Author: Bobo
Date: 2007-07-29 02:45
found this on Martin Schuring's great ASU website:
"English horn reeds differ from oboe reeds in two important respects: they are not as "finished" as oboe reeds, and they generally have a wire.
Many oboe reeds have extremely thin tips and a rather thin back, especially just below the heart. If you make an English horn reed this way, it will sound small, dull, and may well be flat. Instead, make a reed that works well, is well balanced, but has less contrast between the three main areas - in other words: thicker tip, thinner heart, thicker back. In addition, the difference in thickness between the top of the back and the lower portions is not as pronounced. If viewed from the side, the "waistline" of the reed that appears just below the heart is lower down. If you want to think in terms of oboe reeds, make a reed that plays well but is not "refined".
The wire is not used to control the opening of the reed. If the opening is wrong, the reed will have the same problems with or without the wire. Rather, the wire stabilizes and focuses the tone of the notes above the staff. Often, this allows you to remove more wood from a reed that was sagging slightly before the wire.
Many reedmakers put the wire (#24 gauge brass wire from the hardware store, wound round the reed twice with pliers) on the blank before scraping at all. I prefer to add the wire later if necessary, since a reed without a wire will always vibrate more richly than with one. Having said that, I will admit that 90% of my English horn reeds end up with a wire on them. Don't wind it on so tightly that it grips all the way around the reed; stop as soon as you feel it gripping the sides. Don't put it up too high on the reed - 5-6 mm from the string (in other words, just into the beginning of the scraped area) is high enough. The wire will usually slide around when the reed is dry, but return to its proper position when the reed is soaked."
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