Author: jhoyla
Date: 2010-07-05 17:06
The spine doesn't need to be visible for the reed to work well - but it does need to be there. It often looks like a wide, tapering darker area (tapering to the edge of the tip, of course).
I have also made reeds where the spine looked like a dark line almost to the extreme tip and the reeds worked just fine. YMMV.
I'm probably not describing it very well, but this structure - the gradation towards the corners and the balance of all four quadrants - this is what encourages the correct vibrations in the reed.
A lack of balance or incorrect gradation (humps, troughs, thick corners etc.) will allow cross-vibrations to form in the reed-blades, which make the fizzing, buzzing sounds we all hate.
It is tempting, once the tip is more or less done and the reed is still "hard", to continue scraping the tip. This is when you ruin everything! First, I always make sure that the opening is squeezed down to the right size, since this often cures a hard reed. And if it is still too hard, before scraping the tip again, it is important to scrape enough from the sides of the heart inside the rails and the shoulders so that the reed will vibrate easily. If there is still a bit of fizz in the sound you can "dust" towards the extreme corners using a flat plaque, evenly on all four quadrants.
Don't forget Martin Schuring's sterling advice (his "golden rules" of reedmaking):
1. Sharpen your knife
2. Don't make any mistakes
And then, if the reed has gone a little flat you can clip a hair from the end and start the process again.... 
And now, tell me honestly; If you had known about reeds before you started, would you still have chosen the oboe?
J.
Post Edited (2010-07-05 17:07)
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