Goal: sharper, easier to play, better resistance
Plan: To improve all elements of the reed, remove cane in steeper tapers. Work mostly in the middle third of the reed, closer to the rails and according to the quality of the cane and the reed’s natural break-in period.
Suggestions for Finer Work
- Is the reed the correct length? (29 mm from the top of the first wire to the tip)
- Is the critical point the correct thickness? (60-61 hundredths of a millimeter OR 24-25 thousandths of an inch)
- Are you playing on the correct side of the reed?
- Is the second wire snug?
- Can you round the tube?
- Is too much lip pressure required when attacking a note? If so, lightly brush with the file as shown in Image 1
- Return to the DBL model to see more tests that can be performed.
Image 1
The material in this learning module comes from The Banana of Life: Peeling Away the Mysteries of Reed Making for the Bassoon by Rian Craypo and has been edited for clarity by Jessi Vandagriff. Please do not share or distribute this information to those not using the decision-based learning model. Used with permission.