Reeds
Making Reeds Behave
Citation: Armfield, Terri. Making Reeds Behave. The Instrumentalist, Sep. 2012, Vol. 67, No. 2.
Article Title: Making Reeds Behave
Author: Terri Armfield
Instrument: Oboe
Magazine or Journal Title: The Instrumentalist
Summary:
Article Title: Making Reeds Behave
Author: Terri Armfield
Instrument: Oboe
Magazine or Journal Title: The Instrumentalist
Summary:
- Oboe reeds
- Short life
- Difficult to develop a consistent sound
- Beginners- rarely have someone to make or adjust reliable reeds
- Many by bad reeds because of the high prices
- Buying reeds
- Beginners- soft to medium-soft reeds of highest quality
- Good reeds make any oboe sound good
- Check reeds in light for parts
- Chart for each part of the reed
- What should be thinnest, thickest
- Soak and Dry
- Repeated process
- Affects the thickness of the reed and adjusted is required
- How to Adjust
- Tip Opening
- New reeds are more open than old reeds
- Soak new reed for 4 min, and measure the opening
- If too open, pinch very tip and squeeze closed for a few seconds
- If no changes, pinch heart and rip gently
- Tip Opening
- Clip Tip
- If reeds respond too easily, the pitch is wild, or too bright
- Use cutting block and razor blade
- Only clip a miniscule amount of tip
- Play to check after every clip
- Scrape
- Need reed knife or small 400 grit sandpaper
- Plaque is also need to be smooth and separate blades; they are inexpensive
- Try shading areas to scrape first to be precise and remove with sandpaper
- Always test reed before making more alterations
- Common needs for adjustment
- Hard and difficult to blow: scrape all areas but tip and bark
- Response stuffy and too hard to play: scrape sides of heart and bend
- Flat in the upper register: if it has good response, clip the tip, test, and then scrape if necessary
- Tone too bright: clip the tip, test the reed, and then scrape the heart if needed
- Adjustment impossible without reed tools: knife, sandpaper, plaque
- Can be found at hardware store for fairly cheap
- Practice on retired reeds
How to Care for Oboe Reeds
Citation: How to Care for Oboe Reeds. 2010, <http://www.reedery.com/reed_care.pdf.>
Article Title: How to Care for Oboe Reeds
Author: N/A
Instrument: Oboe
Magazine or Journal Title: N/A
Summary:
Article Title: How to Care for Oboe Reeds
Author: N/A
Instrument: Oboe
Magazine or Journal Title: N/A
Summary:
- Soak cane for 1-5 minutes before use
- Use cork grease as needed
- Important as you could break your reed if it’s too difficult to get on and off
- If still too tight, squish cork and roll between fingers to compress a little
- Use towel to remove stuck reeds, or other cloth, and always twist
- Adjusting the opening of the reed
- Soak reed
- Look down opening during process
- Gently use finger and thumb near thread wrapping to squeeze blades more open or closed
- Closed makes it sharper and easier to play, open is flatter and darker tone
- Store reeds in specially made case
- Lets them dry properly
- Protects from breaking
- Prevents losing them
- Recommended plastic reed case
The Effects of Profiles of Oboe Reeds on Intonation
Citation: Wehner, Walter L. The Effects of Profiles of Oboe Reeds on Intonation. Journal of Research in Music Education, Autumn 1970, Vol 18, No. 3.
Article Title: The Effects of Profiles of Oboe Reeds on Intonation
Author: Walter L. Wehner
Instrument: Oboe
Magazine or Journal Title: Journal of Research in Music Education
Summary:
Article Title: The Effects of Profiles of Oboe Reeds on Intonation
Author: Walter L. Wehner
Instrument: Oboe
Magazine or Journal Title: Journal of Research in Music Education
Summary:
- Making reeds
- Important to make them as good as possible because of the short life span of cane
- Many methods to making reeds
- Before modern methods
- Used to be much larger, but not very precise
- Development of the brass tube helped with precision
- Profile: from tip downwards
- Can be scraped and thinned
- Many different kinds of adjustments that can be made
- Different between cultures: German and French ways of adjustment and reed making
- Four most common profiles made by manufacturers
- Each reed made differently and produces different qualities
- How far the reed is in the instrument, player also effects qualities
- Profile 1: deviations in the lower registers
- Profile 2: larger deviations, tendency for sharpness
- Profile 3: tuning tends to be sharp throughout range
- Profile 4: not as great pitch deviations, a little flat throughout range
- Chart showing the tendencies of every note on each profile
- Adjustments
- Important for music educators
- Specific adjustments that can be made to each profile to improve its deficiencies
- Which profile works best for specific types of student
- Experimenting with different profiles will help you find the best one for you