybe not, but one can hope…

I’d really like to follow this with some more discussion. Please do post comments!