 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Alan Davis ★2017
Date: 2013-12-26 23:29
I am an old fart who took up oboe about a year ago with no similar prior experience. I live in Juneau, Alaska with no road connection to anywhere. There are only a couple of oboists in town and I am taking lessons from the first oboist in our community symphony. She is adjusting reeds for me when needed, but I would like to start learning to make and adjust my own reeds. My teacher simply doesn't have time to teach me and there doesn't seem to be anyone else interested in town. It seems my only option is to find a workshop somewhere else, requiring an airline flight, and probably coordinated with a vacation. I have family in Seattle and Portland and friends near San Diego, so those would be preferred locations. Does anybody have a recommendation of a good class or adult music camp where I could learn the basics of reed scraping and tuning where I also would not be terribly out of place in a room full of teenagers.
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Author: Merlin_Williams
Date: 2013-12-26 22:50
Find Joseph Shalita's Oboe reedmaking e-book. He charges a very reasonable price, you can d/l it right away, and it's very good.
I learned how to make reeds using that book, with very little other input.
Jupiter Canada Artist/Clinician
Stratford Shakespeare Festival musician
Woodwind Doubling Channel Creator on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodwindDoubling
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2013-12-27 05:27
My friend Brent Hages is in the Seattle area and is a prolific reedmaker. When people ask to order reeds from me and I can't fill them, I recommend Brent as a source. You can google him or find him on facebook, or contact me directly for his information.
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
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Author: Oboehotty
Date: 2013-12-27 19:05
The Shalita book is fantastic. When I am having any sort of reed difficulties, I go to it immediately and follow step by step. I ALWAYS get a great reed right away.
I might also recommend the Mack Oboe Camp in North Carolina...I have sent several students and all come back with great reed skills!
Shawn
Professor of Oboe - Youngstown State University
Howland Local Schools - MS Dir. Of Bands/HS Asst. Dir (Marching, Symphonic)
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Author: ptarmiganfeather
Date: 2013-12-28 03:53
I live in the woods in the Mat-Su Valley. The nearest oboe teacher is 45 minutes away, depending on road conditions. At one point I thought going to Fairbanks for their fine arts festival might be fun. It was too expensive and too far. I felt the same way being mid 30's going to a workshop.
I learned reed making from a book. My reeds aren't the best they made me through a couple concerts in a row. Get a book as recommended above. I learned from the Jay Light book but the Shalita book is probably better. My oboe teacher and another oboist friend were more than happy to evaluate my reeds once they were playable. Best of luck to you what ever you choose to do.
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Author: Alan Davis ★2017
Date: 2013-12-28 05:50
Thank you all for your suggestions. I will take your advice and try to learn from a book at this point. My first impulse for learning is always to find a book on it, but I thought this delicate, physical skill would be hard to learn without an actual teacher. There are many sources of ready-to-scrape reeds out there, so I'll start there. Somebody I read said you have to make a few hundred reeds to get good at it. Hope that's not right. Besides, I can find a class in the summer, if I need it. Thanks again for your help!
Alan
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Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2013-12-29 02:25
And David Weber's manual to Shalita's.... both are great.
And in the event you struck gold up in AK, just buy great reeds from cjwright or a couple others out there these days...
You will save yourself 20 30 years of learning curve.... learn adjusting... only takes 4-5 years.
And if by old fart, you mean you are at least my age, YIKES. But, still.... best wishes with it.
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Author: WoodwindOz
Date: 2013-12-29 09:17
I can't really help with the workshop/book part (short scrape player)...
But I will emphasise what Craig has to say. I played oboe for 5 years before moving to the US, and I learnt how to adjust almost from day dot.
I began making reeds two years ago. Now back home, I am entirely self-sufficient in my reed making and sell reeds to students. The reason, I believe, is because I had developed knife skills and an understanding of which part of the reed needed to be adjusted for whatever ailment it was suffering before I had to worry about the big picture of actually making the reeds.
By the time I did, I had a much harder time learning how to tie properly than actually scraping. When I start to teach reedmaking next year, I plan to start with adjusting before progressing to working with blanks before the big-picture stuff.
Might I add I am definitely still learning...I estimate I have made about 200 reeds and adjusted many more, and I certainly don't have the level of consistency I am happy with.
So find a supplier and learn how to adjust. Practice knife skills on old dead reeds (which is how I learnt). Buy some blanks and attempt to start from scratch once you can do the above. Don't introduce too many variables at once, otherwise you won't know what it is that is going wrong.
Good luck! Life as an oboist feels so much freer when you are in control of your tools.
Rachel
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Author: Oboelips
Date: 2014-01-03 02:34
A valuable tool is also YouTube. And while not every reed style will suit every player (they're like shoes--you have to use what works best for YOU), there are many demos out on YouTube, and some by highly qualified people. Just go to YouTube and search "Making oboe reed" and you'll be busy for awhile if you try some of these out.
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Author: huboboe
Date: 2014-01-06 23:04
Also check out Martin Schuring's page at Arizona State. A wonderful resource...
http://www.public.asu.edu/~schuring/main.html
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
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Author: Alan Davis ★2017
Date: 2014-01-07 20:10
Thank you, Robert, for the link to Martin Schuring's webpage. I have his book, but I didn't know he had an online presence as well.
Alan
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