Playing the oboe is hard enough as it is, so I try to keep my reed philosophy as simple as possible. I believe there are only a few things that make a good reed. The rest, as they say, is just opinion.
A good reed must have:
- response – if it doesn’t make a sound, what good is it?
- stability – using words like integrity and down-to-earth seem a bit philosophical, but if the shoe fits…
Everything else about a reed grows out of these two things. Pitch, of course, is relative. After all, what good is a reed that is “right-on” in terms of pitch if everyone else in the ensemble is playing sharp? Who loses in that situation (besides the listeners)?
Reeds can be complicated animals, but when you really get to the heart (pun intended) of what makes a reed great, it’s actually quite simple.
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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...
