Oboists who have heard my recitals at the University often ask me how I have learned to surmount the problem of endurance. I usually credit my secret to the type of reed that I make. But this is not entirely the truth.
It is not so much the type of reed but, in fact, my systematic reed preparation that makes it possible for me to withstand long concerts of soloistic repertoire and the even longer rehearsals which precede each recital.
Also, an important factor in the ability to endure long periods of playing on the Oboe rests with the daily practice of technical control or muscle memory. I recently described my system of daily practice in an essay for The Double Reed (October, 1979) in which my philosophy of preparation plays a major role. Stated simply, I believe that technical control should be able to handle passages far beyond the demands of the most difficult passage in a work being presently played. Then, when the oboist is confronting the pressures of the audience in the concert hall, enough control will remain for the toughest passages.
My philosophy for the preparation of reeds is identical to that of the daily practice of technical control. That is, any reed I use in a recital must be able to play far beyond what is needed of it in that particular recital. In order to make this a reality, during the building of my reeds I offset the problems inherent within the botanical material and the problems of human error in two ways. First of all, reeds are produced in a quantity beyond what I really need, and secondly, I discipline myself to maintain the highest level of craftsmanship through every step of the process.
I should now like to describe in some detail the way in which I schedule the various steps of the reed-making process. The following chart gives the steps, frequency, and production:
**Charles Lehrer's Schedule of the Reed-Making Process**
Step Frequency Produced Each Time Splitting & Gouging Once per month 17 tubes = 51 + pieces Shaping & Binding Twice per month 13 blanks Scraping Twice per week 3 reeds Finishing (during daily practice) Twice per week 3 reeds
The six reeds finished each week are used in the following way: four are diverted to daily practice and the remaining two are used for rehearsals with my accompanist or with the Faculty Quintet. I always save the best of these six reeds for recitals and, therefore, play upon it no more than half an hour. The life of the remaining five reeds varies, but some will extend beyond the week and will create the backlog needed for future rehearsals. The backlog is also needed for giving lessons.
By setting aside a reed each week for future concerts, I build up a reed bank of about 12 exceptional reeds. Of course, these 12 reeds will each need some extra scraping in the weeks preceding d recital, but I try to keep practice upon them to a minimum since they will be needed for final dress rehearsals and concerts. For me, the concert is always easier than the dress rehearsal, mainly because there is no going back to fix up passages and, therefore, less wear on the reed, embouchure, and nerves!
I should like to list several factors which I believe contribute to the success of my method of preparing reeds for recitals:
1. The raw tube cane is checked for larvae and then set aside for further drying for one year.
2. Careful sorting of the cane by color, texture, and tensile strength through the first three steps of the process saves much time in the long run.
3. The cane is allowed to dry thoroughly after each of the four steps.
4. Tools and supplies used by me are among the very best obtainable: gouging machines by Friedrich Sassenberg of Berlin; shapers by Sassenberg and by William Brannen Woodwinds of Evanston, Illinois; staples in brass at 47mm. by Loree; tube cane from Francois Alliaud of Morieres, France.
5. The tube cane ranging between 10.5 and 11.0 mm. in diameter produces a moderate opening with my shapers.
6. The gouge which fits my shapers ranges between .56 and .60 mm.
7. The tip widths of my two most-used shapers are as follows: 7.0 Brannen; 6.8 Sassenberg: used when the pitch level exceeds A440, which is the usual case with many pianos and in ensembles where string players are present!
8. The reeds crow c# in two octaves: c1, c2, c3. This is a major factor in endurance since reeds at this high crow level hold the pitch up very well and leave the embouchure (which is all too often engaged by some performers in much of the process of holding up the pitch) free to deal with dynamics and fine tuning.
9. Steps are taken throughout the binding process to prevent any leaks occurring in the reeds: the cane is tied on the staples with the blades in displacement.
10. Each reed is marked to indicate the side which will contact the lower lip in performance and respond best; this saves much time and worry when I am on stage.
11. The pieces produced at each step of the process are arranged in an orderly way in a parts drawer cabinet by date and include all metric measurements.
12. The room in which the reeds are finished and in which I do my daily practice simulates many of the characteristics of the recital halls in which I do the majority of my playing.
Several books describe in detail the type of reed that I make and the general process from splitting the tubes through to finishing. My favorites are those by Sprenkle & Ledet and by Peter and Elizabeth Hedrick, and I am forever indebted to Karl Steins' book which tipped me off about die Würmchen or larvae! The following bibliography includes these books and others for colleagues and students who wish to pursue yet further this remarkable art.
Baines, Anthony. Woodwind Instruments and Their History. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1957.
Goossens, Leon & Roxburgh, Edwin. Oboe. New York: Schirmer Books, 1977.
Hedrick, Peter & Elizabeth. Oboe Reed Making. Oneonta, New York: Swift-Dorr Publications, Inc., 1978.
Prodan, James. Oboe Performance Practices and Teaching in the United States and Canada. Akron, Ohio: The Institute for Woodwind Research, 1979.
Rothwell, Evelyn. Oboe Technique. London: Oxford University Press, 1953.
Sprenkle, Robert & Ledet, David. The Art of Oboe Playing. Evanston, Illinois: Summy-Birchard, 1961.
Steins, Karl. Rohrbau für Oboen. Berlin: Bote und Bach, 1964.
Timm, Everett. The Woodwinds. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1964.
Also, the marvelous article in the Double Reed of April 1979 by Bruce Haynes entitled Baroque Oboe Reed-Making gives the historical background to this art.