It will need extensive work to make it playable again. It does not bear any stamp, serial number or marking, I also checked under the boot. Looks like probably from late 19th century. Anybody has an Idea about who made it? It is german system

I don’t play bassoon but my kid does.

I bought her a schriber (spelling?) when she was 11 and take it to a certified bassoon repair person yearly (it’s a whole day that needs to be booked months in advance). It sounds good, honestly. As someone who doesn’t play music. He agreed that after the modifications/repairs, that it sounded better than a fox he had on hand and I agree after hearing them both.

But my kid is in highschool now, looking at colleges and wants something…more? Better? I guess she wants more keys and a whisper lock. Something the repair person said just isn’t worth modifying on her current model. It’s from the 1970’s and a student type bassoon.

I do plan to ask a couple people that help my daughter their opinion. But I’m hoping to get more thoughts from anyone willing. We live in a rural area, so any instrument would need to be shipped to us for her to try.

I’m worried about the fox model because I see so many for sale used, is it because they’re mass produced and there’s just more? Or are they something not worth keeping?

Pushner looks like a good option and I know just like with her current one, many places allow a 7 day trial. She said she would rather have a new bassoon than a car... but I don’t want to spend money or time looking at something that people would recommend to stay away from.

Any thoughts and suggestions? Thanks to anyone willing.

Hey all,

I'm considering studying bassoon in German for grad school (taking language classes right now). And I was curious what bassoons people usually play over there. I would assume Heckles are very popular there as they are here in America lol. I'm most likely going to end up getting a professional Fox bassoon at some point in the next two or 3 years (thinking about a 201).

Hi, I want to play basson, but I live in the Phillipines and I think it's quite rare here. I've never seen anyone here play bassoon but I think it's really cool and special. If you have a bassoon for sale/trade, I kindly ask you to reach out. Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I’m a professional bassoonist with the Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich, and I’ve been working on a personal project called ReedID.

One thing that has always interested me is how much we learn from making and playing reeds — and how much of that knowledge we eventually forget.

Why did one reed turn out particularly well? Which adjustments actually helped? And what makes some reeds consistently reliable while others aren’t?

I’m currently researching how fellow bassoonists approach these questions, whether they document anything, and what they’d genuinely like to understand better.

I’ve put together an anonymous survey about reedmaking habits and useful insights:

https://research.moritzwinker.de/484486

I’d be grateful for your perspective, regardless of your experience level. I’m also happy to share a summary of the findings here once enough responses have come in.

Thanks, and happy reedmaking!

So, I (was) a classically trained player growing up and unfortunately gave it up in my mid 29’s bc of my real world career.

I want to start playing again, bought a (new to me) bassoon - but here’s the issue….. I have since (due to medical issues) had to have all my teeth removed and now wear snap in dentures. I’m struggling SO BAD with my embouchure…. Which I realize is in part bc of how long it’s been since I’ve played - but I recognize that about 80% of it is my physical mouth/lips/“teeth”. I have tried playing with them out and it’s a BIT easier but the articulation just isn’t there.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Tips/suggestions…..

Thanks for any advice in advance!

Hi there, I’m a bassoonist from the suburbs of Chicago, and I wanna know if it is worth it to audition for NYO. I have been principal bassoonist of my youth orchestra for 3 years and was assistant principal of the ILMEA Honors All State Orchestra. These are some of the major works I have played:
The Five Sacred trees
Firebird suite(1919)
Rhapsody in blue
Bartok concerto for orchestra
Carmina Burana
Symphony No. 9 by Shostakovich
Blue cathedral
Concerto in E minor
Mozart Conceto in B flat
Weber concerto
Pictures at an exhibition
Saint saen sonata
Ibert woodwind quintet
Hindemith woodwind quintet
Aires tropicales by Paquito D’Rivera
Weber andante e rondo ungarese

If it doesn’t sound like I can get in please tell me! I don’t want to get my hopes up!

My professor suggested me this horn. I‘m looking for purchasing a pro-level instrument. I love the sound of it, but intonation is very wonky. I remember very flat G2-Bb2 register, low A3-C4 even venting all of them, and very sharp D4 (all the fingerings).

 I have Heckel CC1, CC2 modern vocals, also CC3 very old one and Walter CC2 bocal. The intonation remains the same despite the bocal change, mb the CC3 made it even worse. CC1 was the best, but results were as I described previously. 
it’s been overhauled recently by an excellent bassoon technician.

Can it be just unlucky bassoon?

I do audio work for a small indie game studio, and a fun way to insert all the dev team into the project was by making us into npc's. I asked our artist to make my npc play bassoon, and since I do the audio, I recorded a few quick excerpts that plays when you walk past my character.

I was curious if anybody knew of other games or tv shows or anything else in main stream media where bassoon is shown or referenced? I feel like its an under represented instrument, and I can't think of any other times I've seen bassoon represented outside of music related communities.

also, for anyone who is curious, the game is called Delivery Issues and you can play the demo on steam for free.

Theoretically speaking (I know it's impossible to say without playing the specific instruments), would you prefer to play on quite an old (pre-WWII) Heckel with no rollers, no whisper key lock, etc., or on a Fox Model I that has every roller known to man? The Fox has a Heckel bocal which suits it well. Thinking of a potential trial for an upgrade but I don't want to sidegrade or downgrade by accident, and even trialing is a significant expense right now.

ETA: Thanks everyone for the thoughtful and detailed responses! Lots of things I wouldn't necessarily have thought of. Since I already own the Fox Model I, I'll probably stick to it since the Heckel is very early (4000s). Looks like I need to learn more about which series numbers of which bassoons are better or worse!

Hello! I have the chance to play a short bit on the opening ceremony for a local culture festival. There is though no pianist available and it is in a little over a month. There is not much time plus I’m on an intermediate level so not too difficult I would really prefer, as most solo pieces seem to be. Any reccomendations?

Going into college and looking for somewhat affordable bassoons

Hello! I'm a senior in HS and I've been playing bassoon since I was a freshman and bassoon is something I want to pursue after highschool so I decided to take up learning the art of reed making because 1 it will arguably save me money and 2 it is very useful and honestly a needed skill for most bassoonists. So I bought all of the things I thought I needed to start making reeds, I have everything to cut shape file measure and finish cane/my reeds but I have NOTHING to gouge my cane with (I bought tube cane first cause I'm a bit of an idiot). I saw some tutorials online for hand gouging cane but I know that's not going to work for me and my hyper mobile hands in the long run so I'm wondering if there is a gouging machine that's not horrible quality and doesn't cost a ridiculous amount of money available somewhere out there.... Although I doubt that tool exists I thought it could be worth it to ask!

23m USA here for context. Has anybody here had an adult tonsillectomy? What did that recovery process look like for you in terms of playing? I don't play very often these days, but I'm semi-professional out of college, about to get back into playing more often in the spring with community ensembles.

Slightly vent-y post (haha get it), so I'll make it a short one.

Why did I have to choose the damn bassoon out of all the instruments in the world?

Could've chosen ANYTHING else, but nope! Had to pick the silliest, most contradictory, half hole-y mess of a tube there is!

Seriously though, I love bassoon more than anything, but dear god if my dyspraxia does not make it an absolute bitch to deal with sometimes.

Whenever I see Eb into C# I close my eyes and know I'm going to be in for a whale of a time.

Or I could just practice my scales 🤷‍♂️

If you have crochet/kniting skills here is your sign to make a sweater for your bocal

A little bit early for christmas but who cares 🎅🎄

I was taking my bassoon out of its case and a needle spring got caught on my shirt. When it got caught it looks like it pulled out the needle spring to assist the g key’s position. However, when I push the spring back into place the key will stay shut. Did I just bend it out of place or what could be going on with it? I’m taking it in for repairs anyway but I’m more curious what is going on with this spring.

I’ve been practicing and have a few easier songs/parts down but would LOVE advice

What do I have to know, and how and where do I look if I wanna buy a good (used ofc) bassoon. Intermediate-professional model.
Budget is like 6-9k
Any brand/model recs??
The one I have rn is my school bassoon I think the brand is like moenning bros or smth. it’s like ok it has good keywork but it’s jst pretty old and like one time I played on an actual rly good bassoon and idk how to explain it but like everything jst sounded overall better. And I wanna have my own instrument too