Hi,
I don`t know how, or have the supplies for, making oboe reeds. I get my reeds from a local music store because I am not, at the moment, taking lessons and can`t get them from my tutor. Is there a "good" brand of oboe reeds? Not that machine-made reeds are that great, but it`s the only way at the moment that I can get them.....If you can give me your advice on a good reed it would be most helpful.
Thanks!

well, I am just starting out on oboe. I have been playing since November. I am just starting to learn to make reeds. But at this time I order my reeds from www.advantage-usa.com. I have tried many of their reed and have found the emerald artist oboe reed to be a very good brand. They have a nice warm tone and good response through out the range of the oboe. I would definetly give them a try. They bring good quality for a low price. The reed is $7.50. They usually play right out of the package and crow right at the pitch of concert C. If you have any more questions feel free to e-mail me at minuvera@yahoo.com

look to places like weber reeds (webreeds.com) or or forrest music where you can order hand made reeds, these will be more expensive, but much much beter

The VERY best oboe reed to order (believe me, i`ve tried many of kinds before i could make my own) are from Amy Collins at www.oboe.net She makes wonderful reeds and asks you exactly how you want them to play, they are extremely consistent and will bring you much luck in growing as an oboist

Hello.

One suggestion I might make, while you`re suffering with store-bought reeds, is to check out www.wiu.edu/oboe. This is the website of Michael Ericson of Western Illinois University. He has a very nice tutorial on making reed adjustments. Also, I think Adam has convinced me; I`m going to try Amy Collins` reeds.

HI.
I am an oboe player for about 3 years now, and i have been using so many reeds i cant really rember what they all are, But for the begginergs go to WWW.advantage-usa.com . They have Perfect reeds for the begginer, All different slections, the studen emraled reed is the best for begginers and the are only 5.85, For advanced players i would recmond the either Jones, Evans, Rico, La Voz (form ok to best) But they might be alittle more money they are better products. But the best are your own reeds, they work the best because you can make them your own. But Remeber stick with it, it might be hard but stick with it, it will pay of later.

well, i`ve been playing for almost 4 years now...im a sophomore in high school...thank you very much for suggestions....i mainly use jones reeds...medium strength...and i still haven`t had time to learn to make reeds...do y`all think it would be better to learn to make reeds in my near future oboe lessons or just the lessons and wait longer to learn to make reeds??? AND!!!! I was just wondering...one of our local music shops, the owner/ salesperson/ whatever, can fix oboes but can`t play them. my mom took in my oboe while i was away at camp to see about getting it fixed up maybe some before i have to play it for school. (its a Selmer/plastice/ student....but very good....i`ve had good compliments on its sound) he said we needed all the pads changed, but i can see that there are only up to 5-6 pads needing changed. should we let him do what he wants?? (b/c he has fixed our problem once...but charges by time) or just have someone change the pads that i say need changed?? obviously, i won`t change it myself, so i just need to know which i should do....thanks in advance

corinne

It is a very good idea to make reeds right now, but the most important thing is to number one have a great teacher!! If i remember correctly, you take from a professional oboists, which is great! Ask him to help you get supplies to make reeds. Although they will cost some money, you WILL save money in the long run, plus your reeds will always sound/play the way that you want them to once you get good at it. Remember, oboe is the most complex instrument made. If you have someone fix it who doesn`t even play the instrument, chances are it will not get fixed correctly. I suggest that you send it to a specialist, even though it will cost you money to ship it, you will be saving money because you probably do not have to repad the whole thing (judging by what you said) and you can be assured that it will be in great working order.

Good luck and practice hard!

Adam Parnell