The journal
Notes from
the reed desk
Longer-form writing that doesn't fit the wiki — process notes, experiments, things learned at the gouging machine, and the occasional opinion. New entries land here first, then settle into the wiki as reference.
The four scrapes: a way to think about seasoning a reed
Most reeds don't fail at the tip — they fail because the back was never balanced. A simple mental model for taking a blank from buzzy to beautiful in four passes.
Reading a tube of cane before you split it
Colour, grain spacing, curvature, the ring of it when you tap — what to look for, and the cheap tests that save you an hour of wasted scraping.
Sharpening, honestly: keeping a reed knife scary-sharp
A blade that won't take a tip is the most common reason a good reed goes wrong. A repeatable routine on stones you already own, no jigs required.
Crow, don't guess: tuning a reed by the sound it makes alone
The crow tells you almost everything before the reed reaches the instrument. How to listen for the double-C, and what each fault sounds like.
Why English horn reeds humble everyone
Bigger, lower, wetter, and far less forgiving than oboe. What changes when you scale a reed up — and the habits worth unlearning.
The baroque oboe reed is a different animal
Wider, shorter staples, softer cane, and a gut tie. A short history of how the reed changed as the instrument did — and what we can borrow back.
Keeping a reed alive on tour
Planes, dry hotels, and concert halls at three different humidities in a week. A small kit and a few habits that keep reeds stable on the road.