Author: OboeCraig
Date: 2012-04-03 03:57
The 98% of scraping happens in 2-5 minutes, day 1.
Then minor adjustments for pitch and response happen as I play the reed in, say 10 -15 minutes over the next 2 days.
I agree the drying cycles and short periods of playing the first couple days are an important part of the reed [setting, curing, stabilizing, break-in]
Beyond 3 days, I usually rework the reed down to 67.5 - 68 mm (46 mm tubes)
and try to at least get a decent practice reed. I'd say about 50% of those deemed practice worthy may also be recording worthy. They produce a full tone at low levels of volume, which I like a lot for recording, and respond expressively with minor changes in air and lip control for color. They also get a little thin at high volume in the upper 2nd octave.
As a matter of process, I usually have 50 reeds in progress, and tend to concentrate on 3-5 per week to become performance worthy.
I was damaged as a child by reed droughts and now use my OCD tendencies effectively to keep way ahead of the reed curve. I sleep better at night that way.
If only they had an oboe player role on Big Bang Theory... I'd be a star.
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