When you’re looking for a good reed to play a solo performance, just remember this: Make sure you can play the reed out of your ear. That means the reed should be easy enough to get through your piece 2 or 3 times in a row without getting tired. So if your reed has you [...]
Read MoreMaryn
It’s amazing what 4,000 feet will do to an oboe reed. 30 days ago, we moved out of the mountains of Flagstaff Arizona. Flagstaff Elevation: 7,200 feet above sea level. Now when you’re an oboe reed company, that type of elevation can be a real deal breaker. It was for us. So we stopped selling [...]
Read MoreWho painted this picture of virtuoso oboist Johann Christian Fischer?
Read MoreI remember this reed lesson pretty well. Even though it happened almost 15 years ago (eekkk…). The idea was to give myself a simple “cheat sheet” that I could refer back to as I made reeds. It was basically my profile of the “perfect reed.” I created a quick list of the major things I [...]
Read MoreOver the years, we’ve collected a ton of excellent questions about oboe reeds, oboe playing and other oboe stuff. We’re finally going to answer them… some of them. (We have hundreds and hundreds of them.) But instead of just answering the question for the player who asked it, we’re publishing the answers for everyone. It’s [...]
Read MoreGot a question recently about how to tie your knots when you’re making an oboe reed. It’s hard to explain in words, so take a look at the video and see if it’s clear. This video is actually part of our reedmaking course, The Beginner’s Guide to Making Your First Playing Oboe Reed… In 9 [...]
Read MoreBeen a loooonnnnggg time. We’re living in Flagstaff now. At the top of a very tall mountain. This has nothing to do with the oboe, but I’d like to introduce you to some of our neighbors.
Read MoreWe’ve landed… About 1667 miles from where we started. In our new home: Flagstaff Arizona. It’s a whopping 7,300 feet above sea level. (If you’re wondering what high altitude does to oboe reeds, well we’re about to find out But I’ll talk about that later. Right now, I want to tell you about something that [...]
Read MoreI just read of the passing of Cynthia Steljes, oboist and founding member of Quartetto Gelato… I didn’t know her personally, but just a few weeks ago, I sent her a letter to tell her about a new project we are working on at MKL Reeds and to ask for her input. I am telling [...]
Read MoreHere’s what happens to dead oboe reeds (in this case, a bassoon reed) in our house. My son really gets a kick out of this. I wish I could have so much fun when my reeds kick the bucket.
Read MoreDid you set oboe goals for 2006? Have you achieved them? If you listen to any of the self-help gurus out there, you’ll find advice ranging from the simple, “you must set goals” to the contrarian, “the worst thing about setting goals is that you achieve them when you could have achieved more.” I don’t [...]
Read MoreI talk a lot about what it was like for me to go from being a professional “student” to a professional oboe player. Like every journey, it had its ups and downs. Often times there seemed to be more downs than ups. It’s not like we are given a map or anything to make the [...]
Read MoreYesterday I was listening to the 9/16/06 NPR interview with Liang Wang, the new Principal Oboe of the New York Phil. The piece was called “Oboist Liang Wang: His Reeds Come First” and really focused on communicating just how important the art of reedmaking is to being a great oboist. Liang Wang is 26 years [...]
Read MoreIt snowed for the first time last night in Batesville. Today it’s freezing. Definitely feels like the holidays (unless you grew up in Florida, Texas or somewhere else warm . Here’s an excerpt from a Christmas poem, Twas the Day of the Concert, we just got done putting together. We’re not selling it, but we [...]
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How do you know if you'll like an oboe reed before you play it? You can't. When the rubber finally hits the road, it hardly matters if the reed is a great one, perfectly customized to your every desire, if it just plain doesn't work well for you. 
My name is Maryn Leister. I am a graduate of the Juilliard Pre-College Division and the Eastman School of Music, where I was a student of Richard Killmer. After graduating from college, I lived in Nashville, TN, then headed to Knoxville, TN, New York City, and finally Chicago...
