Bassoon Reeeds

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From 1938 to 1947 I made hundreds of bassoon reeds, mostly bad ones. From 1947 to the present I have been making all my reeds on a sophisticated machine which I designed and had built in 1947.

In this time, I have made literally thousands of reeds ranging from superb to impossible. I have performed every conceivable experiment trying to determine the "ideal" way to make a reed. Here are my conclusions.

The overall length of the reed may vary from 2-1/8" (quite short) to over 2-1/4" (quite long). I aim at 2-3/16 - 2-1/4".

The scraped part of the reed may vary from 1" to 1-3/16". This is very critical for the pitch of the reed and determines to a large extent how the reed blades must be profiled. A long scrape will respond easier even with more cane left on but will tend more to flatness than will a short scrape reed. I personally start with about 1-1/8" or even more and cut the reed shorter if necessary. But I consider 1-1/16 - 1-1/8" ideal.

The general contour of the reed blades should be as in the graph below. The center line of each reed blade should have an increasing slope as it nears the tip. The side edges are thinner than the center at any point but especially at the front half of the reed. This gives the reed an arch throughout, even at the tip!

I believe that the tip of the reed in the center need not be much thinner than .009" or .010". I have had very good reeds which were even as thick as .013" at this point. From the tip, the thickness should increase rather quickly so that at a point 3/8" behind the tip the thickness should be about .024. - 026".

The back half of the reed should have much less slope so that even at the beginning of the scrape the reed should be between .030 - .035 (center line).

(Dimensions of the Bassoon Reed)

The most common mistake I have observed is the removal of too much wood from the front half and not enough from the back half of the scrape.

These dimensions are more or less my personal preference and can be varied considerably depending upon the taste of the player, but they do demonstrate the general principles that must be maintained in order to avoid disaster. Happy Scraping!