 The Oboe BBoard
|
Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-10-28 04:42
Hello All,
All day, every day I try to uncover the mysteries of that which we call a reed. I have convinced myself that the top 5 mm of the reed is the most important part of the reed, or at least, is the part that I need to understand before I can progress to the other areas. I wrote a post maybe a month ago, and received great advice. On in particular post by Cooper I've looked at about twice a week, trying to understand how it relates to me. This is the post:
http://barbaratheoboe.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/reed-changes/
The picture is very explanatory, but for a while I did not know how I could create this change in my reed making. I was making reeds like the one on the left, and the reeds were ok, but were very resistant, and were not as good as my teacher's. I may have just discovered how to create the reed pictured on the right.
I just scraped a reed in which I incorporate 2 different scrapes in the first 4 mm. First I scrape channels into the tip, like I'm scraping the back, but I take them as deep as I can without scraping down the spine. I start at 65mm and go to the tip, as my reeds will wind up being 69mm. Then I scrape my usual triangular angle as seen on the pictured left reed to thin the tip as needed. The spine is thinned from 67mm to the tip. So far, the change is extraordinary. The reeds are starting to sound professional. I'm proud of myself today.
Drew S.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2012-10-30 23:45
I like the drawings and I'm sure Cooper's reeds are the better for the change.
I've had difficulty lately, being SUCH a good 'tip-scraper', of making the tip too thin, resulting in a chirp especially in the higher notes. I was following written advice that 'you can never make the tip too thin' but this thread and experience are proving otherwise.
The secret of course is in the ratio and taper resulting in a perfectly vibrating reed: that all the parts work together to let the cane MOVE while maintaining some stability.
I like the fact that most every reed-maker on this board is ready to get Better and Grow.
GoodWinds
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: WoodwindOz
Date: 2012-10-31 02:42
Mary, I was having the same problem for awhile - I would scrape the tip so thin before even cutting it open that there was no coming back without clipping the tip further. As a short scraper, I was also getting this ridge below my tip that restricted sound, yet when I got rid of it made the sound much too thin and free-blowing. I now cut it open much sooner, finish out the tip and then complete the rest of the reed. Much more success!
Drew, Mr Dee here at Illinois proposes a similar technique for his students when working on tips. Overall, his students are very accomplished reed makers across the board, so I believe it works for them!
Rachel
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2012-10-31 15:53
I do agree that you can scrape a tip too thin. I don't like overall thin tips at all. (Don't like long tips, either, but that may be a function of my particular instrument.)
OTOH, I have read that you can't make the SIDES of the tip too thin, and that is my go-to adjustment (gently, cautiously!) for a reed that won't drop the octave or is just generally balky or not making a smooth sound.
And I occasionally fiddle with the area around the blend (on the tip side, and again, very gently and cautiously!) with good results.
I thought the common wisdom was that the chirp comes from a tip that has some spots that are too thin -- very difficult, maybe impossible, to fix, in my experience. But I have also noticed that sometimes, what subjectively seems like a little chirp to me is not apparent to the listener at all.
Susan
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: huboboe
Date: 2012-11-02 06:51
I may have posted this on another thread, but for what it's worth, here's my take on how the (American style) reed works, highly simplified:
There are two different regions in the architecture of the reed: the tip, which is short and vibrates at high frequencies, and the back, which is long and vibrates at low frequencies. The back, which is so thick that if you remove the tip there is no way it could vibrate, must then get it's energy from the tip, which vibrates easily.
The way this happens is along the slope of the blend between the tip and the back. If the slope is too gradual and the tip not thin enough, the mass of the back restricts the tip's vibrations. If the slope is too abrupt, the tip is not coupled to the back and vibrates alone.
IMNSHO, the blend is the critical factor. One can get a balance between the tip and the back with both being relatively thick which will play with a great deal of resistance, or with being relatively thin playing very easily with almost no resistance, but the balance must be achieved by balancing the tip and the back along the blend.
Cooper Wright's diagrams (linked by Drew in his question) are an excellent visualization of the architecture of the blend. The more rapid the slope of the blend, the more the tip is heard.
Hubbard's rules of thumb: If the crow is too tippy but with little resistance, clip the tip to remove some of the tip's influence and add resistance. If the crow is too tippy with a lot of resistance, thin the back to balance the tip and lessen the resistance. If the crow lacks the tip's component, thin the entire tip, from the heart along the blend to the corners.
A longer tip and a thinner tip produce similar results. Both increase the tip's influence on the balance. A longer back and a thinner back both have similar results also, but you can overcut the back more easily going too long than going too thin..
That's a quick overview of my thoughts on reed making. David Ledet's book "Oboe Reed Making" has a wealth of pictures showing how many different ways the same architecture can be expressed. I highly recommend it to those who feel there must be more to the process than they understand.
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: huboboe
Date: 2012-11-02 06:56
Sorry, Ledet's book is "Oboe Reed STYLES". It's too late tonite...
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2012-11-02 17:20
wonderful explanation, Robert, on how the vibrations go from tip to back.
I am working on building the reed in a better ratio (and YES, cooper's diagrams are great and Ledet's book is terrific), rather than finishing the tip before working the back. If I finish the tip, I find that I have to make multiple adjustments to the blend and back in order to balance the reed, so I'm now trying to balance more as I go along. It seems to be working...
I want to encourage other amateur reed-makers out there to take TIME on the tip, don't be in a hurry, keep the knife sharp and use that plaque to make a smooth gradation. If I rush, then it seems I create a thin spot further down on the tip which is really, really a bad thing.
GoodWinds
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: huboboe
Date: 2012-11-02 18:50
Yes indeed, Mary. It's critical that the blend be a smooth surface no matter what the slope. A thin spot creates a hinge and the heavier mass beyond that just flaps on that hinge rather than vibrating complexly.
You can also wrap a strip of fine sandpaper (1000 or 1200 grit) around a staple cork and use it as a file to smooth and thin the tip, especially the corners...
The first secret of reed making
is a sharp knife.
The second secret of reed making
is a sharp knife.
- Stevens Hewitt
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
