The oboe reed and its parts.

Today we present some basic notions about the oboe reed and its parts for all who start with the oboe. We hope you find it useful.

The oboe reed.

The oboe reed is made up of a piece of shaped cane. This piece of shaped cane is folded in half and tied with a nylon thread to a small cork-covered brass tube called staple or tube. Once the reed is tied, it is scraped with a special knife to get it to vibrate correctly. Reed vibration occurs when the scraped part of the reed comes into contact with the air expelled by the oboist while the reed is inserted in the mouth. I leave you the links in case you want to see everything I talk about.

Parts of the oboe reed.

The oboe reed parts are:

1. The blades, which in the upper part carry the scrape. The 2 blades are the piece of shaped cane folded in the middle.
2. Wire.
3. Thread.
4. Staple or tube.

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

Reed adjusting is a complex process. It takes patience, time, and developing certain skills with the necessary tools. Although we will talk about the reed making process in future publications, in the following image you have a preview of the different tools that are used such as knife, mandrel, plaque, cutting block or pliers. In the photo you can also see the parts of the reed separately before making it:

1. Shaped cane ready to tie. In another post we will talk about the previous processes that must be done to the cane so that it is ready to tie. When they are ready they are called pieces of shaped cane. In the photo you have 20 pieces of shaped cane.
2. Staples, in which you can see the two parts: the cork that is seen in the finished reed and the brass that is later inside the thread.
3. The thread, in this case multicolored. You can use the color that you like the most.
4. The wire. For oboe reeds, 0.30mm is used.

In our next post we will talk about the main sections of the scrape. Stay tuned to our blog. See you in www.eg-reeds.com !