Bassoon Brands and Models

Choosing the right bassoon can be a daunting task. This guide will clarify what bassoon brands and models we offer as you seek the right instrument for you. We are always happy to speak with you over the phone, so please don't hesitate to call us at 1 (612) 331-4717. Click on the model number of each listing below for a link to our store page for that instrument.

Midwest Musical Imports is proud to offer:
Fox Bassoons
Heckel Bassoons
Puchner Bassoons
Walter Bassoons
Wolf Bassoon
Yamaha Bassoons
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Tips from our Techs--Humidity Issues

 

Tip from head repair technician, Eric Anderson

Summer is that time of year when humidity increases and the wood body of instruments begins to expand.  This happens along the width and length of the wood grain affecting both the fit of keys, levers, and tenons.   When the wood expands in the summer months, woodwind instruments often don't fit together without a struggle, if they even fit together at all! We find that this issue is most prevalent during the first year of a new instrument's life, and especially prevalent in newer clarinets.

If this happens with your instrument to the point where abnormal force is required to take it apart, it's best to have an experienced repair technician take care of it.  A technician will be able to adjust the fit of the tenon cork, the exposed wood on the tenon, or sometimes both.  Ignoring the problem and blowing warm, humid air down your instrument will only make it worse!

The humidity will also make keys fit looser, but don't worry!  We never fit keys too tightly in the summertime because they will most likely expand in the fall/winter and potentially bind once the humidity drops.  Loose key fittings won't harm your instrument, they only cause them to be slightly noisier.  If you can live with the loose key fitting in the summer, great!  It should return to normal in the fall/winter.  If it is an issue for you, we can certainly fix it, and if we do, don't forget to come back to get the fit readjusted after the humidity changes.

If you ever experience issues with your instrument and don't know what to do, remember we are only a phone call away and are happy to help!!

Virtual Tour of Our New Location

We absolutely love our new location and think you will, too!!  The store has doubled in size!!  We've added practice/lesson rooms, a recital hall, increased the size of our repair shop and sales floor.  Please stop by for a visit!  We'd love to show you around!

Our repair staff working hard in the new repair shop!

Our new recital hall with seating capacity of 60!

One of our new teaching/practice studios!

A street view of our new space.

We look forward to welcoming you in the store soon!

Thank you for attending our grand opening celebration!

I would like to extend a very heartfelt thank you to everyone that came to our grand opening celebration! For those of you that came, emailed, sent flowers or called with your best wishes, we are extremely grateful. Below are some photos from the event.

A big thank you again to our generous sponsors/vendors: Buffet-Crampon, Fox Products, Loree, Puchner, Heckel, D'Addario, Peak, and Clark Fobes.

We look forward to many more events and please keep an eye on our calendar for updates!

Best wishes,
Jessica Nelson, General Manager

Owner and founder, Mike Aamoth gets a thumbs up after the Friday night reception from long-time customer, David Braslau.

Katie with customers at the Friday night reception.

Friday night reception.

Friday night reception.

 

Friday night reception.

Eric thanks a customer after work in the repair shop.

Our first customer during the celebration on Friday!! Jessica with her friend and oboist, Siri Garnaas

Friday was repair technician, Matt Reich's birthday! We surprised him with a cake.

Julie Gramolini William, Chris Marshall, and Greg Williams, of the MN Orchestra during their trio performance
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Instrument Cases - Is Yours Damaging Your Instrument?

Instrument CasesAs many players know, our instruments travel just as much as we do.  Our instruments spend quite a bit of time being removed from and placed into their cases.  If you're investing in your instrument, be sure to invest in an instrument case that cares for your woodwind too.

Many instruments that come through our repair shop suffer from ill fitting cases.  Some cases can actually be detrimental to your instrument's safety.  Reoccurring problems on your horn (rods becoming loose, keys going out of alignment) might actually be caused by the way an instrument fits in the case. We have seen bent keys from cases fitting both too tight or with excessive movement.  If your current case is not fit to your instrument, be sure to attend to this issue.  Scratched plating and blemishes in the body of an instrument can be caused by a loose bocal, screwdriver or other items left in the case.  Consider a case with an outer zipper pouch to collect all of your accessories!  We're here to help and our sales team has many options to offer when considering updating your case.   Visit our online store to see our options for cases:  oboe casesbassoon casesclarinet casessaxophone cases.  We can also special order cases--call us for more details.

Choosing the Right Instrument

The staff at Midwest Musical Imports has extensive experience performing and teaching on our respective instruments, in addition to the sales we do every day. We want you to make an informed decision and purchase an instrument that will serve you well for years  We hope that these guide will give you a more clear picture of what we have to offer as you seek the right instrument for you. We are always happy to speak with you over the phone, so please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-926-5587. Click the appropriate link below for your instrument buyer’s guide so you can get started on your research.

Choosing the right Oboe or English Horn

Choosing the right Bassoon

Choosing the right Clarinet

Choosing the right Saxophone

Extending the Life of Your Bassoon Reed

Merz-bassoon-reedBassoon reeds are expensive, either in terms of cost of buying a hand-made reed or in your own time for making your own. If you buy hand made reeds you are paying for not just the raw materials, but the years of experience of learning to make a good reed, and the time if takes to make that individual reed. If you make your own, you know how much effort and skill (and a bit of luck) goes into making a good reed. So naturally you want them to last as long as possible. Here are some really simple guidelines for extending the potential playing life of a bassoon reed.

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Great Tips for Bassoon Reed Balancing and Adjusting

Jessica and I have long been fans of Christian Davidsson's really simple reed balancing guide.

Before you get to the finer details of the scraping points of the guide, if you're using Gouged, Shaped, and Profiled cane, the first thing you probably need to do is crape out of what Christian labels (18) on the reed. My strategy for scraping out of that area is to scrape against the grain of the reed from the center out towards the corner, like so: Read More...

Humidification of Woodwinds In Dry Weather

Humidification of Woodwinds in Dry Weather

With winter months upon us, a concern with many woodwind players is keeping their instrument properly maintained in dry weather. This is especially important for wood oboes, the instrument most prone to cracking in extreme conditions. Clarinets are less prone to cracking, and bassoons almost never do, and plastic instrument will never crack due to humidity, but they can still be negatively affected by extra dry weather. Potential symptoms of a dry instrument include binding or loose keys, dry pads that don't seal well, loose fitting joints and bell rings or body bands, and a general feeling that the instrument just isn't as resonant as it usually is. We suggest proper humidification of even plastic instruments in dry months.

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Bassoon Keywork Options

The bassoon, possibly more than any other instrument, has a huge selection of possible key options.  Determining the differences between some similar keys, or if you need a particular option, can be a daunting task.  Here I will attempt to break down the most popular options for Heckel and Fox bassoons.  Some keys conflict with others either due to the placement of the key itself or associated levers or in the way that the hole must be drilled.  Please don't hesitate to call Midwest Musical Imports and ask for a bassoon specialist to discuss any of the options.  This list is not comprehensive!

High D key – This is an expected standard key for a modern intermediate or professional bassoon.  Useful for flicking and to hit notes from C5 and up.

High E key – also known as a G trill key.  Facilitates F3-G3 trill, and to play high E.  Typically this is positioned above the 1st finger on the left hand.  It can also be placed “above” the Eb key between the 1st and 2nd finger.

Plateau key for third finger left hand – This is an option usually reserved for student instruments, as it shortens the reach between the 2nd and 3rd fingers of the left hand, but can hamper the tone or intonation of some notes.  The “normal” configuration of this is the Third Finger Ring Key.

"Crown” style pancake key – This option changes the shape of the low E key (or “Pancake” key) from a totally round shape to a more square shape, which can facilitate the movement from the Bb key or the F# key to the E key.  This can be done on only one side of the key if requested (but this is quite rare).

Rollers – Rollers can be placed on just about any key.  Typically they are placed in pairs between adjacent keys, but this does not need to be the case.  Besides the standard four rollers for the two pinky keys, popular places for rollers are:

  • On any combination of keys for the right thumb (except for any Ab/Bb trill key)
  • On the front F# key (especially when the Double Wide F# key is requested)
  • On Low C and D
  • On the Whisper key and C# keys

A-Whisper Bridge – A very simple mechanism that links the “A” key (for the left thumb) with the whisper key.  This helps the pitch and stability and response of A4 and Bb4.

Whisper Locks – There are many different kinds of whisper lock mechanisms.  Either the left or right thumb operates the mechanism to keep the whisper key closed.  Please ask for details on the different kinds of locks offered.

Double Wide F# key – This option extends the from F# key across both the F and Ab keys, allowing for easier movement between all of those keys.

Offset Eb/E keys – This option takes the Eb and high E keys and shifts them down the instrument so that they Eb key is between the 2nd and 3rd fingers of the left hand, and the E key is between the 1st and 2nd finger.

High F key – Like the high E key, to facilitate a simple fingering for high F.  There are several positions this key can be placed in over the left hand, depending on how the high E key is configured.

Eb Trill key – This is used to facilitate the trill from D3-Eb3.  This can be placed either between the 2nd and 3rd finger on the left hand (the 3rd finger trills the key) or on the boot joint above the 1st finger of the right hand (the 1st finger trills the key).  Depending on which version is selected, other keys may need to be moved from their typical locations.

Ab/Bb Trill – There are several ways in which an Ab2-Bb2 trill can be accomplished on the bassoon.  Most commonly a key is placed on the boot above the back F# and G# keys for the right thumb.  The technical way in which the mechanism works varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, but the player plays Ab, and trills the added key.  There is an “Articulated” mechanism for this trill as well, in which the fingerings for Ab is used with an added key and the 3rd finger of the right hand accomplishes the trill (as if playing G-A, this becomes G#-A#).  This articulated variety is quite uncommon.

Extra low C key – This is simply an added touch for low C positioned to the right (from the perspective of the player) of the low D key.  This adds more fluid motion from lowest C-Bb without having to leverage the thumb over the low B key.

Pinky, or “French” whisper key – This is a mechanism to close the whisper key with the left hand 4th finger, placed near the low Db/C# key.

A Ring Key – The ring key standard on all modern bassoons for the 3rd finger of the right hand allows for the proper pitch of G4 by opening a second tone hole automatically.  A second ring for the 1st finger of the right hand can allow an extra tone hole to open above the 1st finger to open automatically.  This allows for Ab4 and A4 to be played with the low F key (4th finger right hand) instead of the need for the G key (3rd finger right hand) while maintaining proper pitch.  The mechanism is automatic and allows for easier technique in the upper register.  Many players still prefer the tone color of the 3rd finger version, and this option does not prevent that fingering.

Db-Eb (C#-D#) mechanisms – These are mechanisms that allow for easier movement between the lowest Db and Eb on the bassoon.  The simplest mechanism is an extra touch for the left thumb that operates the Db key, freeing up the 4th finger left hand to trill the Eb key.  This is only useful for a normally impossible trill.  There are many ways Heckel and Fox can accomplish this particular task, so please ask us which one might be right for you.  The more complicated “Articulated” mechanisms allow for one key to be used for both the low Db and low Eb, so the movement between the two notes is accomplished by just the movement of the thumb from the low C to D keys; the 4th finger does not need to move.  Again, there are several ways in which this can be accomplished.  The least common way this is accomplished is with an extra touch for low Eb for the left thumb, near the D key.

Gentleman's” Model, or Divided Long Joint – This option positions the split between the long joint and the bell equal to the top of the wing joint.  This means that the bell, long joint and wing joint are more similar in length, so the case for the bassoon can be made more square.