If only it weren't so heavy, he could reach the mouthpiece by playing it horizontally like a flute....... lol you'd have to spin the mouthpiece though. I never played a double-reeded instrument before i don't know how easy that would be!
It's easy and some folks do play it that way when they want to seem edgy and modern. It takes up alot of space though so you don't see it often.
The bigger problem [heh] is that little fingers can't reach all the toneholes let alone hold the weight. Even with additional keywork, he can't get his hands all the way around the instrument and this is a tiny bassoon by modern standards (It's a late 1800s design). I can't fully cover a modern bassoon due to short fingers either. My instructor from a few years back (the amazing Mr. Don Bravo of the BSO and Boston Lyric) also has small hands and has custom keys fitted to his instruments to compensate.
Many years ago I saw a performance of The Magic Bassoon (PDQ Bach, of course). A major plot point was that Our Hero's bassoon kept getting progressively smaller as bits disappeared, until all he was left with was the reeds. As I recall, it was still playable for a while as bits went away. Could he possibly play an abbreviated bassoon?
The bassoon already has a large amount of machinery to move the control surfaces to the center.
Look at this image showing the front and back: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/FoxBassoon.jpg
It's played with two hands, one above the other.
The fingers of one hand directly close the top set of holes you can see on the left view and the hand wraps around the instrument putting the thumb in the center of that array of keys on the view of the other side. The same thing happens for the other hand.
Someone with child sized hands couldn't wrap their hand around, though I suppose they could at least reach the five normally-open directly operated holes and thus play roughly seven notes (plus some more from over-blowing). Seven notes is probably enough for some PDQ pieces!
Usually people can't start bassoon untill they are 10-12ish so they are sufficiently big to play. Howarths of London have for the past 7-10 years been making mini-bassoons which you can start from a good few years younger. More to the point they are hilariously funny to play. particularly if you have massive hands...
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-26 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-26 10:17 pm (UTC)Yoyoma started by holding a violin vertically. Perhaps the basson can be saved by, I dunno, something ?
no subject
Date: 2009-12-27 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-26 11:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-27 05:10 am (UTC)The bigger problem [heh] is that little fingers can't reach all the toneholes let alone hold the weight. Even with additional keywork, he can't get his hands all the way around the instrument and this is a tiny bassoon by modern standards (It's a late 1800s design). I can't fully cover a modern bassoon due to short fingers either. My instructor from a few years back (the amazing Mr. Don Bravo of the BSO and Boston Lyric) also has small hands and has custom keys fitted to his instruments to compensate.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-27 07:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-27 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-27 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-27 01:15 pm (UTC)No
Date: 2009-12-30 07:47 pm (UTC)Look at this image showing the front and back: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/FoxBassoon.jpg
It's played with two hands, one above the other.
The fingers of one hand directly close the top set of holes you can see on the left view and the hand wraps around the instrument putting the thumb in the center of that array of keys on the view of the other side. The same thing happens for the other hand.
Someone with child sized hands couldn't wrap their hand around, though I suppose they could at least reach the five normally-open directly operated holes and thus play roughly seven notes (plus some more from over-blowing). Seven notes is probably enough for some PDQ pieces!
Re: No
Date: 2010-04-27 10:45 pm (UTC)