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Re: oboe reed crow

Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2010-11-21 13:48

Well, the specifics of a "good" crow sound will very different from one person to another --- let alone the reed making style that gets you there --- so I'll only mention what I think should be standard to everyone.

My own reeds crow much lower than the theoretical C-C#, but Ab is definitely trouble! It should not be a length problem (regardless of the scraping type) but rather a problem in the balance with how the reed is tied and scraped. CLIMATE might also be an issue..... if your reeds open way too much, pinching will help (wire, if you're in the habit), but there might be no hope. Otherwise, you'll be biting a lot and compensating for tuning where the reed is the problem.

A crow is successful for me when it remains consistent from blowing very softly to very loudly. That is, I crow my reeds with long tones with the thread between my lips. If the crow changes while doing crescendo/decresendo:
- adds/removes an octave
- pich goes up or down
- gets smoother/coarser
then the reed might play very well, but become unstable at those (in)famous 1st octave key notes.

To fix this requires a careful study of the individual reed - each will be different. This assumes that the reed is already pretty good.

I have noticed that longer reeds are harder to manage BUT I have a few very long oboe d'amore reeds that play very well in my oboe: thing is, the length outside of the instrument is much shorter than that of an actual oboe reed. I am now experimenting with much shorter staples and longer cane.

Best of luck.

Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music

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