Woodwind.OrgThe Oboe BBoardThe C4 standard

 
  BBoard              
 
 New Topic  |  Go to Top  |  Go to Topic  |  Search  |  Help/Rules  |  Smileys/Notes  |  Log In   Previous Message  |  Next Message 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy
Author: RobinDesHautbois 
Date:   2010-06-18 00:10

I used to be a professional, but I stopped playing while I reoriented my career towards engineering. A while ago, I started again with almost no strength left in my lips or my jaw (a few years without real practice). This means I had to start again with VERY easy reeds and fight the frustration of not playing like I used to.

When I started again, I decided to use engineering methodology to find the best way to get reeds to:
1. be easy to play
2. sound dark and warm
3. play in tune and with stable notes
4. offer a wide dynamic range
5. allow easy staccato, even in soft low notes.

Every single oboist I had ever known in my student and professional life (some being among the best in N.Americal) used to say having all of these together is impossible: you must find a happy compromise....

.... well, I succeeded in getting all 5 critera together! AND they are relatively easy to make. I use exclusively European scraped reeds, but I make my own.

There are a few catches though:
1. the definition of a good reed is very different from one person to another
2. you have to choose staple size and shaper profile in accordance with your body characteristics
3. what makes the reed works is the process of reed-making, not the final appearance
4. everything done to the cane BEFORE scraping is just as important as the scraping!

All the advice you read in this topic is good, but it remains meaningless untill you actually get it going. The only ways you'll get good reeds are to find a good teacher or to experiment a lot - yes spend a lot of money!

There is a big problem, however, if you start with purchased reeds is that the gouge (cane thickness) might be wrong for you, the shape might be wrong for you, the staple might be wrong and the way it is tied can be simply bad.

In another topic, I summarized my process (the main parts only):
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=10&i=15666&t=15516

Good luck!

Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
 Reply To Message  |  Avail. Forums  |  Flat View   Newer Topic  |  Older Topic 

 Topics Author  Date
 Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-16 10:50 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
Chris P 2010-06-16 11:50 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-17 07:47 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
jhoyla 2010-06-16 17:39 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-16 22:45 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-06-18 00:10 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-18 03:27 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-06-18 10:05 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-18 11:05 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-06-18 16:38 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-18 23:37 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-06-18 16:46 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
Chris P 2010-06-16 23:03 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-17 02:06 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-17 04:33 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
jhoyla 2010-06-17 05:50 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-17 06:22 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
ceri 2010-06-17 20:21 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-17 23:28 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
ceri 2010-06-18 20:32 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-19 00:26 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-06-19 01:38 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-06-19 18:28 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
ceri 2010-06-19 13:16 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-19 14:43 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
HautboisJJ 2010-06-19 17:34 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
jhoyla 2010-06-19 21:30 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-20 01:16 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-20 01:20 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-20 05:49 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-06-21 03:02 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-06-21 10:13 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-08-18 06:15 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-08-18 13:23 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-08-20 07:56 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-08-20 10:28 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-08-20 23:05 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-08-21 03:23 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-08-20 23:15 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-08-21 03:37 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-08-21 06:33 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-08-29 00:22 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-08-29 23:02 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-09-06 00:44 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
ceri 2010-09-06 14:48 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-09-07 09:57 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-09-07 09:38 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-09-07 10:21 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
ceri 2010-09-07 14:56 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-09-07 16:10 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-09-07 22:33 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-09-08 00:18 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
ceri 2010-09-08 11:22 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-09-08 12:47 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
GoodWinds 2010-09-09 03:49 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
ceri 2010-09-09 07:17 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
JRC 2010-09-10 15:41 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-09-10 16:56 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
JRC 2010-09-10 18:37 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
wkleung 2010-09-10 19:10 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
JRC 2010-09-10 19:54 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-09-11 15:30 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
RobinDesHautbois 2010-09-11 17:15 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-09-12 00:07 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
mjfoboe 2010-09-12 03:16 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
hautbois francais 2010-09-12 03:23 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
mjfoboe 2010-09-12 12:21 
 Re: Making short scrape European style oboe reeds easy  new
ceri 2010-09-14 12:42 


 Avail. Forums  |  Need a Login? Register Here 
 User Login
 User Name:
 Password:
 Remember my login:
   
 Forgot Your Password?
Enter your email address or user name below and a new password will be sent to the email address associated with your profile.
Search Woodwind.Org

Sheet Music Plus Featured Sale

The Clarinet Pages
For Sale
Put your ads for items you'd like to sell here. Free! Please, no more than two at a time - ads removed after two weeks.

 
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org