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Re: Cleaning the Inside of Oboe Reeds

Author: GMac
Date: 2004-01-12 14:47

Hey Clarence,

There are 3 main methods that I know of of cleaning the inside of your reeds; they are as follows:

1) This is the one that I use. Gently squeeze open the sides of your reeds by applying pressure on them (the reed will open up at the tip and down the sides). Do not do this too hard as it can crack the reed or simply make the opening too wide. Take a plaque (do you have a reedmaking kit?) and gently scrape the insides of the reed with the side of it. You'll probably see a small white film build up on the edge of the plaque. Go right out to the other side of the reed and repeat with the other blade. You will not be able to get down to the very bottom of the reed because that would take opening up the reed too far. If you want to do that, you can try method #2 or 3...

2) A feather can be a good way to clean out the inside. Basically push it up until you can see a bit sticking out of the tip, then withdraw. The risk is that one of the feathers will catch in the tip and rip off a corner or something. For this reason, I would suggest doing this when it's dry and a bit harder, however this also means the residue inside the reed will not come out as easily.

3) I know a couple of people that do this, however it is a bit riskier. I know a couple of people that have ruined reeds by doing this improperly, some people swear by it. Basically all you do is take a pipe cleaner and run it through the reed. Stick it in at the base of the tube, and push it right out the tip. You will have to use your judgement as to whether your tip is strong enough and whether it's open enough. Make sure that it goes straight through, not to the corners.

Hope this helps!

Graham

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