How to Adjust Oboe Reeds

Areas of the Reed

This article will help you diagnose, adjust & hopefully fix the following factors with your oboe reeds:

 Resistance (too hard or soft)

 Flexibility (sound and dynamics)
 Pitch (sharp or flat or change depending on note)
 Tone (does it make a nice sound)
 Leaking (air escaping)

Balance
With any problems you should start by checking your reed is balanced and symmetrical, the spine should be exactly in the
centre and even amounts of cane taken from either side. Both blades of the reed should also be identical. If there are any
differences, try to equal them out and this may immediately fix your problem without having to adjust your oboe reed.

Adjusting the Wire (If your reed has one)

Before fixing any problems, start by checking that the reed is not too open of too closed. If the reed has a wire this is easily
changed:

Firstly soak the reed briefly then

a) If the reed closes up from playing the reed will then feel thin. To open the reed squeeze the wire, using your fingers,
gently from the sides.

b) If it’s too open this can make the reed feel ‘hard’ and difficult to produce a controlled sound, meaning that you may be
compelled to scrape the reed to make it easier. Squeeze the wire, using your fingers, from the front and back gently until the
tip closed as you like.

How open the tip is, is very much up to personal preference.

I always prefer to have a reed that needs closing up rather than opening.
Leaking Oboe Reed
If the reed is leaking it can make the reed feel hard or stuffy again possibly compelling you to unnecessarily scrape or adjust
the reed. To test for leaking, cover the hole at the cork end of the reed with your finger and blow air through the reed as if
you were playing if in your oboe, if you can feel air escaping through the sides then you need seal the reed. The easiest way
to do this is with clingfilm. Many oboists will carry a cut end of a clingfilm roll with them, or you can just cut off pieces of
clingfilm as you need them. Otherwise you can use goldbeater skin.

Oboe Reeds’ Resistance

If your reed is too resistant or stuffy but you want to keep the tone, scrape at the top of the gulley’s towards the edge of
the reed & then in the gulley’s from the bottom of the scrape.

If the reed has a wire, you can try lowering this which can help free up the reed

If your reed is not resistant enough, it usually means too much cane has already been taken off which cannot be rectified,
but by cutting a tiny amount from the tip of the reed you can gain some resistance.
Once the tip is cut you will need to re-scrape the very edge of the tip – concentrate on the sides of the tip.

Flexibility & Dynamics

If your reed is not flexible enough, you will not get the range of dynamics or ‘free sound’ you need. On the other hand if your
reed is too flexible it will be hard to control and may produce an unsatisfying tone. These issues are similar to the resistance
of the reed and may be fixed in the same way. If you have already tried adjusting oboe reeds in that manner and the reed is
still not flexible enough then you will need to do a general and even scrape all over the reed, starting with the spine and
edges of the reed. Remember only take minimal amounts off at a time – you can always take more off but you can never put
it back on! If the reed is too flexible and you have already tried cutting the tip, unfortunately there is probably nothing left to
do except leave it in the box and try it again in a month or so – reeds often change over time.

Pitch – Generally Sharp or Flat

Pitch and tuning on the oboe is always tricky but it’s not always your fault, sometimes it really is the reed! However, adjusting
your oboe reeds to resolve this is not too complex.

If the reed is feeling hard and sharp then this indicates that there is too much cane on the reed, try scraping the gullies first
- concentrating of the top edges, and then do a light general scrape. If the problem is still the same, try scraping a small
amount from the back of the reed. Be careful when scraping from the back of the reed as this can affect intonation if too
much is scraped.

If the reed is flat, first check that the reed is not too open, if it is not the reed may be too long. Cut a small amount from the
tip and re-scrape the tip – repeat until at the correct pitch. Be careful as this can affect the intonation of the reed.

Pitch – Sagging Notes

If you find that some of your notes are ‘sagging’ or the intonation is bad, this is usually caused by too much cane being taken
from certain areas – usually the back of the reed. If this is the case, you can try equalling out the reed by scraping the rest of
the reed to reduce the imbalance; unfortunately this will probably make the reed thinner that you want.

Tone & Sound Quality

Tone is very important in a reed, and to a certain extent you cannot make a reed have a nice sound if it doesn’t want to,
however you can affect it.

If the reed has a very direct sound, try scraping towards the back of the reed and thinning the tip slightly. If the tip is long
you can try cutting the tip but this will likely affect the pitch of the reed.

If the reed sounds stuffy or muffled then you can lengthen the tip of the reed & this will also mean re-scraping the other
parts of the reed to re-balance it which can be tricky. To Lengthen the tip, draw an upside down U, following the original line,
slightly below the old tip. Then scrape the area up until the pencil mark.
Be careful as a tip that is too long can affect intonation, especially when playing middle C, making it saggy.

Summary - adjusting oboe reeds

If you are new to scraping, always check with a teacher and try things out on old reeds that you don’t use any more until you
are confident to do it on a ‘good’ reed.

Always remember when adjusting oboe reeds, that a stable reed needs a spine, heart, and edges as well as a well-balanced
tip. So any adjustments carried out should try to keep these areas intact.

Thanks for reading our guide on adjusting oboe reeds. If you have any thoughts about this guide please let us know at
matthew@crookandstaple.com
Common actions and their effects...

 Scraping the whole surface of the tip thinner.

o Easier response
o Lower resistance
o Brighter, somewhat shallower, sound
o Slightly flatter pitch and decreased stability

If the reed is nearly finished, scraping the whole tip is seldom a good idea. It tends to make the reed
chirpy and shrill because it emphasizes the tip vibrations too much. In this case, it's usually better to
try to get more vibrations some other way - scraping the heart a bit, for instance - and then finishing
just the sides and corners of the tip. Scraping the tip makes the tip vibrate better; it doesn't
necessarily make the reed vibrate better.
 Scraping just the extremities of the tip (sides and corners - "finishing the tip").
o Somewhat easier response
o Somewhat lower resistance
o More focused, refined sound
o Minimal effect on pitch and stability

If done carefully, finishing the tip can actually improve stability without affecting the pitch. Often,
finishing the tip will unify all the elements of the reed after everything else looks all right. It should be
among the last things you do to a reed and always with a very sharp knife.
 Clipping the tip.
o Harder response
o Higher resistance
o Duller, shallower, less vibrant sound
o Sharper pitch and improved stability

Before clipping the tip, be sure it really needs clipping. The reed should feel a little loose and play a
little flat. Clip to improve the function of the reed, not the tone. Clipping a bright, sharp reed that
doesn't vibrate well to make it sound darker won't help it a bit. Always clip off the tiniest possible
amount; it's better to clip a reed three times to get what you want than to clip it too much once.
 Scraping the heart (not the center!).
o Somewhat easier response
o Lower resistance
o Brighter, more raucous and vibrant, sound
o Flatter pitch and decreased stability

This is often the cure for a stodgy, wooden reed that refuses to vibrate. Try to stay away from the
center of the heart unless the reed just doesn't vibrate at all. The heart acts like a valve between the
tip and the back. If it's too thick, the tip vibrations will not continue, and the reed will feel stuffy and
resistant. If it's too thin, the reed becomes loose and noisy - as though the tip were much too long.
 Scraping the back (top half)
o Slightly more sluggish response
o Slightly lower resistance
o Warmer, less brilliant sound
o Flatter pitch and decreased stability

After the first roughing-out stages, wood should mostly be removed from the top of the back, blending
as you get closer to the string. Making the whole back thin weakens the reed too much. Be sure, also,
to leave a visible spine down the center and rails along each side to provide structure. Avoid having
too much of a hump between the top of the back and the heart - blend it smoothly.
POSSIBLE CURES FOR COMMON PROBLEMS

Reed too flat.

There are several things that can cause this problem: the opening is too big, the reed is well-made but too large, the
overlap is too slight, or too much wood has been removed from the reed. It can also be a combination of these factors.

If the opening seems too large, always take care of that first. Soak the reed well and, with the plaque inserted,
squeeze just behind the tip gently, holding the reed between your thumb and index finger. Once you're pretty sure it
won't crack, squeeze harder. Then, gradually squeeze a little closer to the string. Finally, squeeze as hard and as
close to the string as you dare. Twist the tube back and forth a little to weaken the reed further. If it cracks now, don't
worry too much; it would have cracked sooner or later anyway. Better now than during a concert. This is the only
effective way to make the opening smaller. Weakening the reed by scraping is not effective. The next time you soak
the reed, the opening will probably be too large again. Repeat the squeezing procedure, and after a few days it should
settle down.

If the reed seems to play well but just a bit flat, it probably needs to have the tip clipped. Be careful to clip only the
tiniest amount at a time and try the reed after each clip. You can raise the pitch slightly by increasing the amount that
the blades overlap. Gently slip the blades a little apart. Note that this will also make the tone less vibrant.

If the reed is flat because too much wood has been removed, it may be difficult to remake. Usually, this happens if the
back or the heart (or both) have been scraped too thin. Try clipping it a little. Chances are the pitch will improve but
the sound will not. Be prepared to give up and make a new reed without making the same mistakes.

The general order of operation in the case of a flat, but otherwise well-made, reed is to clip it until it crows "C", then
loosen it up if necessary, clip again if necessary, etc. The closer you get to an acceptable result the smaller the
adjustments should be. Try the reed after every (tiny) clip and after every (minimal) scraping procedure. As a rule of
thumb, do not let the crow drop lower than "B" while finishing the reed. Then, you will always be able to restore the
pitch by clipping.

Reed too sharp

Sharpness can be due to the opening being too small, the reed being too short, too great an overlap, or too much
wood being left on the reed. Sharpness is much less common than flatness.

If the opening is too small, there is usually no remedy. Try soaking the reed for a good long time (15-20 minutes) and
see if it improves. Squeezing it gently open with you fingers is a temporary solution. Some people recommend
changing the shape of the tube with pliers to adjust the opening, but this distorts the reed and ruins the tube. If you get
consistently small openings, try using cane with a smaller diameter, and/or a wider shaper tip, and/or tying the reeds
on a little longer (but keeping the same finished length). Also, make sure that the cane you use has good resilience. It
it's mushy and collapses easily, no amount of correction will help much.

If the reed is clipped too short, it's probably hopeless. Often this is the result of carelessly clipping too much and then
scraping too much, clipping, scraping, etc. Be more careful.

The overlap can be reduced by slipping the blades more nearly on top of each other. This will also make the tone
more resonant, but is at best a temporary solution - the blades will slide back to their original position after a while.

If the reed is sharp because it's still too thick, scrape more off. The reed is probably not well balanced in this case, and
where to remove wood should be visibly obvious.

Reed won't vibrate

First, determine whether the sound of the reed is dull and wooden or whether it's thin and shrill.

If it's dull and wooden, removing wood from the heart usually fixes the problem. In extreme cases, you can even take
wood from the center of the heart. Note that this will make the reed flatter. If the reed is dull and wooden and flat, it
probably won't ever work.

If it's shrill, take more wood from the back. Continue scraping until the sound gets a little better, then balance the rest
of the reed to what you've done. This will also make it flatter, but most shrill reeds are sharp so you're OK. Note that
reeds that tend towards shrillness rarely turn out well.
Reed vibrates too much (raucous)

This is often a good thing in the early stages, particularly with English horn reeds. Usually, the reed is well-balanced
but just not finished. If this is the case, scrape equally from the tip, the heart, and the top of the back and try it again.
Sometimes, raucousness in a nearly finished reed is the result of the opening being too large. If that's the case,
squeeze it down before doing anything else. Usually, the reed will play completely differently with the correct opening.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

 Sharpen your knife. This seems obvious but is often ignored anyway. Make sure it's really sharp before going
anywhere near a reed. Spend ten minutes sharpening if necessary. Sharpen it five or ten times per reed. This
cannot be emphasized enough! If you can't get your knife sharp, you might need a new one, or you might
need to restore the edge using a coarser stone. A knife more than a year old is seldom much use unless it
was extremely high quality to begin with and has been very carefully sharpened. Consider having one knife
that you use only for the most delicate work. (This is not to say that the rough work should be done with a
lousy knife! You need a good edge always.)
 Never deliberately remove wood from the center of the reed. Enough comes off anyway.
 When in doubt, adjust the function of the reed, not the sound.The basic sound quality of a given piece of cane
can only be adjusted within limits. It is not possible make a shrieking reed sound dull, nor is it possible to
make a dead reed sound brilliant. It is possible, though, to make these reeds function correctly so that you can
play with ease and comfort. You will always sound better on a reed that feels comfortable to you - you will be
able to play in tune, with reliable response and without fatigue. Deficiencies in these areas are obvious to any
listener - far more than delicate nuances of oboe tone.
 Make the extreme tip (corners and sides) as thin as you can. Measurements show that many reeds have tips
that are .01mm thick (that's .00039 in. - 4/10,000). Sharpen your knife.
 Before doing anything, verify that the opening is the correct size. A too-large opening will completely distort a
reed's performance.
 Think. Everything you do to a reed is a compromise.
 Unless you're completely sure of what you're doing, consider all of the effects of what you're doing on the four
basic criteria of reed performance: response, resistance, tone quality and stability. A scraping operation will
almost always give you the intended result, but it may also give a variety of unintended results which you must
anticipate. Try to find the solution that solves the most problems and creates the fewest new ones.
 Try the reed after each operation. Don't decide you need to scrape the back, finish the tip and then clip it.
Results are sometimes unpredictable. Do one thing at a time, and always try the reed.
 Learn to clip the tiniest amounts from the tip possible. If you can hardly see the remains on the block, it's
about right.
 Consistency is more valuable than frequent experimentation.Try to find something that works and stick to it.
The more consistent the process, the more consistent the result. Don't keep changing shaper tips, cane
suppliers, staples, gouge dimensions, etc. Only a true expert (there aren't many) will be able to make sense of
the various variables. Chances are, if your reeds don't play with shaper tip "A", they won't play with shaper tip
"B", either.
 Consider the effects of tying the reed on at different lengths (while maintaining the same finished length).
While it's best to keep the length fairly consistent, this presumes that you're using the same cane, shape, and
type of tube for each reed. Tying the reed on shorter gives a smaller opening and a wider "throat" (the area
where the reed meets the string). Tying the reed on longer has the opposite effect. Ideally, the sides should
close with the string still one wind below the top of the tube. Tying on too long will cause the reed to leak; too
short and the sides crush together causing the tip to spread apart.
 Make sure the overlap is correct. The blade facing you should be slightly to the right of the blade behind. That
way the tension of the string wrapping pulls the two blades tightly together. Don't overlap too much - the
resonance chamber is reduced too greatly. When tying on, I try to make sure that the overlap isn't going the
wrong way more than I try to make it go the right way. If you tie left-handed (i.e. with the mandrel in your right
hand, and the string in the left), the overlap should be reversed (the front blade slightly to the left of the rear).
 The sides of the reed should hold tightly together all the way to the tip. If the sides are "loose" at all, the reed
will almost never work well. This problem is usually caused by warped cane, careless shaping, or careless
wrapping and cannot be solved by scraping. Be very careful with every step of the process, rejecting even
slightly warped or twisted cane. Gouge carefully and measure each piece of gouged cane. Shape accurately
with a sharp tool. Tie correctly onto the tube with the correct tie length. If you changed staple brands recently,
change back.

Observe everything. Successful reedmaking is nothing more than an accumulation of experience and the elimination
of error. This includes not only obvious errors like tearing off bits of tip and tying past the end of the tube, but also
cane selection, careful gouging, shaping, tying-on, scraping, etc. Learn which types of cane work best for you. Which
shapes, which tubes, which knives, etc. If you find something that works, stick to it. Most of all, think while you make
reeds. Observe everything. You may ruin the reed you're working on, but make sure you learn something from the
experience.

Relatively easy things to do to fix your reed using tools:

1) If the reed is too vibrant, too flat and too easy, clip about a 1/4 mm. off the tip using the knife and the block. The
reed should get harder and sharper. If it does not, something else may be called for: see #3 below.

2) If the reed is not vibrant enough, and too sharp, scrape lightly off the "channels" in the heart, i.e.: avoid the spine in
the center and the rails on the sides. Be sure to scrape over the “edge” of the heart where it meets the tip but avoid
scraping the tip. Also look at the end of the tip in a light. Sometimes the cane is too thick there and needs to be
thinned.

3) If the reed is unfocused, unstable and too vibrant, you may need to address one of the areas that machines cannot
get thin enough - the sides of the tip. Gently thin the sides of the tip with the plaque in and supporting them with your
finger. The reed should get easier, and more focused. You may need to clip it when you are done. The reed should
become sharper and more stable after each clip.

4) Another focusing technique is to separate the tip from the heart on the sides. Scrape gently where the tip meets the
heart on the sides, with very short strokes. The tip may also need to be clipped after this to make the reed stable
enough.

5) If the back feels unsquishable, and is holding the reed too open, scrape carefully, while keeping the rails on the
sides, and the spine in the center. If your reed does not have rails or spine, scrape beside where you would like them to
be, and you will create small ones this way. This should close the reed down, thicken the sound and sharpen the pitch,
particularly in the high register.