Author: Craig Matovich
Date: 2006-11-21 21:05
I see from the many good responses you have some great advice here, and from the topic threads that you are a bit more relaxed now.
Good. A slump on top of the regular demands is hard to take. I know. Once, while oboist for the First Army Band I became so frustrated I seriously considered quitting, going to drive jeeps at the motor pool or something...
Let me share some selected wisdom I picked up later from some great teachers and players:
1) Don't smash, don't throw a bad reed. Its just a staple waiting for reincarnation. ( Told to a large group of Oboists by John Mack at this summer camp in 1981). And avoiding this particular negative energy is a reward in itself.
2) Once played out, keep the best one or two reeds you make per year for future reference. ( Told to me by Richard Rubenstein and some great advice as it turns out... amazing the similarites and differences over time and perhaps more so, the appearance and dimensions of the good old reeds compared to the current reed concept. )
3) Exercise the greatest care in cane selection. This is difficult to do until you begin gouging your own and a little expensive at first. But do the math, and you will see the machine pays for itself rather quickly in savings compared to buying gouged cane, especially so for gouged and shaped cane. The other big economy here is in times savings which also translate in $ and reduced frustration.
4) Get some good instruction and a couple decent manuals for reference. I have many and like the Weber reed making guide very much. There are other good ones by Jay Light, Peter Hedrick, etc. The advanced topics are especially helpful.
5) You already mentioned your knife. But keep focused on that topic. I have had the greatest knife success since using a ceramic hone ( about 1/3 inch in diameter, 8 inches long mounted in a wooden handle). Once the basic knife sharpening is done on a stone or diamond sharpening surface, I can use only the hone for weeks. The idea is to treat the burr of the edge.
Holding the bevel up 15 -30 degrees, I push it across and down the hone a few strokes after first drawing the flat back side across the hone to 'remove' the old burr.
This really works, is somewhat manual but with practice becomes easy to duplicate with success.
Hang in there.
I also liked the advice to buy a backup stock of reeds for a while. I agree, I would not sell you my best reed but I throw out some that are better than I've ever seen purchased...
I think I disagree with the advice to make reeds quickly. I play cane I've had in my possesion anywhere from 10 - 20 years ( I used to buy a lot of it...) and it always seems to want to change for a few days in various ways.
There is something rather magical about a fresh reed, I agree. but that fades quickly when the change happens mid-concert.
I would advise getting a case for 20 reeds, build it up and eventually you will have a few old friends, some still strong in mid-life but stable, and a few new magic ones you can play now and then.
Nowdays, I usually have that case full, and my drying board of another 40 reeds in various stages. Problems still happen, even a 'slump' now and then but it does not get in the way in public anymore.
Good luck with it,
-Craig
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