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    Reeds - How To Select A Good Oboe and English Horn Reed

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    The reed is crucial for producing good tone quality, response, intonation, and articulation on the oboe and English horn. It is important to purchase high quality cane reeds that are properly made, as store-bought and synthetic reeds are often of poor quality. Reeds should be purchased in bulk and tested to find the best one. A good reed will be the proper length and pitch and allow the player to produce a rich tone. Students should start with softer reeds and advance to harder reeds as their skills improve.

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    Reeds - How To Select A Good Oboe and English Horn Reed

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    The reed is crucial for producing good tone quality, response, intonation, and articulation on the oboe and English horn. It is important to purchase high quality cane reeds that are properly made, as store-bought and synthetic reeds are often of poor quality. Reeds should be purchased in bulk and tested to find the best one. A good reed will be the proper length and pitch and allow the player to produce a rich tone. Students should start with softer reeds and advance to harder reeds as their skills improve.

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    Reeds - How to Select a Good Oboe and English Horn Reed

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    The reed is crucial for producing good tone quality, response, intonation, and articulation on the oboe and English horn. It is important to purchase high quality cane reeds that are properly made, as store-bought and synthetic reeds are often of poor quality. Reeds should be purchased in bulk and tested to find the best one. A good reed will be the proper length and pitch and allow the player to produce a rich tone. Students should start with softer reeds and advance to harder reeds as their skills improve.

    Copyright:

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    1K views1 page

    Reeds - How To Select A Good Oboe and English Horn Reed

    Uploaded by

    api-3706862
    The reed is crucial for producing good tone quality, response, intonation, and articulation on the oboe and English horn. It is important to purchase high quality cane reeds that are properly made, as store-bought and synthetic reeds are often of poor quality. Reeds should be purchased in bulk and tested to find the best one. A good reed will be the proper length and pitch and allow the player to produce a rich tone. Students should start with softer reeds and advance to harder reeds as their skills improve.

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    of 1

    WIND INSTRUMENTS

    Educator Series
    How to Select a Good Oboe
    and English Horn Reed
    By Oscar Petty
    The reed is the command center of the oboe and English horn. Therefore, it is very important to choose
    a good one. In my many years of teaching and performing I have seen professionals and students face
    difficult moments by playing on poorly made reeds. Reeds that are poorly made are unstable and lack
    focus in terms of tone production. Some students have wanted to stop playing because of bad reeds and
    bad instruments.

    The reed plays a vital role in producing good tone quality, response, intonation and articulation. A good
    oboe reed normally will be 70 to 71 millimeters in length when finished and “crow“ (sound) a concert
    C when blown into by the player. Most store bought reeds are of poor quality and rarely give the player
    what is required to produce good tone quality. When you visit the local music stores or mail order web
    sites you should ask for the best quality cane reeds that they have in stock. In most cases, the higher the
    price, the better quality of the reed. Reeds that are made out of synthetic materials are very expensive
    Oscar Petty and produce a harsh tone quality and wild intonation (i.e. the “duck sound,” which is unacceptable).
    Therefore, it is advisable that students and directors stay away from using synthetic reeds. Another style
    Oscar Petty earned his Bachelors Degree from of oboe reed that students and directors should avoid are those with a wire around it. The reed with the
    Montclair State University under oboist Leonard wire around it indicates that the blades of the reed will not close properly. Oboists often use the term
    Arner and a Masters Degree from Rutgers “seal“ to judge the quality of a double reed. If a reed has a poor seal it will leak air and be difficult to
    University Mason Gross School of the Arts control; avoid this type of reed.
    under oboist Marsha Heller. Mr. Petty has
    The English Horn reed is the exception to the wire rule; it requires a small wire around the base of the
    recorded a CD with the Billings Montana
    reed as part of its natural construction. Sometimes reed makers will wrap a thin piece of plastic near the
    Symphony and a CD featuring the music of
    bottom of oboe and English horn reeds to insure that the reed will not leak air from the sides. This is
    composer Mario Lombardo. Mr. Petty has per-
    standard procedure for many reed manufacturers and no cause for alarm.
    formed in the USA and abroad. He teaches at
    Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey and is I recommend that reeds be purchased in bulk or a minimum of three reeds at a time. Reeds that are pur-
    a Yamaha Artist. chased at music stores and through the mail can vary in terms of quality from company to company. This
    is because the reeds may be made partly by hand and partly by machine.

    Oboists must keep in mind that a brand new reed out of the box may not be a good one; you must try
    several reeds at a time and pick the one that sounds the best. A tuner can be used to check the intona-
    tion and pitch. A good reed should play at A=440-441 at room temperature. In terms of reed strength,
    beginning oboists should play on soft to medium soft reeds, medium hard for the intermediate level stu-
    dent, and for the advanced level student a harder reed. If a reed is too stiff, it can be adjusted by care-
    fully scraping the tip and heart of the reed with an oboe reed knife. Remember that a reed that is too
    easy to blow will not produce a rich tone quality or good intonation.

    Oboe and English horn reeds can be costly if you don’t make your own. The average cost of oboe reeds
    is between seven and nine dollars. English Horn reeds cost a little more – about twelve dollars. All of
    these prices will vary depending on the vendor and quality.

    I recommend that you encourage your students to seek out a private teacher that is student-friendly. A
    professional will be your greatest living resource guide. He or she will be able to tell you where to purchase
    quality reeds and cane. Finally, performing artists are known by the tone they keep; therefore, good tone
    quality should never be sacrificed. For more information log on to my web site at www.pettymusic.com.

    OSCAR PETTY 1

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