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Re: Oboe Reed Shape, Tube diameter and binding length

Author: oboeblank
Date: 2006-07-21 15:54

Here are few things I have noticed:

I wider shape does a couple of things, it can make the overall intonation slightly flat, and sometimes you end up with pretty short reeds to compensate. A wider shape will give you a beautiful mid to low register, but I sometimes have to fight in the upper register to get the desired spin and ring in the sound. You can get away with a thinner gouge with a wider tip. I had a fellow oboist tell me that he made one of the darkest, richest sounding and best playing reeds on a gouge of 54, and he used I think a gilbert 2 or a copy of de Lancie's very wide tip.
A narrow tip will generally keep notes up a little better but you sacrifice a little something in the lower register, I don't feel it's enough to warrant a wider shape. The one downside of narrow tips is that they often sound as though you are playing down to pitch.

You can only go so wide with cane diameter-if that is what you are talking about here. Most machine will only accomodate a diamter of 11mm. The Diamter of tube cane itself does very little to pitch, but can affect pitch. The diamter helps with openings, the wider the diamter to smaller the opening, the smaller the diameter the larger the opening. However, I can only see it having an affect in pitch by making it sharp. A small diameter tube with a narrow shape may equal a very large and open reed which you may bite to get it to work.
The issue of staples is pretty interesting and I think was discussed in an older thread. Staples have never affect pitch for me and I have used some of the narrowest staples on the market (47mm Rigotti silver and Loree AK's) to some of the widest,(Nielsen Large American, and boy are they large and another make which escapes me at this moment) and I have never found any difference in pitch. I have felt a difference in the load of wind or resistence against the reed, the presure against the reed but that was all.

With regard to your third question, I am not sure what you mean by tying the staple longer or shorter. Do you mean the overall length of the reed blank?

I think there are some overriding principals to reed making and I think one of them is keeping the crow of the reed consistant. Just try to keep it at C in octaves and then you have a fighting chance whether you are using the widest set-up or the narrowest.

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