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Hi, I go back and forth on this one (as do a lot of people I know!). Right now, I usually keep my hearts the same throughout, but some people prefer a thicker spine. If you're having trouble keeping the reed up to pitch, I would suggest trying to keep the spine thicker.

@@IHateOboeReedsOboe thanks for getting back to me! You’re not selling reeds anymore, right?

Hi, glad you like the videos! There is a video on shaping and tying reeds on my website, but it is only accessible for members of the website. Here is a link where you will see all the posts and videos about making reeds: howtomakeoboereeds.com/2017/09/25/table-of-contents-for-membership-posts/ And here is a link for more information about becoming a member: howtomakeoboereeds.com/membership-checkout/

LOL

I just got a new lens and light which seems to be working a little better! Hopefully some of the info in this video was helpful, but if you want to donate a high-quality camera, I wouldn’t say no

Thank you!

Thank you!

Hi, I've been getting them from Midwest Musical Imports here: www.mmimports.com/product/rigotti-dhg-knife-vitry-style/

That's a really good question! You're probably used to seeing a rating system of 1-5 for how hard a clarinet reed is supposed to be. For oboists, a lot of the best professionals play on as light of a reed as possible, which means the crow should start with as little air as possible. Some oboists play on heavier reeds though. Basically, it is up to you, but based on how much air you have to use to get the crow started is how hard you'll have to work when you're playing. I like to have the reed start with as little air as possible, but still with some 'cushion' to the response so that notes don't just pop out. Here is a quick article going over response and heaviness of oboe reeds: howtomakeoboereeds.com/2020/12/13/reed-response/

I wish more oboists were aware of that astute yearn .

@@IHateOboeReedsOboe good response

Hi, I use Vitry-style knives that are made by Rigotti. I think they are the best value knives out there!

Glad you like them!

Thank you!

Great! I’d be interested in hearing these etudes played by instruments other than oboe or saxophone

Violist here as well as a oboe player who just started to learn how to make his own reeds, the scraping sound might so satisfying because the knife is so sharp that when it makes contact with the reed, it feels like you are spreading butter with the tip of the butterknife with force. Also the scrape gives the reeds it's life and voice.

Dad always said, Jeff, play bass ... everybody needs a bass, but he was proud of me playing oboe

My reed making has slowed down to a snail's pace, and I can't tell what I'm doing wrong. Nowadays, I find I have to really fight to make my reeds vibrate more, a problem I really haven't had before, even when my openings aren't that big and I scrape a lot out of my reeds.

A new knife might be the answer, I just bought some vitry style knives from Midwest musical imports which I like (and they aren’t expensive). My reed set up is 10-10.5 diameter cane, innoledy gouge, Mack+ shaper tip and tied onto pisoni staples at slightly above 72mm, finished at about 70. I also use 10.5 diameter cane on a Gilbert 1 tied at 73mm, finished at about 71

Also check out www.howtomakeoboereeds.com for more detailed info! There are reed diagrams that show a basic idea about how much to scrape each section of the reed, but those are for premium subscribers

What kind of cane do you use?

Christopher Kim I’m always changing cane, but normally I use rigotti, medir, or glotin. Brands are so inconsistent from batch to batch so I don’t have any loyalty to any type

Kaleb Zhu Hi, I’m using a Vitry style blade that can be slipped into a handle. The handles are somewhat reusable and then you can just pop in a new blade when the old one is finished. These are really cheap knives and they don’t have a long life span, but they cost about a quarter of the price of more premium knives.

Hi, great question - openings are something that we are almost always working on perfecting. The first culprits I look at when reeds are consistently too open are the gouge and diameter of cane. This might sound counterintuitive, but you might try a smaller diameter cane (because the gouger will naturally take more off the sides and less off the middle) so that the side thickness at the throat of the reed (where the top of the thread is) is thinner and collapses a little more and can't prop open the tip. You can also try adjusting your gouger to yield narrower sides. If that is not feasible, then depending on the gouging machine you might be able to take off more on the sides by angling the piece of cane in bed of the gouger so more is taken off the sides which you can do by offsetting the cane in the bed of the gouger so the blade cuts more from the sides (I should mention that is not an ideal solution though). I would also recommend making your cane more narrow before you gouge (I sometimes take a razor blade and trim off a few strands of cane so that the pregouged pieces of cane are 7.5mm wide or less). In terms of scraping, you might have some very strong cane that holds its opening, so maybe try taking more cane off the top of the tip and top of the heart. In this video I scoop up and out in the windows, but maybe don't do that too much early on in scraping. You can also trying scraping the railings where the heart is. You made good observation about pulling too hard when you tie a reed, and in general I would suggest pulling the thread as little as you can so that it still seals on the sides so that the cane vibrates as freely as possible.

I'm starting to have that same problem with tip openings. Just to add, I've been taking more cane out of the tip earlier in the scraping process recently. That includes scraping the middle of the tip which of course is a bit dangerous because if too much is taken out then your reeds will be a little chirpy sounding. Hope one of these tips helps!

Christopher Kim do you let your reeds sit ? I've found that in relatively humid climates if you leave your reeds alone for 1-2 days after they're tied the openings tend to be just right, not too open, not too closed.

Andy Garcia Hi, normally I like to let cane sit for at least a day after gouging. After shaping and tying a reed, I move right to scraping and try to get the reed scraped to something that resembles a finished reed, but still leaves some room to work over the next few days. After that, it all depends on the cane.

I actually live in a very dry area where my wildfires have occurred, but I still resort to having to leave my reeds unclipped for a day or two. I feel like my opening issues are more of an issue of set-up. Especially in a dry area like mine, I should be able to make a theoretically be able to make a reed without worrying too much about a bloated opening. I always find it crazy when I see videos of oboe players scraping very little and then clipping open a very nice and small opening.