A soft reed is recommended for the new beginner, and a medium-soft for the student who has been playing a few months. The Beginner Oboe Reed is a completely hand-scraped reed from start to finish. It has a focused sound, good pitch and good response in all registers. Because it has been scraped to allow for less resistance, the tone will not be as dark and velvety as a heavier reed, as resistance is primarily what creates tone. This is a great reed choice for students who are just learning the instrument or are in their first year of playing.  

This is a great reed choice for junior high through intermediate level high school students, or for any player who prefers a slightly less resistant reed.  The intermediate Oboe Reed is a completely hand-scraped reed from start to finish. It has a focused, warm tone, good pitch and great response in all registers. It has a slightly harder resistance factor than the Beginner Oboe Reed, but is still a manageable strength for the the newer player.  

The Professional Oboe Reed, geared toward the most advanced high school player, college level and professional player, is a completely hand-scraped reed from start to finish.  It has a focused, dark tone, and excellent pitch and response in all registers.  I personally prefer just enough resistance to create a warm, yet still colorful sound.  Therefore, my reed of choice is more of a “medium” strength professional reed.  The “medium-hard” reed is fully finished and has an ease of playing much like that of a nicely broken in reed, but with a touch of added resistance for those who like a little more to blow against.  The “hard” reed is also fully finished, but has a little extra cane left to add resistance.  So, if you're looking for a lot of resistance or just want a reed that you can do minor tip work on to adjust for personal preference, then the “hard” option may be the best choice.

The Tied Oboe Blank is a hand-tied reed with the ears removed and filed until smooth. It seals all the way down the sides and is ready to be scraped and clipped. This is a good choice for those who don't have the time to tie up reeds.  In my opinion, this is also a good choice for those who like a bit smaller opening, as I find when the cane dries in this position, it can cause the cane to “remember” it's closed position.

The Scraped Oboe Blank is a hand-tied reed with the ears removed and filed until smooth. The bark has been removed, and the tip defined and clipped open. It seals all the way down the sides and is ready to be finished. I find this to be the ideal way to store a reed before doing the finishing work.  

This is a great reed for a young oboist transitioning to English horn or for the advanced middle school to high school level student. When transitioning to English horn, the tendency is blow as you would into your tiny oboe reed and significantly smaller instrument. The Beginner/Intermediate English Horn Reed allows an ease of blowing so that the student can get used to using a greater amount of air to fill out the tone of the much larger instrument. This reed has a focused, warm tone, and good response and pitch in all registers.  

The Professional English Horn Reed is a completely hand-scraped reed from start to finish. Available in both “medium” and “medium-hard,” this reed produces a focused, warm tone, and is responsive with great pitch in all registers. This is a great choice for the advanced high school or college student, or amateurs and professionals alike. It's perfect for that gig with that one piece that doubles on English horn.

The Tied English Horn Blank is a hand-tied reed with the ears removed and filed until smooth. It seals all the way down the sides and is ready to be scraped and clipped. This is a good choice for those who don't have the time to tie up reeds. In my opinion, this is also a good choice for those who like a bit smaller opening as I find when the cane dries in this position, it can cause the cane to “remember” it's closed position.

The Scraped English Horn Blank is a hand-tied reed with the ears removed and filed until smooth. The bark has been removed, and the tip defined and clipped open. It seals all the way down the sides and is ready to be finished.

The final step before tying up a reed is shaping the cane. The shape I use is the Jeanne tip which makes a stable reed with excellent pitch and a warm sound.