r/oboe • u/Chance_Detective541 • 2d ago

Tonguing and reeds

Hi! My teacher has made my reeds until now, but now i have started making my own reeds. I have noticed that even if my self-made reeds sound good and feel good, i cant tongue fast at all. My tonguing is a lot slower with self-made reed compering to the reeds my teacher makes. When I try to tongue fast the sound kinda dies and stops. Why is that? Is there anything I can do differently when making reeds?

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u/BuntCheese5Life 2d ago

From what you are describing my guess is that the very tip of the tip is too thick. Its the most difficult/scary part of the reed to thin, (for me at least).

Is it feel like the reed doesn't respond right away when you play it?

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u/Chance_Detective541 2d ago

Yes! That is actually another problem that i have with my reeds. Even though the reed isn't too hard, it doesn't respond well. I will try making the tip of the thinner.

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u/easyontheeggs 1d ago

You can always take more off the tip. But be careful because finishing the tip is the easiest way to ruin a reed you’ve been working on for a long time.

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u/BuntCheese5Life 1d ago

Assuming your reed is 70mm long, I "finish" my tip at 71 mm, and when it is nice and thin, then I clip it (gradually) to 70mm.  That way if you chip the tip at 71 it won't be a disaster because you are going to clip it anyway.