How to Scrape an Oboe Reed

Check out this reed making video on YouTube on my basic process for scraping an oboe reed. This is my method, but please experiment with it so you can find your own sound and style. You will hopefully be introduced to new scraping techniques and processes that you can try customizing yourself. Check out the follow up video on finishing an oboe reed here.

You will see how I angle my knife to scrape the tip of the reed and how I look at the heart and windows. I sometimes use a dial indicator to help, and if you also have a dial indicator, just realize that these measurements should fall within a normal range and you should not make a reed purely based off measurements.

If you are looking for more reed making instructions, check out the oboe reed measurement post where you can download a reed making PDF that has scraping instructions and oboe reed measurements.

Follow us on social media:

Oboe reed comparison
An example of a blank oboe reed and a nearly finished oboe reed.

Leave a Reply