We musicians discuss technique a lot in private lessons. Whether it is keeping your fingers close to the keys, or fine-tuning your embouchure, classical musicians constantly think about their technique. But what about when we are making reeds? The one reed-making technique mistake that I often see is too much tension in a reed maker’s (more…)
If you can make oboe reeds then making oboe d’amore reeds should come naturally. They each require a different staple and a different shaper tip (though my gouge measurements for oboe and oboe d’amore are very similar). An oboe d’amore staple will be 25 mm (or close to that) and you will tie the reed…...
First off, is this gouging machine pronounced ‘Innoledy’ or ‘Innoledy’? I was told it was pronounced ‘Innoledy’. Hope that helps! This post and video will give you instructions on gouging cane with an Innoledy gouging machine. There are many different parts, and I’ve seen people assemble it differently. Just reading the directions can be daunting (more…)
In this video I make a reed in 5 minutes. Now, should you make all your reeds in 5 minutes too? No, but learning to make a quick reed can be a helpful skill. This video is merely just a demonstration of scraping an oboe reed. If you are looking for more reed making instructions, (more…)
Here are 5 reed making resolutions for 2021. Will these resolutions last until the end of the year? or at least until February? Time will tell. 5. Always keep your reed knife as sharp as possible! If your knife isn’t as sharp as possible, take the time to sharpen it before scraping your reeds. There (more…)
In this video, I go through the finishing touches on a reed and explain where to scrape and why. This video will be part of a series where I demonstrate various reed adjustments and how to perfect your reeds. Each video will be a little different from the rest because each reed will require different (more…)
In terms of reed response, we often see Hard, Soft, or Medium reeds advertised, or we will say that our own reeds are too hard or too easy. In this post, I want to go through how I think about response and easiness levels in my reeds. Some people might see this topic differently than (more…)
In this video, I go through the finishing touches on a reed and explain where to scrape and why. This video is the second part of a series where I demonstrate various reed adjustments and how to perfect your reeds. Each video will be a little different from the rest because each reed will require (more…)
In this video, I go through the finishing touches on a reed and explain where to scrape and why. This video is the second part of a series where I demonstrate various reed adjustments and how to perfect your reeds. Each video will be a little different from the rest because each reed will require (more…)
Finishing five oboe reeds These videos turned into a five part series where I took out five roughly-scraped reeds from my case and demonstrated how to finish scraping each oboe reed. You can see my Day 1 scraping process here, and premium members can see a more detailed version of that here, but these five videos each (more…)
This is the fourth reed in a group of five where I demonstrate how to put the finishing touches on a reed to make it usable. This reed was different than the previous three in that there is a critical error with it! As you’ll see, the windows were scraped too high on the reed (more…)
This is the last reed in the group about scraping an oboe reed! It was probably the easiest one to finish. This reed had dried out a little bit because it was sitting out while I finished the other four, and that affected the crow and response when I was testing it, but overall it (more…)
This reed making lesson entitled, ‘The Joy of Scraping’ was written by Courtney Miller; Oboe Professor, University of Iowa.
This post is all about clipping an oboe reed. Even though clipping a reed is a relatively simple topic (and many of you already know how to), you’ll see some more details and other options in the video below. So, I hope you will read through this even if you are already a seasoned reed (more…)
