I resumed playing my bassoon last year with the community band here after a 40-year hiatus. It's going pretty well, but I'm having trouble keeping the thing up to pitch with the band. In fact, the only way I can get it in tune is to remove the bell joint while playing. Other than losing the lowest notes, it seems to work pretty well although it sure looks goofy. Does anyone make an affordable bocal shorter than a #1? (It's a Linton. No idea of the model number.)

I'm also thinking that I probably ought to buy some new reeds, as the ones I'm using now were bought back in 1964 or '65. They still work pretty well, but I have no idea of how long a reed should last.

Are all the parts stuck together completely? I mean, the long joint completely all the way into the boot, etc. Is the bocal all the way in? I play with another bassoonist in a community orchestra and her ancient instrument won't go together all the way. She just puts it as far as she can - I've loaned her some super-fluid synthetic cork grease, but no luck, the joints are just too big. Her joints are all at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch out, and she plays super flat.

Your innovative solution to playing in tune astounds me. How did you think of that?

Try to ascertain if you can "lip up" the pitch to 440 by checking against a drone tone you can get online at several websites, and if you can, maybe it's your old reeds. Although I have several really old reeds and they don't play flat, so I don't know about that.

Good luck on finding out about that. You may have to break down and take it to someone. And then you might have to make a decision about the instrument itself..........

No, the joints all work. It's a bit tight if I don't grease the corks every time, but it goes all the way together. I tried the bell-off tuning solution a couple weeks ago while playing with the woodwind ensemble of our community band, just doing it as a joke, and it turned out to work okay. I just lose the two lowest notes, but none of the music we're doing with the wind ensemble uses them anyhow. I really need to find an affordable #0 bocal.

My biggest surprise this week was when I bought a box of assorted odds and ends that included an old plastic bassoon reed by Fox. It had a split in it from top to bottom. Rather than toss it, I superglued it, and it makes a really nice sound with little effort! Who woulda thunk it? I also just bought a new reed, and it does play better than the old ones. My biggest grumble now is the same one I had forty years ago -- the lack of a roller key for the low f/f# split. One of the pieces we're playing goes back and forth between the two keys in several spots, and it's a real pain.

It's fun being back in the band after so many decades. I'm doubling on alto clarinet, contra alto clarinet, and bass clarinet, so setup is a bit time consuming each week. Makes me envy the trumpet players. Open the case, shove in the mouthpiece, and you're ready to go... We need more musicians, but meanwhile someone's gotta cover the open spots in the music.

Couldn't you alternate between the f on your little finger and the f# on your thumb? Just a thought. Also I cannot stand how little time the trumpets take compared to us! Jerks!

Contra bassoon is much quicker tp put away as well!

How's the tuning going?

My thought is that after 40 years your breath support is not enough. I'd suggest choosing a few notes that speak easily at first (eg second space C & those either side) & see if you can get them up to pitch by breath support, not by squeezing the reed. A few minutes playing long notes like this every day & gradually increasing the range of notes will strengthen the appropriate muscles.

Did you used to be able to play it in tune? This is just a thought; but if it's a very, very old bassoon it may not have been made to A=440 - orchestral pitch used to be slightly lower.
Also I think reeds from the 1960s properly belong in a museum - I'd definitely go for new ones!

I've been working on tone support, but it's not really making any difference in the pitch. I'm toying with the idea of making a little "mini-bell" joint for the end just to cover up the tenon; perhaps something cute like an English horn-style globe?

I picked up a couple new reeds, and they don't really make much difference over the old ones, much to my surprise. What was even more surprising was finding an old plastic bassoon reed in a batch of assorted stuff that I bought on ebay. It was split on both sides, so I decided to play with it. Used some superglue to fix the cracks, let it dry, and put it on my horn. I was astounded! It is the nicest reed I've ever played. I let our first bassoon player try it, and she agreed. Now if I could just find another one like it... I know... I know... That's heresy, but what can I say? The darn thing works great.

If the bassoon is old, as stated above it may not be made for A=440. I had to have one of my older French Horns cut to make it up to pitch.

You might trying triming the reeds shorter. Get a good sharp reeed knife or a sharp razor blade and clip off millimeter of the reed. See if that does anything. If I remember correctly it should crow between Eb and F#.

Keep working on support as it does affect pitch on Bassoon. Also, even though we want to have the most relaxed embouchre when playing bassoon a little more pressure on the reed will help raise pitch (you'll loose some lower harmonics though).

If you played it in tune 40 years ago it should still be OK now - pitch was standardised at A-440 in about 1930 & everywhere had converted shortly after WW2.
Also the previous standard was higher at about A-452 not lower. (Hence older instruments made during the 1920s & 30s during the time of changeover are sometimes stamped HP or LP - the old standard or new one.

Have you asked anybody else to try playing it to see what happens?

The trouble with taking the bell off it might raise the general pitch a bit, especially at the bottom end, but it tends to put individual notes all over the bassoon, apparently at random, out of tune.