 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: JohnW
Date: 2014-07-04 22:26
I have a new post up on www.oboehobo.com with some thoughts on reeds from an engineer's viewpoint. Please leave a comment on the site and let me know if this sort of stuff is interesting and/or useful.
Thanks,
JohnW
amateur adult beginner, oboe and cor
www.OboeHobo.com
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Author: EaubeauHorn
Date: 2014-07-05 18:49
I'm an engineer but am most interested in what to DO to a reed to get it to sound the way I want.
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Author: JohnW
Date: 2014-07-06 05:33
I am a relative newbie to this, but have found Martin Schuring's reed adjustment guide to quite helpful in keeping an organized approach to adjustment:
http://www.public.asu.edu/~schuring/Oboe/Reedguide.html
JohnW
amateur adult beginner, oboe and cor
www.OboeHobo.com
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2014-07-06 07:43
Quote:
I'm an engineer but am most interested in what to DO to a reed to get it to sound the way I want.
Well, first you have to build an altar on the roof of a 5 story building or higher. Find an unblemished heifer, and light some incense at the altar. Recite the entire book of Leviticus and then offer two turtle doves. Sacrifice the heifer and offer a burnt offering. Let the drippings burn away in the fire as the aroma pleases the Lord and...
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
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Author: JohnW
Date: 2014-07-06 21:10
Well, I've given up on getting it to sound the way I want, settling for just good enough to stay in the orchestra.
As my teacher, Dayna Fisher, says, you can't play the reed you want, you have to play the one you have.
Cooper, I hope you're saving this stuff for a book!
JohnW
amateur adult beginner, oboe and cor
www.OboeHobo.com
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Author: huboboe
Date: 2014-07-07 08:47
Hi, John -
Here's a thought to further unsettle your mind about the mechanics of reeds:
You know how a string vibrates; in one part, the fundamental pitch, in two parts, the octave, in three, four, five parts and so on. If you shorten the string it just does the same thing at a higher frequency. The body of the instrument decides which of these overtones to enhance and which to suppress, resulting in the difference in sound between a violin and a guitar, for instance.
A woodwind reed needs to produce a balanced set of overtones in a similar manner, and once again, the body of the instrument selects the overtone suite to feature. EXCEPT...
When you change notes, you have in effect a different instrument; the reed needs to produce a different set of overtones than before, appropriate to the new fundamental.
So the reed needs to be, for all practical purposes, a white noise generator, capable of providing the overtone spectrum for each note of the chromatic scale. This is a skill learned the hard way. I think Martin Schuring addresses it, but I first met it in Jay Light's 'Essays for Oboists': Put a laundry basket beside your reed bench. When it is full of your discards, you may know something about what you are trying to do...
:-)
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
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Author: mjfoboe
Date: 2014-07-08 05:25
Well that's why I constantly make reeds. I play the reed I want. ..and nothing less. I need peace of mind!
Mark
Post Edited (2014-07-09 01:36)
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Author: JohnW
Date: 2014-07-09 20:45
That's an interesting way to describe it, though it probably doesn't need the full spectral content of a white noise generator, but certainly a broad spectrum over the band of interest (not just the low to high notes)
In the blog post, I was just trying to point out a purely mechanical reason concerning how the reed stiffness would change as the shaping/adjustment progressed. Specifically NOT how to adjust the sound.
Your point is well taken, I'm still learning with every one I make. Sometimes I really feel like Cooper's process is the best one.
JohnW
amateur adult beginner, oboe and cor
www.OboeHobo.com
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