The Long and the Short of it!

Believe it or not, these are both reeds for the bassoon; the reed on the right is NOT a contrabassoon reed!

small-and-large-reed-1-sm

 

Key Reed Design Variables

  • Vibrating length: from tip to front of first wire!
  • Blade length/collar width
  • Shaper design
  • Profile design
  • Wires: metal type, gauge, number
  • Tube length and roundness
  • Throat size and shape
  • Cane and gouge design
  • Binding material
  • Forming techniques

Reed Forming Variables

Elements effecting blade warp

  • Mandrel taper3d-reed
  • Throat shapes and dimensions
  • Blade profile
  • Bevel length
  • Wire positions
  • Reed shape
  • Cane components
  • Gouge type
  • Tube shape (1st-2nd wire)

 

Common Reed Blade Shapes

reedshapes-all

Tube Shapes

shapes-arundo-no-7 shapes-garfield shapes-hk-nigel
 shapes-eubanks-maxym  shapes-harriswangler