Awesome video and great ideas communicated clearly and convincingly. Steam works wonders for forming tubes. Butchers twine and steam. Also using progressively more aggressive mandrels so that the cane forms a little bit at a time instead of all at once. Instead of forcing the tube to be round, you can gradually transform it into a tube without the jarring abrupt action that could result in cracks. Good job.
Is it essential that one be a bassonist to start making reeds? My daughter plays bassoon and is still in high school. I am interested in learning to make them to a stage where she can finish them off.
Hi! I suppose not if you aren’t taking them to the final stage. Certainly you lose a large amount of insight relating to the finishing process. Processing the cane and forming the tubes don’t require experience as a player to learn, so long as you strictly adhere to the instructions… hard to say more than that!
Good stuff! I can't help but wonder if my forming video or butt photos are among those you're throwing shade at (I'm totally down to be the Katy Perry to your Taylor Swift!- let's do this!). I agree that a perfectly round butt (oo la la) is ideal and that the tube should be symmetrical and this is often a problem created in the forming process. What I would challenge is the notion that those who find reaming necessary do so in order to correct the roundness. I think the necessity of reaming has more to do with the shape of the cane, the bevel if using one, and how tight the third wire is put on the reed when forming (this is something i have changed since making my forming video). I think we agree that the forming pin itself also has a lot to do with it. In considering the advantages of different pin tapers, I do think it can be quite relative to the shape. Is the roundness of the tube really about creating a good seal around the bocal? I'm honestly a little dubious of this. I've heard the annoying leaking sound produced by a really ill-formed tube, but the fundamental timber and projection of the reed doesn't really seem to be affected. I have to wonder if roundness is more about structural integrity and vibration-transfer as opposed to air leakage. In which case, I think we agree again that reaming won't help much. I also agree that cracks extending into the blade are far from ideal, although I'm not sure I feel that they are always as damning as you seem to imply. I'm unlcear how you feel about cracks in the tube. I really think they are not a problem unless they are the cause or result of asymmetry. Dude, you've got to check out this forming technique- th-cam.com/video/EKwdNsVXd3o/w-d-xo.html although I don't use it, it really challenged my thinking about the whole process. Does wrapping with string really allow for even pressure when forming? It would seem like it relieves pressure points for sure, but evenness would at least require a very even wrap. I found using a reed pliers with a good smooth forming notch really helps with this too, even on bare cane. I agree faster is not always better, rarely even. But fast and simple can also yield consistency and time to write neurotically long youtube comments!
Hi Scott, thanks for your comment. I'm afraid that, until now, I haven't seen your forming video or reed photos. I wasn't referring to you, or really any one particular person in my 'shade throwing'.
Sorry guys, I come late with my comment concerning the cracks in the tube. It seems that cutting the tube throughout its whole thickness when forming the blank is common practice in Italy. "Bassonistically" educated in Belgium, I was myself surprised when i got across this video: th-cam.com/video/grWf4q56kTs/w-d-xo.html And not only they so crack the tube from the butt until the first wire: they even open the "elements" so obtained wide apart with a special tool, the "spina conica"; then start rounding the tube from there. It seems that this "extreme", shocking approach is exactly what prevent the cracks to travel through the collar to the blade. I have understood the idea comes from Giorgio Versiglia and the school of Bergamo.
Awesome video and great ideas communicated clearly and convincingly.
Steam works wonders for forming tubes. Butchers twine and steam. Also using progressively more aggressive mandrels so that the cane forms a little bit at a time instead of all at once. Instead of forcing the tube to be round, you can gradually transform it into a tube without the jarring abrupt action that could result in cracks.
Good job.
Thanks! Yes, Gerald Corey showed me exactly this process with some very interestingly-shaped mandrels many years ago.
Is it essential that one be a bassonist to start making reeds? My daughter plays bassoon and is still in high school. I am interested in learning to make them to a stage where she can finish them off.
Hi! I suppose not if you aren’t taking them to the final stage. Certainly you lose a large amount of insight relating to the finishing process. Processing the cane and forming the tubes don’t require experience as a player to learn, so long as you strictly adhere to the instructions… hard to say more than that!
Good stuff! I can't help but wonder if my forming video or butt photos are among those you're throwing shade at (I'm totally down to be the Katy Perry to your Taylor Swift!- let's do this!).
I agree that a perfectly round butt (oo la la) is ideal and that the tube should be symmetrical and this is often a problem created in the forming process.
What I would challenge is the notion that those who find reaming necessary do so in order to correct the roundness. I think the necessity of reaming has more to do with the shape of the cane, the bevel if using one, and how tight the third wire is put on the reed when forming (this is something i have changed since making my forming video). I think we agree that the forming pin itself also has a lot to do with it. In considering the advantages of different pin tapers, I do think it can be quite relative to the shape.
Is the roundness of the tube really about creating a good seal around the bocal? I'm honestly a little dubious of this. I've heard the annoying leaking sound produced by a really ill-formed tube, but the fundamental timber and projection of the reed doesn't really seem to be affected. I have to wonder if roundness is more about structural integrity and vibration-transfer as opposed to air leakage. In which case, I think we agree again that reaming won't help much.
I also agree that cracks extending into the blade are far from ideal, although I'm not sure I feel that they are always as damning as you seem to imply. I'm unlcear how you feel about cracks in the tube. I really think they are not a problem unless they are the cause or result of asymmetry. Dude, you've got to check out this forming technique- th-cam.com/video/EKwdNsVXd3o/w-d-xo.html although I don't use it, it really challenged my thinking about the whole process.
Does wrapping with string really allow for even pressure when forming? It would seem like it relieves pressure points for sure, but evenness would at least require a very even wrap. I found using a reed pliers with a good smooth forming notch really helps with this too, even on bare cane. I agree faster is not always better, rarely even. But fast and simple can also yield consistency and time to write neurotically long youtube comments!
Hi Scott, thanks for your comment. I'm afraid that, until now, I haven't seen your forming video or reed photos. I wasn't referring to you, or really any one particular person in my 'shade throwing'.
Sorry guys, I come late with my comment concerning the cracks in the tube.
It seems that cutting the tube throughout its whole thickness when forming the blank is common practice in Italy. "Bassonistically" educated in Belgium, I was myself surprised when i got across this video:
th-cam.com/video/grWf4q56kTs/w-d-xo.html
And not only they so crack the tube from the butt until the first wire: they even open the "elements" so obtained wide apart with a special tool, the "spina conica"; then start rounding the tube from there. It seems that this "extreme", shocking approach is exactly what prevent the cracks to travel through the collar to the blade. I have understood the idea comes from Giorgio Versiglia and the school of Bergamo.
𝓟Ř𝔬𝓂𝔬𝐒ϻ 🙏