When you’re looking for a good reed to play a solo performance,
just remember this:

Make sure you can play the reed out of your ear.

That means the reed should be easy enough to get through your
piece 2 or 3 times in a row without getting tired.

So if your reed has you huffing and puffing after a bar or two,
you’re going to get into hot water.

Playing the oboe can be hard… as long as it doesn’t sound that
way.

You can hear an example of a good “reed fit” by turning up your
speakers and visiting the link below:

http://tinyurl.com/5d3vf3

The piece is a Telemann Fantasie I recorded a few (10 years…
EEEKK!) years ago…

It’s amazing what 4,000 feet will do to an oboe reed.

30 days ago, we moved out of the mountains of Flagstaff Arizona.

Flagstaff Elevation: 7,200 feet above sea level.

Now when you’re an oboe reed company, that type of elevation can be a real deal breaker.

It was for us. So we stopped selling oboe reeds.

We’d make them at the top of the mountain in Flagstaff, and then send them down the mountain to our customers.

And that’s when it would happen…

KAPOW!

Dead oboe reed. [Death by altitude.]

But in June, just last month, we moved about 45 minutes from Flagstaff, to a little town called Cornville, AZ.

(Don’t worry if you laugh at the name… we did.)

The bottom line is, we’re out of the clouds and back in the desert of Arizona.

Cornville Elevation: Only 3,225 feet above sea level.

The good news?

We Can Sell Oboe Reeds Again!

Now ever since we stopped selling reeds (about a year ago), we’ve gotten at least 3 emails a week asking “When are you going to sell oboe reeds again?”

Well, TODAY is the day.

We’ve got oboe reeds.

Same great reeds as before… Same guarantee as before.

Here’s where you can get them:

Happy playing,

I remember this reed lesson pretty well. Even though it happened almost 15 years ago (eekkk…). The idea was to give myself a simple “cheat sheet” that I could refer back to as I made reeds. It was basically my profile of the “perfect reed.”

I created a quick list of the major things I was looking for in a good reed.

Mind you, this was 1993… so I was still really new to reedmaking.

Take a look at the list and tell me what your thoughts are.

Now soon after this lesson, I remember my teacher giving me an exercise to practice that really helped me.

The exercise was to make a reed on looks alone. That meant making a reed by working to get the reed looking perfect… without actually testing it.

Most of the times I tried this–once I got the reed looking right–it usually played pretty well.

The point of the exercise was to keep me from becoming my own worst enemy. You know those times where you notice a problem with the reed and start scraping… Then you notice another problem and start scraping somewhere else.

And pretty soon, you get yourself in trouble and the reed goes in the trash.

Now understand, this was just an exercise. A reed doesn’t have to look great to be a great reed.

You can click on the image to get a closeup view of the notebook page.

Got a question recently about how to tie your knots when you’re making an oboe reed. It’s hard to explain in words, so take a look at the video and see if it’s clear.

This video is actually part of our reedmaking course, The Beginner’s Guide to Making Your First Playing Oboe Reed… In 9 Days or Less

Here’s what happens to dead oboe reeds (in this case, a bassoon reed) in our house. My son really gets a kick out of this. I wish I could have so much fun when my reeds kick the bucket.

If you aren’t planning to learn reedmaking now or anytime in the near future, the best thing you can do is learn how to scrape the reeds that you do buy.

To do that, you’ve got to know the parts of a reed.

Here’s a very simple diagram that will make it clear if you are just starting out.

Get the Oboe Reed Diagram

Feel free to pass it on to anyone that can use it

For the advanced players, just having a simple chart like this where you can put a big red X over the areas you need to keep your knife away from can be a good reminder.

I’ve solved many a reed problem by just remembering the basics.

We’re only about 18 days away from our big announcement at MKL Reeds.

If you are reading this blog and haven’t signed up for our newsletter, The Reed Report, you are going to miss out.

Before you play another note on your oboe, go and get your free subscription. You’ll get some free gifts and goodies, and it will only take a minute.

You can signup here:

Sign-Up For The Reed Report

If you already get The Reed Report but you haven’t updated your contact info yet, then you need to visit the address below and take care of that.

The reason for the update is that I want to make sure you get the right information sent to you on the day we make the big announcement…

The directions are simple:

1. Visit the web address below and fill out the short form.
2. Hit the “Put Me On The List!” button and you’re done.

By filling out the form, you’ll guarantee your spot on our VIP Announcement List when the big day (September 12) rolls around.

Everyone NOT on the list will have to wait for a bit.

Here is the link:

Update My Information

It should take you less than a minute to complete.

Whew… housekeeping tires me out!

It’s probably no surprise that we get a lot of questions from present, past and future customers about oboe reeds.

That’s my business of course.

We get questions like:

“Do I need a soft reed or a hard reed?”
“How should I know what reeds to order?”
“What do I do with oboe reeds if I order them and don’t like them?”

The list goes on and on… These are important questions.

I don’t mind answering them, because it is a great feeling to point someone in the right direction - to explain to them why they are so frustrated with their reeds and how they can move into a better situation.

But I am only one person and I can only talk to one person at a time.

And so I put together a short manual that takes you through the process if you are new to buying and caring for oboe reeds. It’s thorough, but simple and straightforward at the same time.

You can get all of the details here.

I always love trying different shaper tips–not only do they offer me different options and “feels”, but they can feel different on different gouges, so I often revisit unused shaper tips when I redo my gouge.

Having recently gotten both of my gouges worked on, I went back through my shaper tip collection to see how things felt, and I’ve decided that my Ruth shaper tip makes absolutely fabulous reeds….that I can’t play.

For my mouth and playing, the Ruth always feels too big and too wide for really focused playing. I love the sound of the reeds it makes–they have a depth and complexity to them that’s really appealing. But for me, they just don’t feel perfectly comfortable.

I certainly don’t profess to know everything about reedmaking….in fact, I kind of like being presented with the odd reed problem now and then. It challenges me to do some investigating and create a solution for a specific reed issue. In the end, I learn a lot and my reeds get better…

I do have a lot of reedmaking experience, however, owning a reed business and all. This leads me to the most recent addition to our newest oboe venture:

In case you haven’t checked out our new site, it’s Oboe:Space

Meet the Reed Guru, our newest “employee” in cyberspace. Ask the Reed Guru any and all reedmaking questions, and an answer will be posted to your question on the site. Next time you have a reed problem, you can come and search through all of the past questions for an answer. The Reed Guru will quickly become a great resource for your reedmaking.

This cool service is free to anyone who wants to submit a question. While we can’t promise we know the answer to everything, we do promise we will get as close to a solution as possible by doing some research or presenting you with some ideas or thoughts that might set you on the right path.

So, ask away!

You can check it out here.