Author: cjwright
Date: 2009-02-08 07:06
"Some say they have a big impact on the sound."
To some degree, yes. Silver, gold, and brass all have different tonal properties. In general:
-Silver are the brightest, most brilliant sounding.
-Brass are more mellow than silver.
-Gold are the mellowest sounding
These new corkless staples also have a really different tonal properties, but for the sake of simplicity, I'll stick with regular corked staples.
Another thing which can have an effect on the tone of the reed is the thickness of the staple wall. Some staples have thicker walls, while others have thinner. Thinner are a bit more brilliant sounding, and generally can have more complexity in the sound. However, thicker walled staples are a bit more forgiving of less-than-perfectly-scraped reeds.
"Are there complimentary staples that might work better with some instruments and not others?"
Definitely! Think of the bore of an oboe. For example, Loree has AK, regular, and DM, while Marigaux has the regular, 2001, and the new one with the funny topjoints. They all have different bore shapes, and the inside of the staple is just an extension of that. Finding which staple works best for which oboe is critical, and can make a huge difference in the tuning of certain notes, such as middle C, high A, and middle E.
Two other variables that really must be matched with a staple is the shape and the gouge, both which need to complimentary to each other, and then complimentary to the staple. The inside of the gouge is an extension of the staple, which is an extension of the bore of the oboe. The shape determines how much of the gouge is exposed and at what points.
"Do some give a more 'American' sound?
I'm not sure about this, but I doubt it. It's more about the scrape, and the embouchure formation.
"Are some staples more flexible than others?"
If you mean "unstable" when you say "flexible", then yes, some staples are more flexible while others are more stable, but again, this depends on mixing and matching staples to instruments.
I currently own a Hiniker oboe, and a Howarth XL. The Hiniker is very much like an AK Loree, except better and more even, so for the sake of comparison, what works on my Hiniker would work on most Lorees. In fact, the reeds I make for sale are playtested on my Hiniker.
The staples I like to make commercial reeds on are:
1. Weber Staples
2. Stevens Plain #2 Brass
These two seem like good bore dimensions, and have not to thin of a wall to make me scrape the world's most perfect scrape in order to get a reed just right, but have enough finesse to make it worth while.
Also, for my Hiniker, I sometimes use Chudnow Silver or Stevens Pro #2, which have a slightly thinner wall, and make me really scrape a darn good reed. When I scrape perfectly, the reed is better than a perfectly scraped reed on another staple. But when it's less than 95% perfect, it doesn't turn out well enough to keep, so I don't work with these staples as much.
Cooper Wright
cooperwrightreeds.com
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
Post Edited (2009-02-08 07:09)
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
