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Re: Gouged, shaped and folded.

Author: d-oboe
Date: 2006-02-07 11:23

cjwright -
why do you disagree with the gouging theory?

The size of the opening is affected by the thickness of the sides in relation to the middle of the reed - NOT solely the center thickness. For example, a reed gouged with a centre at 50, and sides at 50 (parallel, like a bassoon reed) will have a HUGE opening!

By thickening the gouge, more of the softer cane is left behind, which means that once you scrape the reed down, and get the tip thin enough, the reed will actually be made on softer cane. By doing this one can achieve three things basic to reed making:

Response: for chamber music, extremely responsive reeds are necessary - the softer cane makes this easy
Intonation and Stability: because of the thickness ratio of the scraped portion to the relatively thick inert rails, a very stable reed can result. (On thinner cane, this is more difficult, because the entire reed is thinner, so there can't be as much definition)
Pitch: thicker gouging results in lower pitch. In general, when reeds start to get scraped thinly(as needed for chamber music) the pitch will go up after the cane settles. By constructing a reed on softer cane, this helps controls the reed's inclination to fly up in pitch.

Orchestral reeds...
It's important to remember that a thinner gouge means harder cane. While it's important not to go too far - I'm not suggesting gouging at 50!!! - gouging slightly thinner means that the reed will be better in tune when more cane is left on the reed. To be heard, orchestral oboists need to have louder sounding reeds. (I am not referring to how the oboists *plays*, but just what the reed will let them do)

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Gouged, shaped and folded. new

mschmidt

2006-01-31 18:59