Help a Beginner Oboetist!
Created on: Mar 18, 2011 7:19 AM by clarinetoboepiano - Last Modified: Mar 25, 2011 7:24 AM by Kelly McGann Music123 Marketing Director
I have been playing clarinet for like, three years now and now I am taking up oboe. I have for a week or two now. I have been having problems with the reed . . . People say beginners should start with a soft oboe reed. My soft oboe reed broke on the side so it's a piece of junk. Then I was told beginners should start with a medium-hard reed. WHICH ONE IS RIGHT?!
I really have no idea because my band instructor doesn't usually deal with double reeded instruments. Finally, 
I found an oboe reed I think will work: The Magic Reed, Student Oboe Reed. It's designed for learning the correct embouchure and controlled tone, it didn't have a specific size so I just ordered it. I hope these kinds of reeds will work. ANYONE OUT THERE WHO KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT OBOES PLACE A COMMENT Please! Wish me good luck!
the best reeds iv'e hear was if your band instructor can make reeds i heard thoughs are great. but if you can make your own reeds thouse would be the best.
Both work good for beginers (but i like useing medium-soft), but i've never tried medium-hard.
I encourage all of my oboe students that buy mass produced reeds to play on medium-hard to hards. In actuality, they're not that hard, no where near the realm of the hardness of clarinet and saxophone reeds. Most hand made reeds are much harder than the store-bought ones. If at all possible, take a couple of lessons from someone, and buy reeds from them. Most of your time on the oboe is going to be setting up your embouchure correctly. If you've played clarinet for 3 years, you should have an understanding of how fingerings work, even if you're learning new fingerings for the instrument. Good luck, and I hope the oboe is turning out to be great, rewarding challenge for you!
Alright Let me explain most people who start on oboe start with a soft or Medium soft. This is because their mouths have not yet learned how to make it vibrate correctly, one also needs to have the muscle to make it vibrate correctly.
Order of softness (this "--->" is an arrow) :
Soft ---> Medium-Soft ---> Medium ---> Medium-Hard ---> Hard
I disagree with the comment(s) above because though you have most likely developed the muscles to play clarinet you use a few diffrent muscles on oboe. Therefore we can not fix it by just moving you up in hardness. You blew out the side of your old reed because you most likely were bering down on the center of you mouth as a clarinetist would. Thus the air had no place to go and escaped through the sides, now your reed is worthless. But an oboist does not bear down on the center rather we put pressure on the corners of our mouths. DO NOT JUST JUMP THE SCALE. The reed should have just a little bit of pressure as if you were holding a tube of paper (ex. you don't want to hold with too much pressure or the paper will crumple, but too little and it will drop). In your case I would start on a JONES Brand MEDIUM-SOFT (If you are already using Jones Brand then get a Medium. I have not yet tried a Magic reed yet but I have noticed that they have three softness levels: Student ---> Intermediate ---> Professional. I do not think that they should organize it in such few catagories [seeing how an oboist goes through phases of developement ex: sound, volume control, tone, ect.], but I have never tried them.). Jones is harder than most reeds and is rather sturdy. Then you need to conciously fix your umbrochcure. The umbrochure is similar to a clarinets, but your teeth should be behind your lips and should NOT come in contact with the reed. (almost like you are licking your lips Then you need to make sure your corners are tight and the center of your lips are light in pressure but should be in a firm position. If you are playing and your ears start poping or something then you need to loosen up your umbrochure. In oboe you do not bear down on a reed as a clarinetist would.
I have been playing oboe for 4 years and I started out in seventh grade under a band director who had no clue on oboe also and I understand how frustrating it can be. And I am by no means near professional. Oboe is a complex instrument and requires a lot of delicacy and hard work to produce a sound other than "dying duck". But if you are persistant and have the right reed then you could be awesome. Remember a good reed can MAKE OR BREAK an oboist. Unless you can overcome that. (dead reeds will kill you though)
-Maria
in response to Unpaid Oboist:
And to the person above my previous comment: by the way all oboe reeds are hand made and it is impossible to make them with machinery so mass production is actually impossible.
-Maria
I got the oboe reed and it didn't work. My band director said it was broken.