Author: hautbois
Date: 2008-04-10 21:04
Bobo- There was once a sensational batch of cane, about 20 years old, which was given me by my teacher, who had been given it in years passed but never tried, by a retired oboist. It was marked "Var" and was from a German company. And almost every piece I tried made a wonderful reed. There has not been such a batch for me in at least a decade, alas. I mention this because such experiences taught me that it is not me, or at least not just me, that causes a reed to fail. Currently I am ferreting through the leftovers from mayriad batches of cane I have collected over the decades I have made reeds, rather than trying new cane, and my success rate is much, much lower. I tend to make reeds in batches of 6. Right now I am getting @ 3 rehearsal quality reeds per batch. And I'd say I get one concert quality reed out of two batches. I have not had a truly wonderful reed in quite some time, but can usually find a reed with attributes suitable for the work being performed, even if it does not do everything I want. I tend to use 2 or more reeds in a concert, depending on the repertoire.
Elizabeth
|
|