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Re: Windows in oboe reeds

Author: Craig Matovich
Date: 2006-12-03 00:27

I play at 'altitude' living SW of Denver CO. Usually I play at a mile high or higher above sea level and I find shorter thinner reeds work better up here.

My second teacher was an Eastman grad with a completely beautiful tone. He suggested I never make reeds shorter than 68.5 mm. I did that for years while playing in Md. and Va., but since moving to Co. 13 years ago have made reeds as short as 67.5 on a 46 mm tube ( Brannon x shape and otherwise classic gouge of .45 -.58 mm( or .60).

I stopped using windows for a while but now use them again and try to make a distinction between cane where I need 'hold back' vibrations and cane where I need 'encourage vibrations'.

Its the encouraging kind where I employ windows of any sort and think I will experiment a bit further with the offsets there and see if I learn anything useful.

Mostly , whatever I do, I try for reeds that maintain pitch consistency from tuning 'a' through the next upper e w/o any lip change. If I get that, then I go for a dropping to 'low e' w/o change, then a up to a octave, then up to '3rd octave d and 'e' w/o change. The rare reed that does all that is so much fun to play its hard to describe.

Only caveat is I can only expect it to work with equal tempermant instruments, so not quite as fun in orchestral settings.

But those reeds really play!

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Windows in oboe reeds new

Craig Matovich

2006-12-02 21:01