Author: vboboe
Date: 2005-12-29 03:00
... YUP! It's an old retiree reed now, only good enough for early warming up the oboe with your scales and technical exercises 5-15 mins, that's it .. sigh :-(
Reshape played wet reeds with fingers to open aperture every time, before putting away for the day. That way reed's drying in wide open position rather than closed down position
Yes, as Susan sez, sometimes reeds get a new lease on life after being rested (thoroughly dried out) for several weeks. If the reed tip is still in good shape (not frayed), might be worth the try at 'renovating' it, even if only as an experiment
Soak reed right through, first, before doing following, otherwise reed will surely crack -- hey, need a new reed!
Use needlenose pliers VERY GENTLY
Squeeze narrow sides of tube where binding meets cane
Nudge the tube's shape more circular, so the cane arcs a bit and aperture gapes a bit more than you'd normally like to see it
Wire reed 2-3 mm above the binding in this wide open position
Carefully twist-tighten wire with pliers (slight biting side of cane OK, wire cutting deeply NOT OK)
Rest and keep reed completely dry for a month
Pre-moisten for playing
Take wire off
Briefly muscle it to tame the reed
All this will probably give an older reed a temporary new lease on life
When it collapses on you after all that effort though, not worth doing it again. Ruthlessly break the blades ... don't hang onto old reeds, they're clutter ... the brutal truth ... oboe reeds are mortal and die young ... get used to it and financially budget for a steady turnover
But do salvage the tube. Get out your utility knife or razor blade, lightly nick the thread (not the tube or cork!) unravel, toss thread & broken canes, and keep the tube
Tube can be sterilized inside for long-term storage with a fine pipe-cleaner moistened with regular isopropanol 99% (stronger cousin of rubbing alcohol). Don't use cotton tips, too big, don't make a cotton tip on a toothpick, cotton will come off and get stuck inside tube (yeah, experience, but bamboo skewer poked it out again). Clean off any old markings, old cork grease, finger sweat and dirt from the cork too. Dry well and collect tubes in a suitable container ... or thread and make a necklace!
When you're ready to make your own reeds, you'll have some tubes handy to get started. First thing to do, moving in that direction, is buy a mandrel and test-fit every single salvaged tube on it, reshape any as needed (dip exposed metal tube on mandrel in very hot water to heat through first, metal curves ** more evenly ** around mandrel when hot)
Recommend buying or making reeds in sets of three, and rotate trio of Mediums every 15-20 mins each for every 45-60 mins of practice, Medium-Hard and Hard reeds can be played longer before rotation
When sure signs of pending reed collapse occur, get three new reeds and blow them in right away
Rough ball-park estimate -- depends on how you muscle 'em with your embouchure and how long or hard you play them at fortissimo, my mediums die in 10-15 hrs cumulative playing time ... if one reed, that's about 2-3 weeks. Three MEDIUM reeds rotated regularly can last 6 to maybe as much as 12 weeks, assuming average play of 45 minutes daily.
I asked two saxophone players and 1 clarinet player in my band how long their single reeds lasted before replacing them, and their turnover time usually 2-3 weeks, never a month in prime band season. All of them prefer natural cane reeds. So 2-3 weeks seems about par for active reed life. Mind you, one of their reeds is about quarter to third the price of one oboe reed!
Oboe reeds can be switched far more quickly during music than the single reeds, so make the most of it -- that's one very good reason for greasing the bottom half of the reed cork ;-)
Plus, added bonus, three reeds in prime playing condition always with your oboe = more peace of mind
You really needed more new reeds, plural, yesterday :-)
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