The Oboe BBoard

The Oboe BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Re: Reed cuts

Author: hautboisteur
Date: 2007-02-05 13:29

Some very general remarks about approaching this whole mystifying reed business.

No two single pieces of cane are the same so when making a reed I would strive to give it all the necessary features of the American scrape that I prefer, but I wouldn't fuss too much about dimensions like overall length vs. scraped length, tip length etc. I don't care if I get to 68mm if the intonation and response are still good.

Cocnerning sound - I've managed to emulate some of my short-scraped colleagues here on a long-scraped reed when I wanted to sound "German".
It's in the embochure, perhaps. I really think the sound depends on the players concept and what is considered to be good oboe sound. If I can't get the sound I want easily enough, I ditch the reed.

Intonation - no instrument is perfectly in tune. Not even string players play in tune all the time, says my cellist cousin. Proper blowing into a decent instrument should give you minimum trouble. It's more in the listening and correcting than in adjusting the reed. If the reed is giving me a hard time playing in tune I ditch it...

I'd also strive for a reed that gives good articulation. If you can articulate well on the reed, it means good dynamic range and flexibilty. If not, half of the charm and eloquence of the Oboe are gone. tututut.

The bottom line - I agree with people that say there are no golden rules or magic numbers, only the scraping conventions and what the player demands from the reed and from himself or herslef.

Post Edited (2007-02-06 06:18)

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics