Author: cjwright
Date: 2009-10-27 19:43
I'll clip at different angles based upon what the reed needs. Very few need extreme angles, but some reeds certainly need more angle than other.
Just a note about what to clip with: I know Mr. Weber just uses the knife that he scrapes his entire reed with to clip as well, and it seems to work just fine for him. Old vitry style knives. I've seen some people use herder style knives like the Albion knives or something because they have a thin blade, but I use new razor blades to chop tips, and I frequently switch out the razor blade since I sometimes clip the sides of the tip with the razor blade with the plaque in the reed, which really dulls it. Then it goes into the "razor blades for shaping" pile.
I know I'm the rare exception, but Mr. Weber actually taught me a few tricks to scrape the shorter blade with slight differences so that the reed works better. He also taught me ways to scrape the left side of the reed differently from the right side of the reed to take full advantage of the overlap, but that's a different topic. So what I'm stating is symmetry isn't always helpful, from blade to blade and from left to right.
Advantages of cutting one blade slightly longer than the other is that the reed sometimes has a bit more "cover', (or some would describe a "darker" sound, but I hate those terms), is rounder, a hair more resistance, and has slightly less buzz in the sound. The downside is that there is slightly less response, and slightly doesn't articulate as well. However I do think there are certain ways to have the advantages of uneven blades but still gain back some response.
One last note: if people are going to experiment with cutting blades unevenly, do it closer to the end when your reed is nearly finished and your tip is well defined, or it will just give you false feedback of the balance and the scrape.
Cooper
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
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