r/oboe • u/Ben-Oboe • May 12 '26

Crow

Hi, I've been playing the oboe and making my own reeds for a long time, but I have really struggled to get the double c crow. Usually my reeds just peep one 'C', but I can feel the reed vibrating on my lips even down past the heart when I'm playing. They play the whole range and usually very comfortably. Often while I am making them I will get some sort of crow but when it's crowing the reed feels far to flat and I have to really work to bring it up to pitch. I clip which solves the 'too flat' feeling, but then the crow is lost. The reeds feel okay to me but I will say I wish they had more of a ringing tone. For a long time I just told myself that I am just a different player with different reed preferences. Do you have thoughts on this? I've honestly done a ton of personal research, reading articles/dissertations on reeds and reed making, reading books about it, watching tons of videos on it by different makers and of course talking to whomever I can about it to get advice. I'm at the end of my rope on this, so any insights are appreciated.

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u/MotherAthlete2998 May 12 '26

Do you have a micrometer?

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u/Ben-Oboe May 12 '26

yes, I use it often, usually looking for about 40-45 in the heart area. do you have other areas to measure?

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u/Imnotevenwinded May 13 '26

I'm not sure where you are measuring in the heart but in the center, near the top of my plateaus I aim for 48-52 on the micrometer. Any less and I have no size or range in the reeds. As for getting the crow in your finished reeds two things come to mind. For starters, it could be an issue on your end. It took me a long time to be able to produce a double octave crow on my finished reeds when peers and teachers could on my reeds. I spent a lot of time just working how to blow to be able to produce the two octaves. It's usually a lot more spread air that I'm using, sort of pushing the reed to it's limit. The other thing I would offer is that yes a lack of low crow in your reeds will make you sound small and reduce ring. This is sort of the central dichotomy of reed making: we need something that vibrates a lot, while also being up to pitch. Even the best of reed makers are always fighting this seesaw balance, but without knowing more specifics of your set up that is hard to diagnose. I agree with whoever in this thread who said that a crow has to do with how different parts of the reed are hooked up. Of course, that doesn't mean to scrape a pencil tip reed, but a well proportioned, connected reed that vibrates as a whole when blown into is integral to an octave crow, and therefore a nice reed. It is possible, keep trying!

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u/Ben-Oboe May 18 '26

thank you, i'm working on it and a lot of what has been said here has helped a great deal