Oboe Reed Making with Jen Shark
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- Опубліковано 14 лип 2024
- Watch Hong Kong professional oboist, Jen Shark, as she explains the oboe reed making process with furry co-star, Tea
Did you know that most bassoon and oboe players make their own reeds? That means other than practicing, they spend hours making their own mouthpiece! Have a look at what this process looks like!
To learn more about Shark Double Reeds, check out www.sharkdoublereeds.com
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Thank you for watching!
Special thanks to Six Cat Studios for helping me produce this video!
Wow, I had no idea how complex the process is. If I tried it I'd just end up with a pile of shredded bamboo. What an amazing skill!
Thanks! Never too old to start ;-)
My father is an oboe player and he has been making reeds for other players to sell for as long as I can remember. Seeing this process brought a lot of nostalgia for me, I remember always begging to help with the splinting.
That is an absolute great instruction video! Almost every oboist I know hates this part of the job, but you seem to be completely in control. Great stuff!
Thank you!
Thank you!!!!!
What a fascinating video. Like other commenters, I had absolutely no idea the reed-making process was so detailed. I learned more in about five minutes about oboe reeds than I have over my entire life; and, it explained so much about the complexity surrounding oboe reeds. It truly was a great tutorial and really underscores the importance of the behind-the-scenes preparation needed by oboists. Thanks for the video!
Thank you! Now you can look at an oboist in concert and see what exactly went behind that tiny mouthpiece they play on!
Amazing! Most of us take this process for granted and have no idea what is involved! Great step-by-step explanations! Well done!
Thank you!
Wonderful little peek into the process. 3yrs into playing, I am just about to embark on the process. And I'm a little nervous, hearing how many one goes through before there's a good one that's playable. I hope there are more videos like this. You seem to have invested a lot in your reed making. Thank you.
Love this video, you make reed making look like a “cool” thing to do!!! 😂
Well done Jen and 6 Cat Studio 👏🏻
Thank you!
Very cool! Had no idea this process is so complex and requires so many pieces of equipment. Nice to see the shots of you and Tea out and about in HK!
Thanks! Yeah, it's a lot more equipment than people think!
I'm an oboe newbie player. Very nice tutorial. Thanks Jen.
Oboists always carry a knife 🤣 Very cool to know how to make reeds! I learned heaps.
Thanks! It also works as extra security when walking in dark alleys after concerts ;-)
Great video! I learned a lot. Thanks!
Thank you!
Awesome, awesome, awesome! Love this!
Thank you!
Freaking intense! Such dedication for a beautiful sound for us to enjoy. Respect (flourish and bow)!
Thank you!
Great world-class informative video!
Thank you!
Cool video Jen!
well done, Jen! Bravo!
Thank you! Don't you want to go back to reed making now? :-)
@@sharkdoublereeds5878 over my dead oboe！
Nice. I played for 6 years in Middle School and High School and never managed to make a single playable reed myself.
It takes years to make a playable reed and even then, we have many failures!
So concise and easy to follow Jen! I look forward to more details (what is that profiler that you use? knife sharpening? cane sources? etc) on your next video!
Thanks, Pam! I use the KGE profiler which took me a long time to get used to but now I find it helps me save a lot of time (and knife sharpening) to make a reed. Thanks for watching!
i don't play oboe. but fun to watch this video. thanx.
Had no idea that such a young instrument have a reed make of cane, with such complex process...
What are the threads and notes on wall? Thanks great video!🙏
How much would it cost to get all of the tools to start making them
Do you ever shape the staple eye to have an effect on tuning?
Loved the video 💖
Can you tell me the names of the tools you were using? Thank you in advance.♥️
Thank you so much for your video! This is the future of reed making vids and all classical music related content. Just curious, what’s your process between profiling with a short scraped templet and eventually making it fits the parameters of a long scraped reed like they were shown at the end of your video? Or if you already been using templets for long-scrape reed and if so, how does the long-scrape templet feel on an kge machine? Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for your comments! Excellent eye! My profiler is actually a long scrape template but I set it up to only scrape the tip and heart because I prefer to keep working on the tip by hand a bit more after I use the profiler before adding the back. I have to say it took me a long time (and patience) to get used to the KGE profiler. I use the profiler to help me make reeds faster since with long scrape, we take off a lot more cane so it takes forever. It's a nice way to get a feel for the reed quickly and tell if it is worth pursuing or to throw it. I highly recommend a profiler if you would like to save time on reed making! The beauty of the KGE profiler is as I mentioned earlier, you can change how much to take off the tip and back so you can have it customized for your needs. This is the only profiler I have ever used and I actually was in KGE's factory outside of Shanghai when I bought it. It felt like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but with each door showing a different part of the reed making process :-) Hope this helps!
@@sharkdoublereeds5878 Thank you so much for your prompt reply it's all very informative and helpful!!! I do have a kge profiler with "French" template and a reedsnstuff machine with some long scrape temples but they've been sitting on my shelf collecting dust. Reedsnstuff profiler used to always take too much rails off of my reeds even I just do "pre-scrape" on them like you do, though I've never used a long scrape template on kge. Maybe it's time to give them a second try!!! It's amazing how the oboe world now has a much wider range of acceptance and sense of appreciation on different kinds of reeds, tones, styles, "schools", and instruments, especially in this world of Tabuteau and Mack! Anyways, appreciate you responses! Keep them cool videos up!!
@@danshengquan4901 I understand this issue of taking off too much on the rails. I still sometimes have this problem with profilers. I would imagine since the french scrape is usually for a wider shape, that perhaps the chances of taking too much off the rails would be more likely? I totally agree with you about the oboe world has become a lot more open! Most of the people I play with here in Hong Kong are on short scraped reeds and we blend just fine :-) When I bought my profiler, I had a lot of trouble with it so it also sat on the shelf collecting dust for a few years and then I gave it a go again and patiently worked with it a bit. I still find myself tweeking it from time to time to see if I can get better results! Thanks for your comments! :-) I hope to get a new video up soon.
Really nice introduction video. Do you have suggestions for fixing reeds that don't seal?
Hi Heather! Excellent question. Some musicians throw out the reed if it is not sealing but others will try to seal the reed using plumber's tape!
where would you buy the supplies, (cane)?
How long does it take to make each reed?
I’ve heard that oboe reeds only last like 3 days. Is that true and if so why?
Hi Jonas! This is an excellent question. Oboe reeds unfortunately do not last long...for me, it depends on what music I am playing. If it is music that requires a lot of articulation, that means the tongue is constantly hitting the reed which will naturally break down the reed faster because the tip is so thin. The same goes if I have to play at a very soft dynamic for long periods of time (in an opera for example) and I am pushing down on the reed more than usually with my mouth which again would make the reed weaker faster. The oboe reed is just a very delicate thing and being played, it will naturally break down quickly. Also, with that being said, the bassoon reed lasts a lot longer (around a month or two) just because they are bigger in size and have more cane which makes them more durable against our mouth/tongue. On average, my reeds last 1-2 weeks.
Hi Jen,
I make Uilleann pipe reeds. Where on earth did you get that Gouge machine?
It looks like an iNNOLEDY gouging machine... I would love to try it out once to see if it only looks easier and quicker to use than the "traditional" one or this is a fine editing haha :)
It is an Innoledy machine from the US
@@sharkdoublereeds5878 thanks Jen!
How long can you play with one?
I know you weren’t talking to me, but from my experience about a month or so. It depends on the quality of the reed, but I’d say around 2-3 weeks and maybe even 4 :)
Where did you get that gorgeous thread? 😍
Isn’t it? Unfortunately it was given to me as a gift so I have no idea
I might be mistaken, but it looks like squirrely stash thread to me. :)
Hello! I like your work very much. How can I get in touch with you.
Thank you!
I do have a question: What is the approximate hours of work vs approximate hours of playtime on one reed?
Not an easy answer! It really depends on what you are playing. It takes me a few hours to make a reed and sometimes it can last one week or up to one month!
@@sharkdoublereeds5878 Thanks you for the answer! Enjoyed your video.
Is that bamboo or a special type of reed. In South Africa we have all different types of bamboo, although not indigenous to this country
Hi Rob! What is hard to grow is this specific diameter that works for oboe reeds. As for the type of bamboo...I am not sure but most cane is grown in France but now other places like China and Turkey are producing oboe cane! Thanks for the question!
She didn’t use cork grease…😥 4:07
It depends how your staples fit your oboe but you don't always need cork grease. My staples fit quite easily in my oboe!
imma spam this to my friend who plays oboe.
Great! Thank you!
Instrument reeds are made from cane, NOT bamboo. Bamboo is too hard and inflexible for reed making.
Cool but very useless as a guide... What form is being used? How long did you bind it? How short did you cut it? What template is used for scraping? What brand of wood did you start put with and what diameter?
Yes indeed, for Oboe players completely useless video because you give no info at all. Which cane and shape do you use? How long you bind on which staple brand and which oboe brand you play on which tuning? Also how thick is the gouge, and which types of gouger and profiler and templates do you use? There are thousands of ways of oboe reed making but you have to be extremely precise what you combine otherwise it might work or not work, especially for young or unexperienced players.
Not a very helpful review Johnannes. I personally love the sound of the oboe, was aware that it was a double reed but knew no more than that. I loved watching the process and in that sense the video absolutely serves its purpose. Many thanks Jen.
I shudder to think how much all that equipment costs.
Betting it's many hundreds. Rip off.