Construction

There are several differences, the most obvious being size, between various types of double reeds, for example between that for a bassoon and that for an oboe or a cor anglais (sometimes called an English horn).

Arundo donax cane is used for the making of double reeds. For bassoon reeds, tubes of this cane are first split lengthwise then gouged to a certain thickness. The chosen piece of cane is then cut to shape and the centre portion is thinned (profiled). The cane is folded end to end to form the two blades of the reed. The unprofiled end of the cane is shaped into a tube with the aid of a mandrel and bound with three strategically positioned wires. Additional binding using thread is added. The folded tip is cut off to allow the blades to vibrate and final adjustments to the interior of the reed using a reamer, and to the exterior using a reed-scraping knife, are carried out. The reed is then ready to fit to the bocal of the bassoon.

The construction of double reeds for the oboe family of instruments is similar in principle: like the bassoon's reeds, they consist of two pieces of Arundo donax cane fastened together with an opening at the tip. However, because the oboe does not have a bocal, the cane must be fastened to a metal tube (the staple), the lower half of which is normally surrounded by a piece of cork; this staple is then inserted into the farrow, at the upper end of the oboe.

There are many different methods of making reeds and many variations of design have been developed. Players can buy reeds either ready-made, or in various stages of formation, such as part-scraped, reed blanks, or buy the staples and cane separately. Cane is sold in several forms: as tubes, gouged, gouged and shaped, or gouged and shaped and profiled. Bassoon cane has the further option of being profiled before purchase. Cane from several different regions is used in reed making, traditionally from southern France. There are also many options with regard to staples, shaping equipment and so forth which all have a subtle effect on the tone quality a reed will produce.

Playing a double reed

Bassoon double reeds are wider than oboe double reeds; they are also shorter and thus do not need such a tight embouchure in order to make a sound. It is because of its double reed that the oboe is such a difficult instrument to play - without regular practice, the mouth can become very tired and loose and one finds difficulty in playing even a single note for more than 30 seconds.

List of instruments which use double reeds

Main Western orchestral instruments

• Bassoon
• Contraforte
• Tenoroon
• Semi contrabassoon
• Contrabassoon (Double bassoon)
• Heckelphone
• Piccolo heckelphone
• Oboe
• Piccolo oboe
• Oboe d'amore
• Cor anglais (English horn)
• Bass oboe
• Sarrusophone
• Contrabass Sarrusophone

Period instruments

Instruments where the reed is enclosed in a windcap

• Cornamuse
• Crumhorn
• Kortholt
• Rauschpfeife
• canameesious

Instruments where the reed is not enclosed in a windcap

• baroque bassoon
• baroque oboe
• dulcian
• oboe da caccia
• rackett
• shawm

Other instruments

• bagpipes
• bombarde
• duduk
• dulzaina
• guan
• hichiriki
• hojok
• nadaswaram
• organs
• piffero
• pi nai (used in piphat)
• piri
• shehnai
• sralai
• sopila
• suona
• surnay
• tarogato (early)

Double reed societies

• International Double Reed Society, website: http://www.idrs.org
• British Double Reed Society, website: http://www.bdrs.org.uk
• Australasian Double Reed Society