Excellent video with very useful insights. I've bought the Legere oboe reed as well primarily because I've always used the German scrape. That said, though, these reeds are quite resistant and unless you have the breath intensity of an Albrecht Mayer, you'll find you'll be blowing out your diaphragm, and fast tonguing is all but impossible with this hardness level. Abager2 has done a superb job of modifying the reed and the results are very impressive. If you do decide to modify the reed, you should best use a Reed Geek "Double Geek" reed scraper; they're the best when it comes to ultra-fine adjustments.
Thanks. I have been hesitant to adjust my Legere reeds because my knife skills are rusty. You have given me encouragement. BTW You and I are the same generation. I have been playing oboe for 50 years. I was paid for about 2 of those years. :-)
hi Adam -interesting to hear what you have to say ..As a semi pro about your age i have recently acquired a Legere reed as well .. I got Olllie in Howarths to scrape mine for me .. I find it a really useful item in my reed case.. it will really do my bidding and plays perfectly in tune. I prefer my cane reeds ultimately but the Legere one gets me out of trouble quite often especially when I need a good pianissimo in a second oboe situation in the orchestra.. I would recommend everyone to get one but scrape it down - they are too hard out of the box.
I've seen a few comments to say they are harder than expected out of the box. Is this a medium scrape one? Do you have any experience with the Medium Soft version?
Hi James, I must confess to having moved back to natural reeds. I found a supplier, in Japan, of reeds that suit me well. Legere reeds may well be the future, and they inspired me to return to regular playing, but I think it will be some time before they can match the variability in tone that you can achieve with a good natural reed. The reed I'm playing in the video was one of their original harder versions and I had to scrape it fairly savagely to achieve good results. I play with a very gentle embouchure. I bought several of their softest versions and did not scrape them at all. For most people I believe they would be a better option than the hardest. I am impressed by what Legere have achieved and hope that they get better and better, but I am a reborn natural reed player now, despite the misery of their very short life.
@@abager2 thanks for the reply, sounds like a good long term result for you. I've got a good reed supply from my teacher but the thought that there is always something half decent in my reed box is very tempting. Think I'll try the softer version.
I bought it at Howarth in London around 35 years ago. I doubt that it's still in print, though I've never seen anything better.I'm excited by the news from legere that there's a new softer version coming. They advise that no one should adjust their reeds, but I can't imagine that's for any other reason than legal. Their current reed is unplayable without substantial modification. I'm still playing on the one that came out best. for an amateur like me it's convenient and I think I've learned to make some adjustments to the way I play at different registers, and I'm still nostalgic for the occasionally perfect reed I made the old way. Perhaps the next, softer version will be just what I need. They mention 'greater stability' and that interests me too, because the current reed isn't stable on certain notes, and I don't think that's just because of the way I've modified it.Good luck.
abager2 Howarth still sells Evelyn Rothwell's books her 'Guide to oboe reed making' seems to be what the book you showed is now called as it has the same diagrams it is invaluable in reed making and extremely detailed
