Correspondence with David Weber RE: EH Shaper Tips

Tuesday July 03 2007

For my EH shaped cane and reeds I use a shaper tip I made, copied from shaped cane from Lou Rosenblatt.  I don’t really know what is in the market for EH shapes.  Carlos’ tip is really fine, another copy of Rosenblatt’s, but slightly too narrow, I feel.  Someone said he had a wider one, too.  That may be really nice. The typical tips out there are really really wide for me.  There may be something from Westwind or Jeanne or Adam.  I’ve not tried any of these, though.

I feel you are a prime candidate to learn how to make your own shaper tips—.. Yes???  Right!  You can do it.  It may even be a good future side-career for you.  It requires very few tools and little investment, but just a few blisters and lots of patience.  That is the best way to get what you really want.  Interested?  I’ll be happy to tell/show you how.

Woah! Making my own shaper tip? Sounds interesting! Of course I’ll probably spend ridiculous amounts of money messing up a bunch of tips, but worth a try!

Anyone care to share a shaper tip they might own and love dearly?

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Reeds for Jillian Camwell

Tuesday July 03 2007

Several days ago I began making reeds for Jillian Camwell, author of Prairie Oboe Companion. I don’t mind making reeds for other oboists who are curious about my bloggings and what not and want to experience them first-hand. Well, in particular, I believe she was curious about my June 3rd posting on Xanga regarding my 3 different gouges and 3 different shaper tips. Well, I starting making some samples and I ended up with 9 reeds. Not only did I end up with 9 reeds, but there are a LOT… of variables in them. A list of them

Currently using 2 gouging machines. My Opus 1 machine is back with Mr. Driscoll being updated.

In order from left to right, Reed #3, Reed #2, Reed #3

Reeds 1-3 shaped on a Weber 1-B shaper tip.

Reed 1×Graf gouging machine #2, Weber staple (gouge sides thinned a bit from Reed 2, which was made 1st)

Reed 2×Graf gouging machine #2, Weber staple (gouge thicker, made 1st)

Reed 3×Same as reed 1

In order from left to right, Reed #6, Reed #5, Reed #4

Reeds 4-6 shaped on a Weber 1-C shaper tip.

Reed 4×Graf gouging machine #1, Weber Staple

Reed 5×Same as Reed 4

Reed 6×Graf gouging machine #1, Chudnow Corkless staple E

In order from left to right, Reed #9, Reed #8, Reed #7

Reeds 7-9 shaped on a RDG… 2 shaper tip.

Reed 7×Graf gouging machine #1, Chudnow S staple

Reed 8×Graf gouging machine #1, Chudnow E staple

Reed 9×Graf gouging machine #1, Weber staple

Currently, I have my Graf machine #1 set to gouge the sides quite a bit thicker than my Graf machine #2, so it works better for wider shapes.

From Left to Right: Chudnow S tubes, Chudnow E tubes, and Weber tubes

Now, what was interesting for me was that for some time, I’ve been using the Weber staple because I find that they are much more stable than the Chudnow tubes, which are wider and have a bigger opening. When I compare my Weber staples to my Sierra Brass, Sierra Silver, and CA silver staples which range from $3.25-4.95, the Weber staples almost always win out in intonation. Chudnow’s corkless staples also have the same intonation issues as the others, which I particularly don’t like, specifically:

• -a sharper high G and A that tends to “get away” from me because it doesn’t feel focused
• -a sharper middle E,
• -a spreading C and Bb,
• -and a weaker low F

However, the corkless staples have some slightly different qualities to them. For instance, the corkless E staples (skinnier looking ones) have incredible “ring” to them, and less resistance to them. In fact, they feel like some of the most “freeblowing” reeds I’ve ever made. (Not that this is necessarily good, SOME… resistance is good.) Some would also say this “ring” isn’t necessarily good either, and produces a brighter tone. But making reeds with the E staple, and with the slightly wider 1-C with a heavier gouge turned out to be a fantastic combination, and I’m anxious to experiment with this setup again. I decided to make a couple reeds with the E staple and the RDG… 2 shape, since the reeds I make using the RDG… 2 are always VERY… beefy. Much to my surprise, the massive “ring” in combination with the fuller tone I got from such a wide shape was VERY… interesting. One of the reeds was clearly the best reed in all of the 10, until it cracked. (Isn’t it always the way?)

When I visited Martin Schuring at ASU… a couple months ago, he told me the S staples are the only kind he uses. We both agreed that they definitely kill more vibrations that enhance, and I think they work well for him because of his unusual setup. He takes a LOT… of reed in (it looks like he’s down to the string) but he actually covers the reed with his big lips, so that the amount of reed exposed in his mouth is actually a very small amount. Furthermore, he plays on a covered Howarth XL, and finally makes his reeds using Chinese “Golden Bamboo” cane, which is known as some of the single hardest cane out on the market. The hard cane in combination with the deadening staples would probably counteract each other in an interesting way.

Meanwhile, this time about in the experimental spirit, I also made a reed using Chudnow’s S corkless staple. I’ve probably made close to 30 reeds over the past year, and have had absolutely no success whatsoever. However, this time around, with the RDG… 2 shape, the S corkless staple made a decent reed, which I was surprised. It seems that the RDG… 2 shape produces enough vibrations to counterbalance the S staple, thus producing a decent reed. I don’t think that it’s as good as the other two, but it was interesting that I FINALLY… made a decent reed with the tube.

By the way, if you wish to buy the Chudnow staples Oboe Stuff and Singin’ Dog Reeds both sell the staples for $0.25 per staple cheaper.

Finally, one last note, regarding gouging machines. I have two Graf oboe gouging machines, but would love to trade one for an English Horn double radius gouging machine (Jeanne, Graf, Kunibert, or other brands acceptable). If anyone is interested, please contact me!

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Another Reed Review

Tuesday July 03 2007

From Joshua, via gmail chat (unedited, except for obscenities, hence spelling errors)

me: so—

1:07 PM how were they?

1:09 PM Joshua: omg omg omg

OMG…

dude

omg

me: woah

Joshua: you make the best. reeds. f@#&ing. ever.

me: calm down buddy

so you liked them, eh?

Joshua: seriously

they rule

me: i sent you 2 red, 1 green and what was the other

multicolor?

Joshua: purkle

1:10 PM me: purple? I’m assuming you liked the green and purple best?

1:11 PM Joshua: I really love the purple one, I also really love the green one, although I need to play it more to see if I like it more than the purple one. The red ones are also really good, but I’ve been playing the purple one mostly, and ahvent’ really given the red ones their full trial yet (I also have to play a lot of clarinet these days, so I only get about an hour or two a day to play the oboe)

they’re all very, very good, though—the low note response is AMAZING… on them

1:12 PM me: cool. tell your friends

Joshua: oh, I am

me: if you order from me, i’ll sell them for $15 a pop, and if you order 10, I’ll give you 2 extras free.

1:13 PM you can split them with your pals

Joshua: ooooh—that’s actually a great deal.

1:14 PM me: and if you send the staples back, i’ll take off another $2 for each staple

you can send them the slow cheap way.

Joshua: nifty coolbeans!!

I like the staples

they’re a little tight on my oboe, but that’s what cork grease is for

me: which ones did i send you? the sierra?

1:15 PM Joshua: yes

me: i take a nail file and sand them a bit. i don’t like cork grease

messy

Joshua: it is indeed

but I wipe them off before I put them away

1:16 PM me: cool. anyways, glad you like them

i guess you prolly like the beefy ones

the purple one is bigger than the green one, right?

Joshua: i do—although I get very similar sounds from all of them

yes, slightly

1:17 PM me: if it’s too big, you can scrape the sides of the heart to lessen the opening

yeah, consistency is good

Joshua: you’re quite good at this whole reed thing

me: i spend too much time

1:18 PM on reeds. my wife can attest to that.

Joshua: lol

A Review of my reeds

Tuesday July 03 2007

So I’m beginning to get into the reed business a little bit. I figure since I’ll be a poor, starving grad student, I might as well try out the market and see some results. I’ve recently sent some reeds to 3 people; professional oboist/english hornist Patty Mitchell, a late-blooming beginning oboist referred to as “Dutchy” from the oboe bboard, and another professional/recent Juilliard grad named Joshua.

From Dutchy

Well, for “good enough for rehearsal” reeds as you said in your note,
they’re pretty good. They were kind of hard at first, but as they’re
getting broken in they’re working out okay.

Meg Cassell’s reeds (which are the closest to yours I’ve encountered in
the market so far) are also fairly stiff at first and take some
breaking in, so that’s no biggie.

Reed #1 I managed to bash on my teeth right away in my excitement
(“Oooh, new reeds!”—“dang”), so it’s been retired to the other side
of the reed box, although I may tinker with it a bit to see if I can
get it working.

Reed #2 seems to be just a tad flat on the high G and up for me; it’s
probably that my embouchure isn’t up to the challenge. It’s still
perfectly playable by itself, just not with a playalong CD.

Reed #3 has a lot of airflow through the sides, to the extent that I
find myself a teensy bit distracted by the wind in the branches, so to
speak, but it plays okay, it’s just kinda breezy.

But the other three are fine. I can’t really tell the difference
between the blue thread and the green thread, they all seem “narrow” to
me, especially compared with the Fox Artist reeds I also use, which are
distinctly short ‘n’ squatty in comparison, with no huge windows.

I did find that all of them benefited from using an emery board to sand
down the tips just a tad, just removing a few molecules of cellulose
from the very edge. I like a bit more response from a thinner tip, it
helps me to avoid my patented “banzai!” too-explosive attack.
Obviously I made the reeds to tailor the player. I knew Dutchy preferred softer reeds, and Joshua preferred wider heavier reeds. We’ll see what Patty has to say about the reeds and cane!

So, if you’re interested in buying reeds from me in the future, I’ll be willing to send you a couple FREE… samples (at my expense!), as long as you send me the tubes back (but seriously, don’t ask me for samples if you’re really not interested in buying my reeds). I’m hoping to sell reeds for $15 each (minimum 3?), and unshaped cane for $1.50 each, plus shipping

Picture of some of my reeds, Using Weber 1-B, Weber 1-C, and RDG… 2

Welcome to my all-oboe blog!

Monday July 02 2007

Welcome to my all-oboe blog! After blogging on xanga for many years, I’ve been inspired by my friend Patty Mitchell’s all-oboe blog oboeinsight to begin writing my own. So, feel free to take a look at some previous oboe posts on my xanga blog, and keep your eye out on this blog, because I’ll begin blogging a lot more here.

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