During a rare visit to a music store this week, I overheard a very young clarinetist asking a salesperson to help him locate some unusually stiff reeds. The salesperson was as surprised as was I that the young man was interested in such an extreme equipment choice—but apparently for different reasons. “You must be very talented ... 
Some of the questions I am most frequently asked about woodwind doubling involve the similarities in fingerings between the instruments: “You play all those instruments? Well, I guess the fingerings must be pretty much the same, right?” “I play the oboe, and I would like to learn the saxophone. How close are the fingerings?” There ... 
You know you are at oboe camp when the rules include “no crowing reeds before 7:30 a.m.” I’m back from the John Mack Oboe Camp, held every June at the Wildacres Retreat in the mountains of North Carolina. The camp has been an institution for over 30 years, and has been carried on by Mr. Mack’s ...