Best Oboe Reeds For Students

Magic Reed offers high quality handmade Student Oboe Reeds.  These oboe reeds are designed for middle school oboists and beyond with at least 1 year experience, are working with a teacher and have a functioning (though not fully developed) embouchure.  This oboe reed is simply in a different league than other student reeds on the market, but you need to expect a period of transition to a higher end reed with more meat. They have great tone and response- just like our higher end reeds. They have the right resistance to respond to student level windspeed, hold onto pitch, and have a broader dynamic range then is typical for other student oboe reeds.  Our standards are high, and our choice of materials and scrape is flexible. 

Student Oboe Reed Materials:

Staple

My Student Oboe Reeds are designed with a synthetic cork staple that has a design similar to the Loree staple.  These staples are easy to insert and extract from the oboe, which is why I call this an Easy Glide model.  This is a great choice for students with small hands, or others that don't want to wrangle with a staple with natural cork.  There is no need for cork grease.  There is an opportunity to upgrade to a Chiarugi #2 natural cork staple.

Oboe Cane

I use the same great cane for Student Oboe Reeds as my professional models- usually just north of medium soft- medium strength range.  I do not and cannot use soft oboe cane.  It cannot achieve the results I want for you.  I want you to have a reed that is responsive, but still gives you something to blow against.  Soft reeds lead to saggy pitch and short lifespan.  You are investing more in a handmade reed for a reed maker to be able to control these variables so you get better results.  It takes longer to finish the reed, but your results are worth it.

Oboe Cane Shape: 

I am a professional reed maker with many shaper forms in my tool box.  Some are wider and some are narrower.  Since I make my oboe reed from scratch, and don't farm it out to other people, I have the freedom to match the cane with a shape (usually just south of medium)  that will get the best for you.  I am not a one size fits all reed maker.

Student Oboe Reed Scrape:

I use a flexible scrape to get the best results for you.  While my essential scrape in the American Long Scrape, I customize the spine and the back to ensure that the combination of all my material selection and personal efforts actually get a great result for you.  

Student Oboe Reed Making Process

All of our Handmade Student Oboe Reeds are hand crafted from scratch right in our shop. We typically draw from blanks we made in advance for your order.  We finish these reeds in 1-2 addition scraping sessions with quality controls to meet or exceed our student reed standards- which are already very high.  Reeds are tested on a Laubin or Howarth XL oboe.  They have red or pink string to signify cane strength in your range, and are packaged in vials with a red cap, for orders of less than three reeds.