The oboe reed and its parts

This guide explains the basic parts of an oboe reed for students who are starting to understand how the reed is built and why each element matters.

The oboe reed

The oboe reed, also called a double reed, is made from a piece of cane known as a blade. The shaped cane is folded in half and tied with nylon thread onto a small brass tube covered with cork, called a staple. Once tied, the reed is scraped with a reed knife so the cane can vibrate in a balanced way.

The sound begins when the scraped part of the reed vibrates with the air blown by the oboist while the reed is held in the mouth.

Parts of the reed

An oboe reed is usually described through these main parts:

1. The blade, with the scraped area at the top.
2. The wire.
3. The thread.
4. The staple.

In the following image you can see each part of the reed marked with an arrow.

Making reeds is a detailed process. It takes patience, time and practice with the tools used in each step.

We will talk more about reed making in future posts, but the next photo gives you a first look at tools such as the knife, mandrel, plaque, cutting block and pliers.

The photo also shows the reed parts before assembly:

1. Shaped cane, already prepared to be tied. We will cover the previous steps in another post.
2. Staples, where you can see the cork section and the brass section that will be covered by thread.
3. Thread, shown here in several colours. You can choose the colour you prefer.
4. Wire, usually 0.30 mm for oboe reeds.

In the next article we will look at the parts of the scrape. Stay tuned to our blog.