About the oboe reed?

Question:

About the oboe reed?

Is it the billed for playing European style oboe reed and American style oboe reed ? I play American reeds, but I curious to play European reeds. If you know the answer, please tell me. Thankyou !

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I make American style oboe reeds from gouged cane and have never tried European style but I can tell you about some differences. The most noticeable is that American reeds are scrapped all the way to the thread wrap. Good American reeds should not have wires above the wrap like European reeds do but that has been happening more frequently lately as manufacturers cut corners and let poorer cane into their production. The European scrape is much flatter. American scrapes are complicated. There are a lot of parts that have to be in proportion in area and thickness. European scrapes have either (French) a thin tip straight across the ends of the blades followed by a section of thicker scrape to halfway down the blades and then untouched cane the rest of the way to the wire or (German) which has a curved tip but is otherwise like a thicker version of the French reed. To play in the German style, the horn is held out more and both lips are used to control the reed. I'm told there is a trade off between tone/power and flexibility with the American reed and embouchure being a balance between the tone of European reeds and the desired flexibility that European reeds lack. But that is hearsay, as far as I'm concerned. I haven't personally tried either European scrape.