Tube Cane and Processed Cane

Tube cane – Le choix du Roseau Chantant

Le Roseau Chantant harvests its own cane between December and the end of February in the world-famous Camargue region of southern France. This region is a nature reserve and a refuge for rare birds, plants, and animals. The land, with its rich alluvial Rhône delta soil and high silica content, is excellent for growing Arundo donax (a.k.a. giant cane, giant reed, wild cane). The Mistral wind from the Alps, combined with the moisture from the Mediterranean, produces a cane of ideal quality for all oboists.

DENSITY AND DRYING METHOD
Le choix du Roseau Chantant cane selection is available in three different densities: Hard Density (HD), Medium Density (MD), and Softer Density (SD).

The cane is dried in two different ways: by wind, and by sun exposure. The fibres of wind-dried cane remain softer and more pliable compared with those of sun-dried cane. We use sun-dried cane for our ‘Hard’ (HD) and ‘Medium’ (MD) Density categories, and wind-dried cane for our ‘Softer Density’ (SD) category.

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Please note that all of our cane is fully seasoned and ready for immediate use.

Gouged Cane – complete range

The cane we use has been rigorously selected and accurately gouged using high precision electric machinery. We offer gouges suitable for short (European) or long (North American) scrape styles.

The relationship between the centre and the edges of the gouge is crucial for producing a perfectly balanced reed. We adjust the diameter of the gouging blade according to the structure of the cane fibres and the strength (resilience qualities – ‘spring’; hardness) of the cane. To achieve optimal gouge quality, we vary the blade diameter by increments of 0.10mm (e.g., 11mm; 11.10mm; 11.20mm;11.30mm; 11.40mm; etc.).

The cane is grouped into four categories according to diameter: 10 – 10.25mm; 10.25 – 10.5mm; 10.5 – 10,75mm; and 10.75 – 11mm. The following thicknesses are available: Medium Soft (MS), gouged to 0.56mm; Medium (M), gouged to 0.58mm; and Medium Hard (MH), gouged to 0.60mm.
(Accurate to +/- .01mm)

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Note: all measurements are taken on dry gouged cane, as measuring soaked cane gives distorted readings (the thickness can increase by up to 0.02mm when wet).

The gouged cane comes in bundles of 10 pieces.