Blog Post #1—An Introduction (1)

Alright, hi!  Welcome to my blog!  Now that introductions are out of the way (I'm well aware I haven't asked anything about you, but frankly I don't really care), this is my Genius Project blog.  I'll be posting here at least once every week/cycle, and in a couple of weeks there will be videos to accompany my blogs!  So that's a bit of an overview, for now.

Anyways, my project is learning the process of oboe reed making.  I've been playing oboe (see picture below!) for almost 3 years now , and I absolutely love it.  I'm also the only oboe player at the high school, so that's pretty neat, but it also means SO MUCH responsibility (and a lot of solos [which is just *perfect* for when you have performance anxiety])!  Back on topic, however, I recently noticed after attending Montco. Band (a county band that combines a bunch of high schoolers from different schools) that many high school oboe players begin making their own reeds.  Now, I always knew it would come to this--it was only a matter of time.  Additionally, I never really had much opportunity (or time) to get into reed making because of school, sports, extra curricular activites, etc.  However, this project is PERFECT for  making reeds because it forces me to set aside time doing school work to actually make reeds.

I'm very excited to begin learning how to make reeds because I already struggle with not breaking the ones I buy!  At the same time, however, I'm also very nervous for my success rate / progress because I know this is going to be a very challenging task.  Nonetheless, the Genius Project is well underway, and it can only go up hill from here... and perhaps then fall back down... but we'll get to that if and when we get there.

My Oboe

(his name is Walter and he is wonderful)

For starters, here is my motivation for wanting to pursue this activity; I've broken it down into 3 general areas.

• Relation
• Obviously, as I've already stated, I play the oboe.  Learning how to make reeds will allow me to climb the oboe playing ladder and really push just how serious I am about this instrument

• Useful
• Oboe reeds are expensive.  The average one from Amazon.com costs between $15 - $17.  By being able to make myself with reeds, I will be able to self-supply and hopefully also add a bit more of myself into my playing

• Aspects of Thinking
• Making reeds requires craftsmanship, patience (oh god... so much patience), precision, and handwork.  Some of these qualities I have, (hint: it's not patience) and others I could work on.  By combining these aspects into a single subject, I think I'm laying out a road to success for myself.  Plus, I love making things with my hands!

Moving on, I have a timeline of how things should roughly happen.  Keep in mind that making reeds may be easier or harder than expected, so things may shift as this project goes on.

Week 1 (this week):

• obtain materials and resources (equipment, books, videos, tutorials, etc.)
• begin the learning process!

Week 2:

• continue the learning process
• start putting the steps into action!
• begin making a list of and contacting reed makers whom I would like to interview

Week 3:

• learning process continues
• go through the steps with minimal help--begin seeing progress of "mastery"
• get the (or possibly those) interviews rolling
• talk to experts!  write down their thoughts, suggestions, and insights

Week 4:

• make a working reed
• a reed that is able to be used to practice and play through a piece
• does not have to be perfect and in no way "concert" worthy
• interview = done
• if the interview is not done / incorporated into this blog by the end of this week, YOU ARE VERY BEHIND!!!
• start filming weekly videos of myself using the reeds I make
• pick a relatively easy piece, but one that requires some amount of effort (no hot cross buns, Liv)

Week 5:

• improve making your reeds
• tie up any majorly loose ends; get better!
• take a step back and look at your improvement from Week 1 to now
• how's this going?  according to plan?  slower?  faster?  any changes that need to be acknowledged?
• don't forget the video!

Week 6:

• TED Talk Prep
• look at everything you've done so far; what does it mean?  what's the relevancy?  "so what?"
• get a script done by the end of this week--begin the editing phase
• overview progress
• how ya doing so far?
• major issues that still need to be fixed?  FIX THEM
• VIDEO

Week 7:

• the presentation is in a week--PRACTICE!
• have an almost solid, concrete layout for the presentation by mid-week
• analyze progress further
• add anything to your presentation that will enhance / help it
• pressing issues?
• anything you've completely forgotten to address?
• Hint: it begins with a V and ends in "-ideo"

Week 8:

• at this point the presentation is literally 1 Day Away
• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!
• Don't forget the final blog post!
• you may be presenting, but people are still reading

Now that you've read through my very critical timeline, here is the goal that I've set for myself by the end of this project.

Okay, well, I lied.  I've broken down the Goal™ into two parts.

The Small Goal:

• To know how to make an oboe reed that works well enough to use during practice and band class
• To need very little, if any, assistance to make the reed

The Big Goal:

• To have a complete understanding as to how a reed is made beyond just making it.  That is to say, to know how to fix a reed if it isn't working properly or to know how to adjust it so that it's better than its current state
• To set the foundation of making reeds for myself for the rest of my oboe playing career.  I'd like to gradually ween myself off of manufacturing reed brands and begin relying on only myself to supply reeds

SO HERE IT IS, my first blog post.  I apologize for its extreme length; however I really wanted to get all my thoughts down to have a sturdy baseline for future posts.  I assume that my minimally weekly/cyclical posts won't be as long as this, but I can't promise anything.  I can, however, promise that this blog is going to make you interested.  Whether or not it's because you too want to struggle for the next 8 weeks or you simply like the way I write, I assure you that this blog is going to be informative AND fun to *reed.

Now, as I haven't completed any homework other than fixing my blog layout and making this post, I suppose I should end this.  

Thanks for reading!

- OMB

*please do not deduct any points for my awful puns... they will be frequently reoccurring

P.S. If you do not know what an oboe sounds like, here is a video from the Philharmonia Orchestra in London that should give you a good idea.
[please note that I do not sound this good]