French-scrape Oboe d’Amore Reeds
These reeds are crafted with superior quality « medium » density cane. We never use hard cane for these reeds. They are tied on to Chiarugi #2 staples (preferably 25 mm), and shaped with a RC OA 2 shaper. This is the most conical of our shapers, which ensures that the aperture of the reed will not be too wide. These reeds are all made with 11 – 11.5 mm diameter cane, and are available in three different strengths. The Medium Soft (MS) cane is gouged to 0.58 – 0.60 mm (dry measurement). The gouge we normally use has a centre/sides differential of 0.14 – 0.16 mm. This, combined with more flexible cane, produces a less open reed, and, together with careful finishing of the tip, allows for a thinner scrape. The Medium (M) cane is gouged to 0.59 – 0.61 mm (dry measurement), and has the same centre/sides differential. As for the Medium Hard (MH) reeds, they are made with cane gouged to 060 – 0.62 mm, with the same centre/sides differential.
These French-scrape reeds are stable and very responsive. Whilst well balanced, they speak more easily in the second octave, and have richer high frequency vibrations than German-scraped reeds. They are generally easier to play, produce rapid vibrations, and require less physical effort. They have a W scrape of between 10 and 11 mm in length. Compared with the German (U)-scrape reeds they are less open, as the scrape is flatter and the tip is thinned out very gradually. The central spine is, however, well defined to maintain resistance and a stable aperture. These reeds are slightly longer (approx. 52 mm).
