Reed adjustments, oboe adjustments

Sunday September 07 2008

I’m not sure why, but I went through my stockpile of good reeds for the school year, and they all felt they needed the same adjustment.

• Clearer definition in the bottom corners of the tip (along the integration between the tip and the lay) to focus vibrations inward toward the center of the reed.
• Dusting along the sides of the spine in the heart to create more vibrations through the center of the reed.

One adjustment kills vibrations (the definition of the bottom corners of the tip) while the other produces more vibrations. I’m not sure why, but one hypothesis is that as I’m getting in shape more, My mouth is playing closer to the tip of the reed, which is changing the way I want my reeds balanced. Another hypothesis is that the weather is changing.

I’ve been playing on my Howarth XL quite a bit, and finally decided to take some major plunges. I pulled out the fingernail polish and started painting some toneholes.

• Middle and high C is pitched very high, so I filled that baby in a lot.
• Middle E is screaming high.
• Half hole Db, D, and Eb are all very high, so I started filling in the half-hole tone hole.

Well, if it doesn’t work out, there’s always fingernail polish remover!

UPDATE…: I fixed the middle high C by fitting a cork washer into the bowl where the tonehole ends. On howarths, there is a little crater at the top of the tonehole on C, which makes this possible. Vwa La!