German-scrape Cor anglais Reeds
These reeds are crafted with superior quality “medium” density cane. They are shaped with a
RC 1N or RC 1N* Reed shaper, and mounted on Chiarugi 2/Lorée staples. The Medium Soft (MS) cane is gouged to 0.65 – 0.67 mm (dry measurement). We generally use a gouge providing a differential of 0.20 – 0.22 mm between the centre and sides. In combination with an appropriate diameter, this gouge guarantees a good aperture and thus allows for a thinner scrape. The Medium (M) cane is gouged to 0.67 – 0.69 mm (dry measurement), giving the same differential between the centre and sides, i.e., usually between 0.20 – 0.22 mm. As for the Medium Hard (MH) reeds, they are gouged to 0.69 – 0.71 mm and offer then same centre-sides ratio.
German-scrape reeds are stable and responsive, and provide a good balance between a rounder, darker sound, and ease and suppleness of playing. They have a standard U-scrape of between 11.5 and 12.5 mm in length.
Compared with French-scrape (W) reeds, they are more open and slightly more resistant. This is partly explained by the fact that the scrape is more convex (i.e., rounder) all over. The tip is scraped in an inverted U shape, and can vary in length, though would never be described as a ‘long’ scrape as such. The central spine is rounded, in order to maintain resistance and aperture stability. These reeds are approximately 57mm long.
