From Paris Boats to Fringe Nights to a Week In Bed: A Musician’s Real Summer

Let's sit down, and have a cozy chat about the ups and downs of my summer.

There is a blog post that goes with this episode. Click here to read.

Let me know how your summer went! You can DM me on Tiktok and Insta @eleanor.oboe or email me at [e-mail].

Use code ELEANOR15 for 15% off your Notabl_ practice journal, and level up your focus in your sessions! Click here for your journal. 

I never recommend anything that I don't love. This contains an affiliate code which means that I receive a commission -- with no extra cost to you! 😊

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Confident Musitioning

(00:02):
Podcast.
My name is Eleanor and I am aBritish American oboist studying
at the Royal Conservatory ofScotland.
Literally my dream school.
And it took me a long way to getthere.
I applied and auditioned for 12schools in three different
countries.
It was a lot of hard work.
But oh my gosh, so worth it.

(00:24):
I want you to have theconfidence to work hard in
achieving your goals.
So come with me as we go on thisjourney together.
So sit down, pull up a chair,take a seat, or if you're on the
go, welcome to the ConfidentMusitioning Podcast.
Hello, hello, and welcome backto another episode of the

(00:46):
Confident Musitioning Podcast.
I am so happy that you are heretoday.
We are gonna have so much fun.
Um it is finally autumn.
I am wearing a lovely, lovelycashmere jumper.
I just feel so cozy today.
Um this past week, uh well, Ijust started back at the
conservatoire um studying oboe,and I have worn a lot of wool

(01:11):
recently.
Um to classes and whatnot.
I just feel so like cozy.
It's the autumn vibes, it'sgreat.
Actually, it's kind of a bit toomuch sometimes because right now
um I live in Scotland and we arein a big storm and it's very
windy, very blowy, um, veryrainy, just like just so much.

(01:34):
Um, it's it's like a really,really, really kind of big
storm, and so I thought whatnot, you know, what what not
better to do?
Is that how you say it?
Wouldn't it be a great idea thatwe go to to record a podcast um
while I am inside and cozy andyeah, so that is what we are

(01:55):
doing.
So this episode is all about areflection kind of of how this
summer went and an emphasis onthe fact that all of our summers
were different.
It is now autumn, so we can kindof look back on the summers and
see um kind of how they were,reflect on them.
You know, I love a goodreflection, and it kind of talk

(02:16):
about um our summers and and notcompare them, you know.
I think that that's reallyreally important to not compare
your summer to anyone else'ssummer.
So let me tell you a little bitabout my summer because I am so
excited to.
Um, so I think the biggest thingthat happened this summer was
that I went to France twice,once in July, and the second one

(02:39):
in September.
I did not know I was going toFrance twice.
I thought I was going to Franceone time, and then I got asked
to go to France again, and I waslike, yes please.
So both of them were with thecompany Buffet Crampon.
Buffet Crampon is the companythat makes my oboe, and for the
second, um the second time Iwent to France, it was to play

(03:03):
in the Buffet Crampon's 200thyear anniversary.
Um, it was a huge deal, it wasso much fun.
I met so many amazing oboistsfrom around Europe.
Um, we performed in the Théâtrede Champs-C, and afterwards
there was like a huge boat onthe Seine, and we like partied

(03:24):
on the Seine with the EiffelTower glistening in the
background, and I was like,whoa, like what the heck is
happening?
It was such an amazing, amazingum experience, and I think I
mean I've talked about this onthe podcast before, but this is
so important.
I think that the reason why Imean, well, this experience

(03:47):
couldn't have happened if Ihadn't reached out and contacted
Buffet Crampon.
I was at an event, this was likesix months before the um concert
that I was in.
I was at an event and um therewas a representative for this
company, and I was like, I needto introduce myself to them, and

(04:08):
I did, and that kind of slowlyover time snowballed into me
being invited to perform um inthis concert, and I I think you
know it's it's crazy.
I was I was stood on this boat,right, that has been rented out,
and there was a party andwhatnot, and I ended up um
catching up with the with theperson that I originally

(04:28):
introduced myself to, and theywere like, you know, this this
started because you know youjust introduce yourself to
someone.
Do you know what I mean?
Like that, like whoa, that'scrazy.
And I think networking asmusicians is so extremely
important, and I think that thatis just like evidence of just
how important it is or it canbe.

(04:48):
Um, so that was an amazingexperience.
I learned so much.
Actually, the past episode, I'mjust scrolling up because I have
all of my episodes on mycomputer.
The one two weeks ago um talksmore about this, talks more
about the trip in Paris.
I'll link it below.
Um, it talks more about the tripin Paris um and kind of lessons

(05:10):
that I learned through throughthat second trip in Paris.
So if you want to take a take aquick look at that, that will be
linked um below in thedescription in the show notes
and yeah, go go have fun withthat.
Okay, the next thing that was somuch fun that I want to tell you
all about was that I played inthe Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

(05:32):
So if you don't know what theEdinburgh Fringe Festival is, it
is a big festival in Edinburghwhere so many different
performers perform.
It's not just classical music,although it includes classical
music, but there's also umcomedies and plays, I think.
Um and just like all of thesethese different shows, I think

(05:56):
that there's like just like moreconcert-y type shows as well,
like kind of like more popmusic, etc.
All different kinds of music,all different kinds of
performances.
It's just like performing ingeneral.
Um, and I was able to be a partof that.
So I was in um well, there wasthis opportunity where I played
the coranglais in Holst'sPlanets, and we ended up playing

(06:20):
in the fringe for two nights,and it was an absolutely amazing
experience.
I think something really funnyand really technical about this
was I was on corangle, and thereare two different styles of
corangle.
Um well, I'm I'm sure there aremore than two, but these are the
kind of two ones necessary forthe story.

(06:40):
Um, there is a conservatoirestyle, which is common all
around the world, and thenthere's a thumb plate style,
which is common just in the UK.
And the core that they had meplay on was a thumbplate core,
and I am a conservatoire player,which basically means kind of
the notes, you know, thefingerings are different, some
of them.

(07:01):
Um, and so I kind of it was likea week-long course, and then we
played in the fringe, and I hadto like during this week I had
to kind of cram the knowledge ofyou know how to play a thumb
plate instrument in that week,and at the beginning I was
messing up a lot because Icouldn't prepare for this
beforehand because I didn't havethe instrument.

(07:21):
So at the beginning I was likemessing up a lot and it was kind
of stressful and whatnot, andthen then at the end I was more
confident in it, and actuallyit's really funny because I
recently at the conservatoireI've started core and glau
lessons, and that core was aconservatoire core, which I'm
used to.
But when I played it, I startedplaying thumb plate fingerings
because just my brain was soused to the core of being a

(07:43):
thumb plate instrument afterthat intense week of thumbplate
playing.
Um so that was really funny.
But overall, that that week wasso exciting and amazing, and we
played in a church, and thischurch was it wasn't a too too
big of a church, but it was agood sub substantial church
size.
Um, but it felt like the musicwas kind of bursting out of the

(08:08):
church, like you know, like itwas so expansive and so full,
and Holst, you know, hisplanets, it's just such an
amazing piece.
If you haven't listened to theplanets all the way through
recently, I highly recommend it.
It's amazing.
Um, so yeah, that's like ahighlight.
So we've gone to like twohighlights.
I mean, the first one has twoseparate trips to France um for

(08:31):
buffet, crampon, but then thesecond one is the fringe.
So we have these highlights,right?
Um, but let's also talk aboutthe the other thing.
So I got sick and spent a weekin bed, and that sucks.
I mean, it wasn't anythingspecific, it was just an
illness.
Um, and that wasn't very good.
And I remember thinking, like, Iwas stuck in bed, right?

(08:54):
And I had like TV shows I couldwatch, films, I had books, I had
magazines, I had all of thestuff that you have when you're
sick.
And I just sat there and I waslike, I have to practice.
I just I have to practice, likeI need to practice.
It's been so long since I'vepracticed.
And it's interesting because Ithink me about two years ago

(09:15):
would have maybe gotten up andtried to practice.
But me now knows better, knowsbetter than to do that because I
was like, I am not practicing.
I am not practicing when I amill, when I'm sick in bed, even
when I'm starting to recover,I'm not gonna put myself through
that, right?
When I'm ill.
And I was like, I I mean, Iwasn't just like under the

(09:38):
weather, I was ill.
Do you know what I mean?
Like there's I feel like there'sa difference.
Um, and even when I started backup with the oboe, I started
incrementally, right?
The first day practicing, Ipracticed a wee bit, just a
little bit.
The next day I added a littlebit more until I got stronger
and stronger.
But I think that that's a bigthing to note.
I feel like as musicians, whenwe're ill, we have this, you

(09:59):
know, nagging little voice inour head saying you gotta
practice, but the best thingthat we can do for ourselves
when we are ill or whenever weneed a break is to take the
break.
I a few days ago had a really,really, really, really crazy day
where I had a recording sessionand then a lecture and then a

(10:20):
rehearsal and then an oboelesson and then a coronai lesson
and then another rehearsal.
My day started at like in theconservatoire.
It started at like I don'tremember, like eight and went
until nine or something.
Like it was crazy, you know,like like I and that was just
with me playing the oboe or thecore anglais, like it wasn't

(10:42):
just like oh study time, it waslike rehearsals and then lessons
and then less it.
So for oboe, you know, playingwise, it was a lot.
And the next day I was like, I Imean I had some rehearsals
because I had rehearsals and Ihave to go to the rehearsals,
obviously, but I was like, I'mnot, I'm not gonna, I'm not
gonna touch the instrumentotherwise because that was too
much and I need to recover.
Yeah, I felt it.

(11:02):
I think if I didn't feel thaturge to need to recover, then I
would have practiced and itwould have been fine, but I knew
that I needed to give myselfthat little bit of a break so
that I didn't end up injuringmyself.
So, all that being said, I gotill and I spent a week in bed,
and I think you know it's it'sinteresting because when when we
have our summers, and I knowit's autumn and summer is like

(11:25):
so last season, um, but when wehave our summers or when we have
any season, we we tend tocompare our summers, and I think
I I struggled with that.
I was partying on a boat on theSeine with the Eiffel Tower
glistening in the background,and I had I had trouble um
comparing my summers with otherpeople, you know, like everyone

(11:48):
compares their summers.
Um, even though I had a summerfull of really exciting things,
and I think it's normal tostruggle with that because you
know I didn't I posted about theyou know amazing trips I had
because I wanted to share thatand it was so exciting, but I
really didn't want to share thatI was ill because I I wasn't up

(12:08):
for posting, you know, like Iwasn't up for creating content
when I was ill, you know what Imean?
Like I didn't want to do that,but that means that you guys
didn't know I was ill, you know,and so you you like like if
that's that's the thing, like Ifeel like when we scroll we see
the highlights, you know.
You could be you could bewatching someone's Instagram's
post about their amazing trip,and you don't know, they might

(12:31):
be clicking that post buttonwhen they're in bed and ill.
Do you know what I mean?
Like there's so much to kind ofthink about that, and it's so
normal to struggle with that.
So I challenge you going intothis autumn season in you know,
towards the winter, even towardsthe spring, um, to kind of
remind yourself that you know,especially on the internet,

(12:52):
people share their highlights,you know.
And I also I mean, I I I haveshared low things as well.
I shared about my exam fail andand other things like that.
Um, but generally, you know,Instagram is such a such a
highlight reel.
You know, if we if we compareour real lives to Instagram or
social media, it's not gonna behelpful, you know.

(13:13):
Um so yeah, I challenge you andI also challenge myself because
it's very hard to not compareourselves to other people.
Um, yeah, and that is how mysummer went.
So yeah.
Before we finish, I want to tellyou about something that really
has helped me in my practice,which is a notable practice
journal.
I feel like there's a hugedifference when you go into a

(13:34):
practice room and you like don'treally know what to do, so you
just play for however long,versus going into a practice
room knowing exactly what youneed to do and getting that
stuff done, and then you feelway more productive.
And planning my practice for meis the difference between those
two scenarios.
And to plan my practice, I use anotable practice journal.
This journal helps me not onlyplan my practice but also

(13:56):
reflect after so that I can getbetter with every single
session.
As soon as I figured out thatthis notebook was helping me, I
knew that I had to tell youabout it and I knew that I had
to give you a code.
So use code Eleanor15 for 15%off your journal.
That is Eleanor E-L-E-A-N-O-R 15for 15% off your journal.

(14:18):
The code will be in thedescription in the show notes,
um, and so will a link to thenotable sites that will also be
down there.
So get yourself a notablepractice journal, and yeah,
let's all have more productive,effective, and focused sessions.
Because isn't that what we want?
Especially when starting up thenew academic year, yeah, that's

(14:41):
that's what we want.
So you know me, I don'trecommend anything that I don't
absolutely love.
This code is an affiliate code,which means I do receive a
commission with no extra cost toyou.
Alright, that is about it forthis episode.
Thank you so much for hangingout with me and hearing about my
summer.
If you want to tell me all aboutyour summer, please do that.
You can DM me on Instagram atEleanor.obo.

(15:04):
Um, you can also, I guess, thedo they do DMs on TikTok?
I feel really, really out of theloop with that.
Yes, you can, right?
Yes, you can.
Um, you can DM me on TikTok aswell.
Eleanor E-L-E-A-N-O-R dotobo-b-o-e, um, and tell me all
about your summer.
If you want to send me an email,it tells me all about your
summer.
That is Eleanor atconfidentmusitioning.com.

(15:27):
That will also be in thedescription, and it's you can
take the spelling from thepodcast, the confident musician
podcast.
I'd love to hear all about yoursummer and all about what you
are doing this autumn.
So, yeah, I cannot wait to hearabout that.
All right, that is about it forthis episode.
Thank you so much for hangingout with me, and I will see you
in the next episode.

(15:48):
All right, take care.
Bye bye.