I have had my original post on here for 2 weeks now. Not one reply. I thought I was posting to a group of people who knew answers and could help. Maybe not. BUT if you are that person, please can you reply. The original question was:

Can someone tell me the difference between an english scrape reed and a continental one?

Thanks.

Dave.

I might be wrong here, but since no one else has helped you...

I belive the english scrape is sometimes called a U scrape - and the scrape looks just like that - a U profile going about the last 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the reed with a strong taper from thick to super thinness. the continental scrape I think is sometimes called the french scrape & is a very short version of the americal scrape. the tip & heart are much the same, but the back is super short compared to the american scape. It may also have have been "french filed" which means that any bark from a certian point up will be uniformily filed down. French scraped often have wires.


To get the best answer I`d recomend checking a book like "Oboe Reed Styles: Theory and Practice" by David A. Ledet - I don`t have this book, but it looks promising if you want to compare reed styles from the world over.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0253213924/qid=1076954547//ref=pd_ka_1/104-6866261-4289568?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

here`s some reference URLS

https://www.jonesdoublereed.com/product.aspx?ProductID=334
http://www.wwbw.com/item/?itemno=16244&match=1
http://www.drdowningmusic.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi?page=Oboe_reed.html&cart_id=9056892_29948
http://www.winfieldreeds.co.uk/
http://mirabeau.cool.ne.jp/oboe/world.html
http://www1.mint.or.jp/~fusafusa/reedm/reedm6.html

I guess the first question I have is do you mean the rest of Europe by continental? If that is the case, then the are pretty slight. Most of Europe uses a short scrape. It can be a U scrape which is common in England and France, the longer scrape that is common is Germany and then the W scrape with is common with the Dutch.
There is not definition between the tip and the heart. One area flows into the next very smoothly, but the resulting tone is a bit shrill and harsh-to my American trained oboe ears!! Where as the American scrape and the German and Dutch scrape build resistance into the reed you need to manufacture resistance on an English reed, mainly with your embouchure.
Keep in mind that one of the most famous oboe tutors(Barret method) was written by a French oboist living in England and in is he gives reed making instructions. If you follow them you will end up with a pretty typical French scrape. However, I do think that ninianne is correct in her statement that the Continental scrape in often referred to as the French.