Author: WoodwindOz
Date: 2014-01-21 18:43
Since I have returned home from the US, I have not made a good reed.
Admittedly the climate is a little different, but I have made reeds across all season on both continents and so far, climate doesn't seem to be the deciding factor.
So...
Same oboe
Same cane/tubes/thread
Reeds made on the same cane/tubes/thread in the US play beautifully here (possibly eliminating climate?)
Some of the reeds I have made here were tied before I left, some tied here.
Cane has come from batches ordered at different times.
And they all wind up with the same sound - kind of like a beginner at their first lesson. Very duck-y, shrill, no warmth. They sound very soft even though they are hard to attack. Once they get to this point, I can't do anything to turn them back. I have made perhaps 10 reeds like this. The only two reeds I have made that were good were a student reed (same cane gouge and shape, but softer cane) and a Franken-reed (two halves of a shaped piece of cane because the other half split).
The only difference is that I had a couple of months hiatus from reedmaking during the move. I can only conclude that something has got lost from technique as everything else seems consistent.
So, on a short scrape reed (or perhaps if you have noticed this on a long scrape reed, some techniques do transfer) what on Earth am I doing wrong? I suspect I am not taking enough out of the base/sides of the scrape initially, but would this cause this much of a difference? I am running out of old reeds, too, so I need to fix whatever it is I am doing wrong soon!
Thanks for any advice!
Rachel
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