Author: huboboe
Date: 2013-02-13 00:50
I echo Jonathan's advice. And Richard Woodhams, in Sprenkle's "Oboe Reed Styles" talks about '...getting the extreme tip as thin as possible".
I have a simplistic view of the process, which is that the low sounds are owned by the (relatively) long, thick scrape in the back and the higher sounds are the province of the thinner, shorter tip.
The energy to drive the thick back can't be had by blowing; it must come from the thinner, more easily vibrating tip.
Through the blend...
If the blend is too abrupt, it detaches the tip from the reed and all you get is 'tweeeeeee'.
If the blend is too shallow the tip is not free to vibrate and there are no high frequencies - and the reed is difficult to blow.
Getting the balance, the 'right angle', is the magic trick, easy to say and possible only through a lot of experimentation, as you well know.
You talk about scraping with different shapes. That raises a red flag for me, because each shape has it's own particular balance as a function of you, the instrument, the cane, the weather and etc. If you play around with more than one shape, then you are multiplying the variables by the shapes you are working with. Is there a reason for using more than one shape?
My approach to reed making is to build the tip with a middle-of-the-road blend so that it works, and then scrape the back to the rough finished dimensions (all eyeballed...) then use the response of the reed to decide what to thin to get that balance between the high and low, the tip and the back. If the reed blows with difficulty, thin the back to ease the resistance and thin the blend and the tip to balance. If it blows too freely, clip the tip slightly until you get the resistance you are looking for and again play with the balance.
Ultimately, though, I think the blend is the fulcrum of the high frequency/low frequency teeter totter that is what reed making is about, and spending time playing with tiny changes and observing the results will be the most instructive thing you can do.
Enjoy!
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
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