Eee, reeds. The most sensitive subject for oboists.

*Points to all the soaking stuffs.* DEFINITETLY soak your reeds in plain water for around 5 minutes. If you soak the reed in your mouth, saliva breaks down the proteins in the reeds and makes `em weak.

Don`t use an extremely tight embouchure as you play - there shouldn`t be an excess amount of pressure on the reeds. Lots of pressure equals boomage for the reed. Don`t play really loud all the time, either - that`ll kill the reed, too.

Okay, I`ll stop blabbering. hehe Hope I helped!
~Chris

Actually, many scientific studies have been done on oboe reeds, and plain usage will weaken and make a reed go bad before saliva will.

I never soak my reeds in water now but then again all of my reeds are my 3rd lot in 3 years so they`re pretty old and soft anyway. Buy handmade reeds instead of factory ones as hand made will be scraped, cut and tightened to perfection before being tested by a proffesional. I hope this helps you to find the right reeds and this reed maker i said about is called Nick Winfield have a look at his web-page, his reeds are a little pricey but are some of the best around!

http://www.winfieldreeds.co.uk/

Good Luck with your oboe playing,
Sammy

OK, let`s see here... soak your reeds for 2 to 5 minutes (depending on your reed type [medium soft, medium, medium hard, or hard] I soak mine for 2 minutes) Try and get hand made reeds because store reeds are bad and crack easily. When you play for a few years you can make your own Another piece of advice, don`t bite the reed with your teeth.

Thanks I think I`m going OK now as I`ve had this reed for a few weeks and it`s still in good condition so hopefully it`ll last a while I get the reeds of my oboe teacher, so I don`t know where they`re from or anything.

I`ve been playing the oboe for a year now- don`t just put it in your mouth. It will last soo much longer if you put it in water. Glad to help.
~Lily

The fact that you shouldn`t soak your reed in your mouth is a total myth! HipHipHooray Be careful when soaking your reed that you don`t get splinters in your tongue!
Hey it CAN happen! i found this out the hard way- let me tell you it`s not confortable sitting in a hospital waiting room about to be attacked with a pair of HUGE tweezers!
Saliva will NOT break down the reed in any-way but soaking it in water softens it more.

Hope this piece of medical advice helps!
Sammy
x

Sorry- softens it quicker-not more!

Sammy
x
P.S it tastes nicer if you soak it in your mouth!

when u first get your reed soak for about 4-5 minutes or it will crack from sides and its true you can soak ur reed in your mouth just not the first time

hi there
this is my second post here im new btw
Im thinking about learning the oboe and I play the flute at a grade three AMAB level.
this topis has been really interesting to read.out of intrest..
do you guys make or buy your reeds
and what do they mean when people say that they make their reeds
sorry punctuation doesnt zwork on my keyboard exept for the full stop.lol

how was it to transfer from flute to oboe
you said that the fingerings are similar, how similar are they.
well thats all for now... hehe sorry to pound you with questions!

oh and i must apologise for my spelling.
PP

i get my reeds from my private lessons teacher. i have learned how to make reeds, except they're not very good lol.

making reeds, well, means making the reeds! you start out with a piece of cane and gouge it out and all the jazz. and then you tie it onto a piece of cork, which is very hard by the way lol. kind of haha. and then you scrape it and clip it.

hmm. i'm a bad explainer lol. but that's the concept of it all.

When I first started i jhad some troucble with reeds
I recomend going to your local shop that delvelops films,in england somewhere like boots or,in my town we have a 'Photoshop' and ask if they have any empy film ases you could have,at mine they had a huge box and the flor for free so i take a ew when i go
I also put a little TCP in the water,it stops the germs spreading on them and in the water so you dont need to change it as much