Author: d-oboe
Date: 2007-05-13 13:44
As a rule of thumb... if the reed is soft and sharp, it's past its prime. You can try soaking it more, but that generally doesn't help. Just makes everything too soggy.
I really wish reedmakers would, well, BE the reed every now and then. There is way too much obession on super thin tips, and who can produce the darkest sounding reed. These obessions usually end up in the poor reed purchases that have been described in this thread. (I.e. useless reeds!!)
When I make reeds, every scraping operation I do has the goal of making the reed function, and making it function for me. I thin the tip so that the reed responds in the way I expect it to, not just so that it's super paper thin.
And as for the sound...it isn't really all that adjustable without changing some other functional aspect of the reed. The "dark" sound is most often going to be produced by someone who wants a dark sound, regardless of whether or not they are playing a so-called "dark" reed. (I never knew reeds had shades!)
In Montreal, the general sound is fairly light in comparison to the typical sound of the oboists in the major U.S orchestras (not naming names.) I generally tend toward that sound quality...and it's funny - I record myself regularly and I always sound the same! the only differences I notice are musical phrasing, pitch, and how the notes are speaking.
interesting..
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