How to Know if an Oboe Reed will Work
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A REED WITHOUT PLAYING IT
Larger good oboe reed openings, above. Smaller good oboe reed openings, below.
Opening:
The opening of a reed should be football shaped, or slightly smaller with each corner touching. Each blade of the tip should be symmetrical in shape and thickness. A reed that is too open can be hard to play, particularly in the high register, and a reed that is too closed will have bad response in the low register, and will often be too sharp. If a reed is too closed, it can sometimes be opened, at least temporarily, by soaking it in hot water for a few minutes.
Sides of the reed:
The sides of the reed should press tightly together the entire length of the reed. If they do not, if the sides are separated, the reed may be unstable in pitch and articulation. This problem can sometimes be cured by soaking the reed in hotter water, or by squishing the back of the reed.
Blade overlap:
The blades should be overlapped slightly, usually to the right. Look for too much or too little. Too much, and the amount of reed that can vibrate is small; too little, and there is a good possibility for leaks or loose sides which can cause poor articulation and instability in pitch.
Long-scrape reed
From here
Scraping Style:
The scraping style most favoured in North America is the North American style, or long scrape where there is scraping in the “back” of the reed, but short-scrape or European, reeds (used by much of the rest of the world) can also be found at local music stores. The tone of the short-scrape reed is usually different enough that players in the US and Canada should avoid using them.
Short-scrape reeds
From here
Extras on the reed:
If at all possible, avoid long-scrape reeds that come with wires and fish skin. While they may be used to insure that there is no leakage, they can get in the way of the embouchure and the vibration of the reed. Wires, however, are normal on short-scrape reeds.
Avoid reeds with chips or cracks in the tip. Also avoid reeds with "feathers" of cane hanging off the sides.
METHODS FOR TESTING REEDS
Following are several tests that will tell about the quality of the reed to help choose a good one. These tests will also help determine how to fix a reed to make it better. Try lots of reeds to get a better understanding for what is possible.
Suction and Crow
1) Test for suction: cover the hole in the tube end with a finger, and suck on the reed as if it were a straw. Then let go, and the reed should "pop". If the reed leaks, the suction will be bad, and it may be possible to feel and hear the air coming in the sides of the reed. If the leak is very near the tube, it may be possible to apply fish skin/plumbers tape to seal it.
2) Crow the reed: put the entire reed up to the thread in the mouth and "puff" into reed. The crow should come out without too much air pressure. Ideally the crow should be only two "c"s an octave apart (or slightly flatter than a "c"). This kind of "stable" crow is extremely rare in a machine-made reed, however, which will more likely be an unfocused "rattle". Machine-made reeds tend to be too vibrant to be stable in the high register.
If when crowing the reed only one tight pitch comes out (hopefully a c, but maybe a c#), then the reed is likely too sharp, and too stiff to have easy response, especially in the low register.
If a reed is too open, soak the reed well, and try squishing the back. If it feels like it can be squished without cracking, and the reed will stay squished, try the crow again. It may be now easier and more focused.
Pick the reed with the most "coherent" crow.
Playing Tests
These following six tests check for response, pitch, and balance. Even a good reed may not be able to do everything equally well, but all reeds should be able to pass these tests before taken out of the practice room.
Response/stability/ease
1. Tongue 5 low C4's (or C#4's) rapidly without cracking. This may require some embouchure adjustment.
2. Breath attack (without tongue), high B5, C6, C#6, D6, and E6. The notes should speak effortlessly, with no embouchure pressure.
3. Soft attack (with tongue) the low notes, D4, C#4, C4, B3, and Bb3. The notes should speak easily and gently.
4. A reed is too hard (for the embouchure and/or air support) if it cannot be played for @20-30 seconds in all registers with no breath or diminuendo.
Stability
5. Slur up an octave from A, Bb, B, and C (octave 4 to 5) without changing embouchure or air speed. The upper note will be flat, but not so much that it could not easily be raised up to pitch.
6. Check F#5 and E5. Be able to play these notes forte with a wide open mouth and closed lips without sounding flat. These two notes are two of the first to become unstable, and demonstrate a lot about the stability of a reed.
Dynamics
7. Diminuendo to niente (nothing) on G4. In this register, to get soft the embouchure needs to close the reed while the oral cavity remains open. As a simple rule, never bite a reed to raise the pitch, only bite a reed to play softly in the low register. Use a tuner to check that the pitch is steady. Rollout and/or open up to keep the pitch down. If the note stops before fading to nothing, or has too much extra noise, it may be too stiff and/or closed, or air pressure may have been dropped too much.
8. The reed must provide a dynamic range of p to f in all registers easily.
Tone
9. Never sacrifice the above characteristics for the tone. If the response and ease, stability and dynamics are good, likely the tone will be at least acceptable, if not beautiful.