 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: mjfoboe
Date: 2010-06-07 01:26
Hi,
As per my teacher (last year) and personal observation:
I have found the a sharp delineation between the tip and heart at the corners of the blend helps with pitch stability.
Before - my tip and heart were more blended which resulted in a sharper less stable upper register.
Have others found a similar affect?
Mark
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2010-06-07 02:02
Not sure I would describe it as pitch stability. What I do find is it closes the aperture in the tip from the sides a bit, which in turn might stabilize the pitch a bit. In order to compensate for this, I try to scrape my windows at more of an angle (I described this on my blog recently) in order to leave the back more open and keep airflow free. I also find scraping this area in the tip deadens the tip vibrations on the side a bit leaving it a bit "darker", and focuses the vibrations to more of the center of the tip, and in turn the overall sound more.
Cooper
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
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Author: oboedrew
Date: 2010-06-07 23:00
mjfoboe wrote:
> As per my teacher (last year) and personal observation:
>
> I have found the a sharp delineation between the tip
> and heart at the corners of the blend helps with pitch
> stability.
>
> Before - my tip and heart were more blended which
> resulted in a sharper less stable upper register.
>
> Have others found a similar affect?
Absolutely! I believe the transition from heart to tip is critical. The right balance of gradation vs definition is key to achieving both stability and flexibility. A reed with too much gradation will require strong exoskeletal structures (i.e., spine and rails) for stability. So the definition you described is essential for light but stable reeds.
I aim for a steep drop-off approached at both the top and bottom by a gentle slope. As you described, the drop-off is more pronounced toward the sides. But for me that's incidental. I taper the heart toward the sides a little, but the tip a little more. So there's a greater difference between the thicknesses of the heart and tip toward the sides than at the center.
Cheers,
Drew
www.oboedrew.com
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Author: mjfoboe
Date: 2010-06-08 02:19
Drew,
Thanks for elaborating and finishing the description of the process.
Right on!
Mark
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Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2010-06-09 10:15
The blend is the chapter from Jay Light's book that really hits the nail on the head. A stepwise (sharply delineated) blend will be more responsive and usually help with stability in those famous Lorée unstable notes. The off side is that, depending on how the rest of the reed is scraped, the resulting sound can be clear, crystalline and possibly buzzy.
I value the process of reed-making more than the final look. The following is for European "short" scrape reeds (mine are often long scrape, but the overall principle is the same).
What I do is start with a stepwise blend and a fully straight tip (no V at all) while the heart is still very thick. When the reed is playing to my liking but still hard (but not perfectly responsive), I do the V by "rolling" my knife on the sides of the blend. This warms the tone. The tip might get too long this way (and the sound a bit buzzy), but it can be chopped a bit.
The response should not suffer from it, however I usually end my scraping by ensuring the last mm of my tip is thinnest. Most important that there should be no sign of any bumps on the tip or the heart. The warmth and roundess of the tone comes from the gradual aspect from the heart to the very edge of the tip and also from thinner sides in the heart. The opening also changes the overall quality.
With this technique, I get a warm, responsive and stable reed every time as long as it was tied properly - although the full process is important.
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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