ANDREA SILVERIO
REED MAKING TIPS
I have my own way to make reeds and like to experiment new things every once in a while. For that reason, I thought that having some tips and links of double reed shops where I buy my supplies would be more helpful.
-
Have a sharp knife! Do not try to make reeds with a dull knife. You need something that will take cane off in an effective way. A dull knife can ruin your tip, your symmetry, and can compromise the sealing.
-
Always aim for symmetry on both blades!
-
Make sure that the proportions of tip, heart, and spine are correct and make sense to your style of scraping.
-
If you process your cane, be picky about your cane selection! A bad piece of cane will result, for sure, in a bad reed and will only make you waste your time.
-
Have a reed journal and try to be as detailed as you can to monitor what things are beneficial or not for your reeds.
-
Have a reliable double reed shop that you can get your supplies from. I am leaving a list of shops where I buy my supplies for your reference
DOUBLE REED STORES
Midwest Imports. They are fabulous! Their cane and other accessories are of high quality, they are always very nice, and they ship very fast. They are extremely helpful and will answer all your questions about cane, shipping, etc.
Forrests Music. They have a wide variety of reed making, and oboe supplies. From gifts to books, you can find everything here! They also ship very fast.
Reeds n’ Stuff. This website is from Germany. They have such a large variety of cane to choose from. You can choose not only the brand, and diameter (when buying tube cane), but also the vintage! The options are endless and their machines are awesome. Usually departs Germany either on the same day or the day after and it takes about one week to get to the US.
PROFESSIONAL REED MAKERS
If you are not confident enough with your reed making skills or do not have a teacher to help you with that, you can also buy finished reeds. I strongly recommend the following oboists:
Ana Isabel Ayala. Her reeds look good and sound gorgeous. Besides, she is a great oboist and I fully trust her. She has reeds that are shipped within 24-48 hous for a reed emergency.
Laura Covey. I bought an english horn from Laura a few months ago and it was awesome! She was very quick at shipping and was very helpful on solving a handling issue that I had with the first reed I bought. Laura immediately sent me another reed that made its way from New Jersey to Mississippi in 2 days.
Michael McGowan. I met him recently at a masterclass and was highly impressed with his playing. His reeds sound (and look) amazing! He also makes reed cases that are reeds briefcases! It has a plastic divider that fits plaques or razor blades.