Kenneth Taylor teaches music history at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio and plays copies of a German oboe circa 1730 and a French bassoon circa 1765. He studied the modern oboe with William Baker at the Ohio State University, periods of study in Vienna and in Aldeburgh, England of playing techniques for the early oboe and bassoon were supported by Ford Foundation - Kenyon College Faculty Development grants.
During the past several decades a number of professional musicians have become interested in efforts to recover the original timbre and playing techniques of early instruments. Although now common in the performance of Renaissance music, this concern for original timbre has developed less rapidly for the music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Harpsichords and organs built to Baroque specifications are no longer curiosities, and the playing properties of old violins (considerably altered) are prized, but the winds have seemed much more formidable. Fortunately the work of a few players and instrument makers, [1] supported by careful research of the sort summarized in the first issue of the IDRS Journal [2] is bringing about a reassessment of the inherent musical values of instruments which for too long have been thought valuable only as relics.
With the double reeds, a principal obstacle has been the scanty historical information about reed-making specifications and procedures. An eighteenth-century oboe reed, like its modern equivalent, probably determined in large measure the timbre, dynamic limits, articulative possibilities, and even the basic pitch of the instrument to which it was coupled. Present-day makers of reeds for early oboes should be aware of the historical evidence which exists, but they must also supplement this information with procedures and specifications derived empirically.
In this study I shall 1) summarize the reed specifications which have been drawn or inferred from historical sources, and 2) report the dimensions and step-by-step procedures employed by Jurg Schaeftlein, oboist with the Vienna Concentus Musicus whose recorded performances on an original oboe, oboe d'amore and oboe da caccia of the early 18th-century are available on the Telefunken label. [3]
Anyone who wishes to make a reed must first develop a concept of the tone quality and playing characteristics desired. Students of the early oboe may receive some guidance from descriptions of oboe tone in early tutors and other sources, provided that these descriptions are evaluated carefully. [4]
It must be acknowledged that the phrase "baroque oboe" is more convenient than it is accurate. Although musical style changed radically from the late 17th-through the 18th-century, the oboe changed only moderately. Philip Bate's "second phase of the oboe . . . the 'two-and-three key' period" is thus more accurate. As he put it, During the whole of that time the instrument underwent no radical change . . . The oboe that served Bach and Handel, Haydn and Mozart and even the young Beethoven, was essentially the same as that which first reached England [ca. 1674]. [5]
Individuals who have examined many early oboes have drawn the conclusion that the bore was narrowed gradually during the period, and that with this change the reeds became narrower as well. [6] Probably more fundamental to the design of the reeds than the changes in bore dimensions were the requirements--constant throughout the period--that the cross-fingerings be fully usable and that the second octave sound without the assistance of an octave mechanism [7] and with a minimum of fatigue to the embouchure.
The following table summarizes oboe reed specifications from 18th-century evidence, together with one set of specifications developed by a modern player of the baroque oboe (all dimension in mm.):
Source Date Width at Length of Length of Lay Other
Tip Reed Staple Alone
1. Talbot MS.[8] ca.1698 9.5 98.5 - - 17.5 'inserted' (could
refer to player's embou-
chure or to insertion of
staple into instrument);
6.4 diameter of staple
at lower end.
2. Reeds, late 18th 7.9-9.5 66.7 - 15 -
Pitt-River cent.
Museum [9]
3. Garnier
Methode [10] ca.1800 8 70 47 - 3.5 width of staple tip;
6 width at base of
staple; 38 length of
folded cane; 4 width of
reed where cane meets
tip of staple (see below)
4. Jurg 1971 8.2 89 63 14.5 -
Schaeftlein,
Vienna (for
Paulhahn
oboe, ca.
1730
The Talbot and the Garnier measurements neatly frame the century, and are of special interest because they are associated with particular oboes (by Bressan and by Delusse), some bore measurements of which are known. Nevertheless, no known historical sources provide information about these crucial matters:
1. The outside diameter of the tubes of cane.
2. The thickness of the gouge, and its gradations, if any, from the center to the edges of the cane.
3. The scrape, or the gradations of thickness produced along the lay of each blade. Most modern scrapes result in sharply defined areas of thickness, to produce a reed relatively stable in pitch and intonation, but eighteenth-century oboists needed more flexibility to cope with the cross fingerings and the prevalence of unequal temperaments and variations in the level of pitch in various performance situations.
Because no historical evidence for these aspects of the reed has come to light, it may appear that the only way to obtain a workable solution is through experimentation. However, one additional source of information may be considered-- the procedures of present-day Viennese oboists. Because oboists in Vienna play an instrument which is less sophisticated mechanically than the French Conservatory system employed almost universally elsewhere, the reed-making process is also very different, and is perhaps our closest link with the tradition of the eighteenth century. Bate's remarks are relevant here:
The fifteen, or at most sixteen, note-holes required by the Koch-Sellner design [ca. 1825], and their relative placing along the tube, remain virtually unchanged on typical German and Austrian style oboes at the present day . . . The last stronghold of the simple Austrian type oboe is Vienna . . . There the leading players, notably those of the Philharmonic Orchestra, remain faithful to a 15-keyed instrument not so much in advance of Sellner's model of a hundred and twenty years ago. [11]
Bates notes further that the bore of the modern Austrian oboe bell is made like that of the eighteenth-century bell, a construction which "may be expected somewhat to reduce the higher partial tones . . . and to emphasize the odd-numbered harmonics a little. [12] Bate conjectures that the ability to blend found in the German oboe of today was probably a quality present in the eighteenth century as well.
The specifications and procedures given below are those employed by Jurg Schaeftlein, first oboist of the Vienna Symphony and of the Concentus Musicus, Vienna. The latter ensemble was founded by Nikolaus Harnoncourt in 1954 to interpret early music on original instruments; for about a decade the Concentus Musicus has specialized in the repertory and instrumentation of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
In the Vienna Symphony Schaeftlein plays a modern oboe of the type described by Bate, above; his instrument for Concentus Musicus bears the inscription "P. Paulhahn," presumed to have been a German maker active about 1730. [13] The reed described below is for the Paulhahn oboe; according to Schaeftlein, the general procedure is the same as that used to make a reed for the modern Viennese oboe.
The procedure results in a high degree of consistency among the reeds produced, which sometimes remain usable a month or more. Remarkable, in comparison to many modern reeds, is the large diameter, thin gouge, gradual taper of the lay, and the lack of a sharply defined heart or backbone. Whereas many American reeds 'crow' at a definite pitch (or at two pitches an octave apart), the Viennese reed 'crows' very freely at a number of pitches simultaneously, so that the effect is an indefinite pitch.
1. Sandpaper slightly the interior of gouged cane which has soaked for several hours.
2. Score, fold, and (if necessary) press the tip together slightly.
4. Mark with a pencil a point 17 mm. below the score, on the gouged side of the cane.
5. With a wood file, file the edges of the cane below the pencil mark. This makes the reed less resistant (ie., the reed will not be so open when the tip is cut.) File edges somewhat above the pencil mark too, but not as much as lower down; edges which are too soft result in a reed without strength. (If one were to use cane gouged thinner at the sides than at the middle, steps #4 and #5 would probably be unnecessary.--K.T.)
6. Insert a short length of fine wire at the score and fold. Using coarse string, bind the reed from the middle almost to the tip. Below this string, scrape away all of the bark. (This scraped area is where the permanent wrapping string will be wound later.) On a flat surface, score this area all the way through, vertically, with the tip of a knife.
7. Insert a drying mandrel into the bound reed. (This Viennese tool, or Dorn, is larger than the French-American mandrel--its dimensions are about equivalent to the dimensions of the staple upon which the cane is wrapped later in the process. Some Viennese oboists although not Schaeftlein--heat the drying mandrel before insertion into the folded and bound cane, so that the reed is steamed to a shape which is retained as the reed dries.)
8. Bind middle of reed (just above area scored in #6) with heavy wire (not the fine brass wire which will become a permanent part of the reed).
9. Notch horizontally the scored area with a wood file, to assist the later wrapping process. Allow cane to dry on mandrel preferably as long as overnight.
10. Paint staple with nail polish where the reed is to be slipped on.
11. Remove cane from drying mandrel. Place staple on the wrapping mandrel, and insert into cane to a point 26 mm. from the uncut tip of the cane.
12. Wrap with string the area which has been scored and notched, below the heavy wire. Wax the end of the string when wrapping is completed, so that it will not unravel. After all subsequent steps are completed, this string is painted with nail polish and allowed to dry. (The Viennese employ cotton string for wrapping.)
13. Remove the heavy wire and string from the upper half of the folded cane.
14. With a knife, make a shallow notch all the way around the bark at a point between 2 and 3 mm. from the string wound in step #12. Into this notch bind a fine brass wire (approximately .012 gauge) twice around the reed, securing it with several twists. (This wire is to prevent the blades from slipping.)
15. Return reed to the water for at least 20 minutes.
16. Pull through the tip the short piece of brass wire which was inserted in #6 above, so as to separate the two blades. This will result in a jagged tip which will be trimmed after much of the scraping is completed, in step #20.
17. Insert plaque between the blades. (Viennese plaques, called Zungen, are made of ebony or horn, and have surfaces which are slightly convexo-convex. Because of the shape and dark color, this plaque maintains contact with the inside surfaces of the blades and can be seen through the blades, permitting the reed-maker to check his progress while scraping. These plaques seem to dull the edges of the knife less readily than do metal plaques. [15] )
18. To prepare the lay, score the blades lightly at a point 14.5 mm. from the tip. Scraping away from the scored point toward the tip, remove all skin (bark) from the lay with continuous motions. The scrape should be such that the blades become progressively thinner as the tip is approached. It is essential that the taper be gradual--that there be no abrupt changes in thickness anywhere along the lay. The taper is scraped so that a slight arch is discernible when the reed is viewed in front of a strong light
19. The lower end of the staple is wrapped with a fine, soft string so that the staple will fit securely into the well of the oboe, without leaks. Waxed string is inappropriate because it will not provide a tight seal. One way to prevent the string from slipping as it is wound onto the staple is to apply a coat of nail polish to the staple (approximately the lower 25 mm.) just before the first layer of string is wound. Another approach is to notch the staple with a file before winding the string. (Of course, step #19 is not necessary unless a new staple is being used; the string at the bottom of the staple is more or less permanent.)
20. Cut the tip. Because the gouge is so thin, the reed will 'crow' with only a moderate amount of scraping as described in # 18. Try the reed on the instrument. If it does not respond well in the first octave and is too resistant, more cane should be removed throughout the lay. If both octaves speak equally well and the reed is too resistant, remove cane just below the tip, taking care not to leave bumps which would disturb the gradual taper of the lay. (To check for bumps, look at lay from the side.) If too much cane is removed from the lower part of the lay, the second octave will be too weak in relation to the first. To improve articulation in the low register, scrape the 'tip of the tip.' If the tone is too bright, cut the tip, but be sure to maintain a lay of no less than 15 mm.
21. Increasing or decreasing the amount of string wound onto the bottom of the staple regulates the extent to which the reed protrudes beyond the top of the instrument, thus providing some control over the level of pitch. With the Paulhahn oboe, the reed extends above the upper joint of the instrument about 71 mm.
Perhaps the complexity of the Viennese procedures is justified by the consistency of the reeds, and their long life. The close interrelationships of any reed-making process tend to discourage substitutions or simplifications. The beauty of Schaeftlein's playing certainly argues for making an attempt to recreate his complete process, at least for oboes comparable to the Paulhahn. Still, it would be desirable to determine which of his procedures are essential to any successful baroque reed, so that oboists without all the specialized materials can more easily adjust the process to their own needs and capabilities.
The most significant variable in the process would seem to be the staple. The staple used with the Paulhahn oboe works with some oboes of the same period by other makers, but is unsuited to still others. Research by instrument makers may yield some general principles for determining the dimensions of staples, but at present trial and error seems to be the usual approach. [16]
On the other hand, the thin gouge and the gradual taper of the lay employed by Schaeftlein seem fundamental to the free response required by all early oboes; substantial departures from these approaches seem unlikely to produce successful reeds. Persons with access to gouging machines having blades which gouge the cane thinner at the sides than at the center will, however, need to make departures from Schaeftlein's cane diameter and gouge to avoid producing too weak a reed. Perhaps a diameter of about 11 mm. would be appropriate with a center gouge of .52 mm. tapering to .45 at the sides. [l7]
It would be convenient if the same gouge which serves for modern reeds (typically at least .10 mm. thicker in the U.S. than Schaeftlein's specifications) could be used to make baroque reeds by simply removing more cane during the scraping process. In this writer's experience reeds made from the usual thickly gouged cane have been inferior tonally and have rarely given the second octave with ease. The effort to obtain specially gouged cane seems fully justified.
Given a proper gouge, the freedom of response discussed above results from a scrape which tapers gradually from the back to the tip, and from the center (spine) to the sides. It is helpful to check the blades from the sides frequently during the scraping process; this profile view reveals immediately any imbalances which have developed. Schaeftlein's length of lay (14.5 mm.) and width at tip (8.2 mm.) apply especially to the Paulhahn oboe, and should be taken as minimum dimensions if applied to other early 18th-century oboes; for a Denner oboe from the German National Museum at Nurnberg he reports that a lay of 17 mm. is better.
Jurg Schaeftlein, a very cordial yet quiet and unassuming man, does not consider his reeds to be definitive-that further experimentation may yet result in improvements.
[1] For a list of modern makers of flutes, oboes and bassoons after 18th-century specifications, see The American Recorder XIV, No. 2 (May 1973), 49-50. [return]
[2] Earl Groth, "The Baroque Oboe-A Study," Journal of the International Double Reed Society 1 (1973), 50-71. [return]
[3] The Bach Concerto in C Minor, S. 1060 recorded on Telefunken S-9557, is recommended; for the larger oboes, the Complete Bach Cantatas, seven volumes (Cantatas 1-27) of which have been released, provide many examples. [return]
[4] Some of these descriptions appeared in Professor Groth's article previously cited. Other 18th-century comments about oboe tone may be found in Francois Raguenet, Parallels des Italiens et des Francais . . . (1702), quoted in Musical Quarterly XXXII (1946), 415; Johann Mattheson, Das Neu-Eroffnete Orchester (1713), quoted in Josef Marx, "The Tone of the Baroque Oboe," Galpin Society Journal IV (June 1951), 6; Charles Burney, The Present State of Music in France and Italy . . . (London: Oxford University Press, 1959), p. 16; same author The Present State of Music in Germany, The Netherlands, and United Provinces (London: Oxford University Press 1959), pp. 57-58; Leopold and W. A. Mozart, in Emily Anderson, The Letters of Mozart and his Family, 2nd ed. (N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1966), pp. 352, 355, 540, 907. [return]
[5] Philip Bate, The Oboe (N.Y.: Philosophical Library, 1956), pp. 35, 39. [return]
[6] Eric Halfpenny, "The English 2 and 3-Keyed Hautboy," Galpin Society Journal 11 (March 1949), 25; Thomas Warner, "Two Late Eighteenth-Century Instructions for Making Double Reeds," Galpin Society Journal XV (1962), 28. [return]
[7] A three-keyed oboe in the Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection (Checklist, #432) at the Library of Congress, Washington has a hole for the left thumb in a position analogous to the octave hole on the recorder. The instrument, made of ivory, is cracked inside the well at the point where the staple would abut the bore, and so the function of this exceptional thumb hole cannot be tested. The upper joint bears the inscription "Rouge," a builder whose location and period of activity are uncertain; Langwill (An Index of Musical Wind-Instruments, Third Edition) reports only one other instrument by "Rouge," a tenor recorder in Brussels. [return]
[8] Anthony Baines, "James Talbot's Manuscript " Galpin Society Journal 11 (March 1949), 10, 13. [return]
[9] Halfpenny, loc. cit.; Warner, op. cit., 29. [return]
[10] Warner, op. cit., 27. [return]
[11] Bate, op. cit., 56-57,85. [return]
[12] Ibid., pp. 115-117,119,126. [return]
[13] The dimensions of the Paulhahn oboe (smallest diam. of top joint, 6 mm.; diam. at lower end of upper joint, 11.6 mm.; diam. at lower end of lower joint, 17 mm.; length, 58 cm.) show it to be a typical oboe of the early 18th century. [return]
[14] A metal shaper suitable for the Paulhahn and similar oboes is available from Bruce Haynes, Binnenkannt 45, Amsterdam C. Holland. Lacking evidence to the contrary, it is generally assumed that early oboists shaped cane without the aid of a shaper. See Warner, op. cit. Haynes also makes staples and mandrels for his copies of early oboes. [return]
[15] Plaques in a synthetic material, based on the Viennese Zunge but reduced slightly in size, are available from Dwight Gazlay, 5242 102 Street North, St. Petersburg, Florida 33708. [return]
[16] Clearly, the size of the lower and of the staple is dictated by the upper bore and well of the instrument, but the optimum length (and perhaps the conicity) is determined chiefly through experimentation. Besides the staples by Bruce Haynes (Footnote 14), this writer has seen oboe staples in several sizes by Hansjurg Lange, Red Cottage, Aldeburgh, Suffolk IPI5/SPY, England. Mr. Lange, who makes copies of early bassoons and other woodwinds, does not plan to supply oboe staples in quantity, but is willing to make a few for persons getting started with an early oboe or copy. [return]
[17] Although gouging machines in theory are supposed to permit adjustment of the depth of gouge, particular models often prove disappointing. After searching for several years I recently found a machine which is easily adjustable and is good in all other respects, made by Kortier Woodwinds, 134 Garden Street, Columbus, Ohio 43214. [return]