Each month, we pick one new Reed Report subscriber to win 2 free oboe reeds of their choice. September’s winner is Anne Sandham! Congratulations Anne! You’ve got 2 free oboe reeds coming your way, with our compliments. Welcome to the Reed Report! If you haven’t signed up for your free subscription to the Reed Report, you can do it by clicking the link below: Sign Me Up!
The dust is finally settling from the big launch of the Reedmaker’s Network. And as the haze begins to clear, I realize that I may have hopelessly confused you all. Let me apologize… In all of my excitement, I’m afraid I didn’t make things as clear as they should be. And I can’t really expect you to make a good decision about whether or not the Reedmakers Network is right…
The BIG day is finally here… and we’ve got an exciting announcement to make at MKL Reeds. Get the details now! http://www.mklreeds.com/reedmaking.htm
What is my number one piece of advice is for an oboist who is really interested in making more progress in less time? “Practice.” But over the years, I’ve realized that the word practice can mean a lot of different things, depending on who exactly you are talking to. There is good practicing and there is bad practicing. By bad practicing, I mean the kind where you put in the…
We’re only about 18 days away from our big announcement at MKL Reeds. If you are reading this blog and haven’t signed up for our newsletter, The Reed Report, you are going to miss out. Before you play another note on your oboe, go and get your free subscription. You’ll get some free gifts and goodies, and it will only take a minute. You can signup here: Sign-Up For The…
So most of you know that we just got done unpacking the UHaul truck after our move from Chicago. Everything went pretty smoothly: the oboe made it, the gougers, even the reeds got here without a crack. The only problem was our poor UHaul truck. We lost a belt somewhere around Indianapolis which made things like steering and braking a bit difficult. Luckily, no one was hurt. Here is a…
It’s probably no surprise that we get a lot of questions from present, past and future customers about oboe reeds. That’s my business of course. We get questions like: “Do I need a soft reed or a hard reed?” “How should I know what reeds to order?” “What do I do with oboe reeds if I order them and don’t like them?” The list goes on and on… These are…
I always love trying different shaper tips–not only do they offer me different options and “feels”, but they can feel different on different gouges, so I often revisit unused shaper tips when I redo my gouge. Having recently gotten both of my gouges worked on, I went back through my shaper tip collection to see how things felt, and I’ve decided that my Ruth shaper tip makes absolutely fabulous reeds….that…
I know a few musicians (oboists and non-oboists) that take betas on a regular basis for a variety of reasons and situations. One takes them for auditions only, one takes them everyday for heart palpitations, and several take them for scary performances. I’ve never tried them for a few reasons, on which I invite discussion: 1. The addiction factor: A person can start taking them just for auditions, then for…
I certainly don’t profess to know everything about reedmaking….in fact, I kind of like being presented with the odd reed problem now and then. It challenges me to do some investigating and create a solution for a specific reed issue. In the end, I learn a lot and my reeds get better… I do have a lot of reedmaking experience, however, owning a reed business and all. This leads me…