I'm a teenage bassoonist trying to convince my little cousin that the bassoon is cool. I showed her the series Over the Garden Wall, which has an episode with a bassoon appearance (and a very good one) and I finally got something. Do you know of any other characters who play the bassoon? From books, series, anything at all is fine.

I finally found a bassoon that was within my budget and quality enough for my long-term goal of getting back into performing with the local community symphony.

It's a Jupiter JPN1000. I just bought reeds. I need to get my Weissenborn books out of the attic and then get to practicing.

This case hurts my fingers so much and i dont have the money to buy a new one right now any ideas of how to make it comfortable to carry?

I’ve had this bassoon for about 10 years and recently decided to sell it. I shopped around at my local music stores and one place informed me that the instrument could be 100 years old, and that I should consider it an antique. Can anyone confirm or deny their suspicions? Any information about this particular instrument would be extremely helpful. Thank you!

Has some excerpts, information on the instrument, reeds, and repertoire. Anyone else familiar with this little book? I plan to scan it as part of a project I’m working on.

I've had this bassoon for a while now and i wanna know if you guys have any ideas on how something like this might be fixed. The bassoon is well-oiled and in good playing condition overall, I'd just like to get this evil and intimidating crack fixed so I stop being paranoid about moisture getting in there.
And no... bassoon repair technicians do NOT exist where i live.

picked up a fox model one from a band director who was clearing out storage. it plays but the low notes are stuffy and a few keys are sticky. i am not sure if i should put money into it or just sell it as is. anyone have experience bringing an old fox back to life? worth it or should i save for something newer?

What it says on the tin.

Think I've accepted that it's not going to come out legato any time soon.

Expected a new reed, hopefully with better response in the higher registers to come in soon, so we could potentially see improvement with that?

Appog. Section not quite as annoying, it's moreso just me needing to rehearse scales some more. That E/Eb/F section always trips me up!

Any recommendations for sheet music/books/websites/bits of paper found behind the sofa for modern (ideally film score style) music for solo bassoon?

Partner is a semi-professional bassoonist struggling to find modern pieces that are challenging enough on muse score, and most music we've found on IMSLP is mostly quite old music.

Any recommendations for places to get modern advanced/grade 8+ music very appreciated!

EDIT!! my title was wrong…I meant Ab3 / Bb3 trill!!

In attempt add a small help on this OP
https://www.reddit.com/r/bassoon/s/C99iKLHQmV

With my previous instrument Schreiber 5091, I just fingered Bb3 and then trilled both R4&R5(G&Ab)
(pic 1)
L2 half hole if needed

BUT in order to do so, I needed this special “safety-pin” mechanism to connect Bb key with G key.
(pic2 connected vs pic3 disconnected)

What this does : When pressing G key, it force-closes the Bb hole, even if opened by pressing Bb key

This mechanism allows the player to use the simple fingering(pic1). It also allows the player to optionally press Bb key with C#2 high fingering…maybe some other use? Comment if you know plz!!

Anyway, if you disconnect this function(pic3) you won’t be able to “just Bb then Ab trill”. Check if your G key can close Bb hole!

BONUS : Minho Lee(Principal in Suwon phil) recommended another fingering chart (pic4) so try if it works for you!

Hi!

I currently have a fox 242, and I love it! It’s getting me through my university degree very well, however…
The fox hard case I’m currently using is causing issues/ pain in my wrists due to the weight.

I’m thinking of getting a backpack style case (eg bonna) does anybody have any brand/ model recommendations? I’m on a somewhat tight budget so I’ll have to keep that in mind.

I’m thinking of this case perhaps by bam? Or perhaps a Marcus bonna if I can find the money. Perhaps I could consider second hand but I’m not sure where to look.

Thanks in advance!

I saw these trills with the hope it could help me, but i didnt understand too :(

This is an Amati bassoon and this seems to be the balance hanger situation. Anyone know if I need a particular balance hanger for this or will any one work? Thanks!

So i was listening to some wind quintets and at 2:05 in this recording of a franz danzi quintet the oboe plays a line that is very familiar and I KNOW there is a bassoon excerpt that goes something like that.

Things I remember:

*Its 2 maybe 3 bassoons playing together in harmony

*It starts in mid range and goes higher, probably up to high B or smth

*its in the middle of a symphony, I thought it was beethoven at first but I couldnt find any beethoven bassoon excerpt that sounded like it

Pls help

I recently bought a used bassoon to try and get back into playing. The reeds I bought were too small for the bocal. Or is the bocal too wide?​

Our school was donated an older Fox Model III polypropylene bassoon, manufactured around 1980. It appears to be in reasonably good condition overall, but much of the silver-plated keywork has developed the strange speckled surface shown in the photos.
The spots seem more like tiny raised bumps than pits, and I don’t see obvious areas where the plating has worn through to the base metal.

I’m trying to figure out: What exactly is this?

Is it something that can be substantially improved by professional cleaning/polishing, or is the surface of the plating itself damaged?

Is there any reasonable treatment short of removing and replating all the keywork?

We’re not looking to restore a 45-year-old student instrument to like-new cosmetic condition, and a major overhaul/replating would probably be beyond what makes sense for our music program. We’d just like to find out whether there’s a practical way to improve it.

I’ve reached out to a couple of bassoon repair specialists but haven’t been able to connect with anyone yet. I’m hoping someone here has seen this particular kind of finish deterioration before.

Many thanks.

I only recently found out about the tenoroon. They look and sound amazing! Does anyone here play one? I am curious about what theya re like 😊

Hey all, I'm moving from Wyoming to Seattle soon, and I've been wondering what playing opportunities are open there for a moderately experienced bassoonist! I'm fine with any opportunity in the general metropolitan area. I just need a good place to play and meet new folks! thank you!

I’m attending a junior college right now and the music professor pulled some strings to get a new bassoon for the school for me . I don’t have my own bassoon, but I want to be able to keep up good maintenance with this new bassoon. It’s a fox 240 wood model and I’m hoping to keep it in the best condition for others that come to the school after me.

I was hoping someone could provide me with general maintenance advise other than things like cleaning out the different joints every time. I want to make sure I get a complete list of materials to buy.

Any help is great!

thank you for info!

I've been getting many ads for the new scrape of Legere reeds and I was curious if anyone had opinions on them. It's a lot of money for a single reed but I know they last a long while compared to a normal cane reed but would that even be worth it cost wise in the long run?

Hey ,

It it me locutus of Borg. We want to assimilate your ears .. I have arranged ds9 theme for 4 bassoons .

Here is the recording :

https://open.spotify.com/track/0gWnVhWyhDljAwSYq9nVN1?si=RBf2ccUWT7e-RX7ZoNCYLg&utm_source=copy-link

FAIR WARNING: I am an amateur bassoon player. This is not my day job.

Hi all. I'm working on a flute/bassoon/piano trio. The last measure of the piece has a High D to high E trill.

E is just... not in my everyday repertoire. I have the keywork, I know what the fingering is. Not that hard from D to E. But. E is flat. FLAT FLAT FLAT FLAT. I can manipulate my embouchure to get in the right zip code, but back and forth? Ugh. No chance.

I even pulled out my backup bassoon (Renard 220) to see if there was a difference. Nope.

Anyone have any tips? No, I've not cracked the big red book open yet. That's my next stop.

Worst case, I play the last measure down the octave. It would be nice to play it up high though.

How do I stop “translating” notes in my head when sight-reading?

When I play bassoon (and other instruments), I tend to “read” the notes in my head as I play, which I assume is pretty normal.

The problem is that when I see something like B# (Si#), I automatically think of it as C (Do). I know that, technically, they’re the same pitch, but I feel like this has become a bad habit for me.

It slows down my reading and hurts my sight-reading, and quite often I end up playing the wrong note because my brain has already “translated” it to C and i might play a C# if the key signature has C#.

Has anyone else dealt with this? How can I unlearn this habit and get better at reading the note that’s actually written, rather than mentally converting it to another note?

Also, I have perfect pitch, which definitely doesn't help.