After a few days of playing in a new reed for a few minutes every day, personal adjustments can be made. I highly recommend the book by Holger Simon and Georg Rieger entitled Tips and Tricks for Bassoon Reeds.
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Adjustments to create an authentic Knockenauer and Del Negro style reeds.
Modifying one of my reeds so that it conforms more closely to historic Knochenauer reeds is quite easy, though it is best accomplished by using a micrometer to take measurements. Once the reed has been played in for a week or two, simply use a knife or file to take off cane in the back third of the blade so that there is an even thickness from the shoulder to the middle of the reed. My preferred final measurements are about .075mm. I always leave the front third of my reed alone because it is finished with a Rieger tip profiler fitted with a Holger Simon pattern block. Creating an authentic Nel Negro style reed is slightly more involved but still quite simple. First stabilize the reed by playing it in for a week or two. Take a file (I use a larger diamond coated file from Rieger) and file the edges of the blades so that they are quite thin (Del Negro specified a "knife edge" thickness). To counter the resistance that is being added by the edge thinning, use a knife or file to carefully and evenly remove cane in the front third of the reed, being careful not to thin the last 3mm in the tip area. |
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