How to Adjust Oboe Reeds

Oboe reed adjustment is commonplace and often important to maintaining your desired sound. Oboe reeds change over time with use. However, you may even need to adjust your reed before you ever use it for the first time. Clipping, scraping and pinching oboe reeds into shape requires great patience and dexterity, but it will produce great results when properly executed.

Things You'll Need

• Sharp knife
• Tepid or lukewarm water

Instructions

Clipping

1. Carefully cut away a small portion of the oboe reed tip with a sharp knife. Cut away thin horizontal strips in very tiny increments.

2. Sound test the reed after each clipping to assure you do not remove too much tip.

3. Repeat clipping and sound testing the reed until it makes a C note when you blow into it. Alternate clipping with squeezing if you are trying to adjust a flat-sounding reed.

Squeezing

1. Soak your oboe reed to dampen it, making it more malleable. Soak the reed in tepid water for five minutes.

2. Press the blades of your reed together by squeezing their tips between your index finger and thumb. Decreasing the space between blades combats a flat sound.

3. Sound test the reed after pinching the blades together. Alternate squeezing and sound testing until your reed produces the desired sound. Incorporate clipping as necessary.

Scraping

1. Scrape the tip, heart or back of your reed with a sharp knife. Shave away very thin layers of wood to alter the vibration response of your reed.

2. Sound test your reed for vibration response. Alternate scraping and sound testing after shaving from every necessary surface of your reed.

3. Incorporate clipping and squeezing the reed as necessary, as scraping tends to be a last resort for reed adjustment.

Tips & Warnings

• Use as sharp a knife as possible. Dull knives are more likely to break or damage oboe reeds during clipping and scraping.

• Attach the reed to your oboe. Twist the reed by its blades in alternating clockwise and counterclockwise motions to soften it further if necessary.

• Reed adjustments are too small to measure with the naked eye or with a ruler. Sound test between every small, precise adjustment.

• Adjust your oboe reed very carefully, as any adjustment miscues could cause the reed to break or split.

• Clipping and scraping are irreversible reed adjustments. There is no way to restore portions of the reed if you cut or shave away too much.

References

• Arizona State University: Reed Adjustment Guide
• Arizona State University: Oboe Reed Diagram

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish