Author: d-oboe
Date: 2006-02-11 14:03
Well Suzan, the tone is actually pretty subjective. What an oboist hears, and what a listener hears is quite different. Have you ever been recorded and gone..."I sound like THAT?!"
I don't think that we have to err at all. If anything, it is most important to "err" (though it isn't an error) on the side of function. The reed has to work. It has to respond and play in tune. Once you have a reed that isn't too flat or sharp, and that responds at will, you will sound good. And anyways, improving the response of the reed will improve the tone quality. (By scraping the very end of the tip)
The next issue is adjusting for stability. It's the last thing to do on a reed, mainly because it involves restricting vibrations. If done too soon the reed, well, won't vibrate!
So: you have this crummmy reed in front of you. What to do? Remove small amounts of cane from all parts of the reed (not the rails or centre of course) until every note on the oboe responds. Low Bb should be easy. If the high notes have a bit of trouble popping out right now, that's ok, because that's a stability issue.
Now for the pitch. Before clipping, scrape the very end of the tip as thin as you can. When your knife runs onto the plaque, there shouldn't be any "click". THAT thin. Now, give it an extremely small clip. Crow, and then play the reed in the oboe. The order of operation from here, until the reed is in tune is: play the reed, scrape the extreme tip, clip.
It's important to clip last, so that the tip has a clean edge.
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