Goal: more stable intonation, easier to play, more free blowing
Plan: Remove cane for ease, create steeper tapers overall for stability, try working in the channels and closer to the spine for a more free-blowing quality. Work mostly in the middle and front third of the reed according to the cane’s quality and the reed’s natural break-in period.
Suggestions for Finer Work
- 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?
- How is the tip opening? Can you flatten 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.