Reed

Reed.
An elastic lamina of natural vegetable tissue (bamboo, leaf, straw or wood),

metal, plastic or other material which, under the influence of an airstream
from a wind player’s lungs or from bellows, will vibrate at a frequency
determined by its dimensions, mass and elasticity. This vibration is used to
excite periodic pressure waves in an air column within the tube of an
instrument. The frequency of these waves and hence the note sounded is
mainly determined by the form and dimensions of the air column which are
the more important factors in such a coupled acoustic system. Reeds are
categorized as ‘beating’ or ‘free’, the former being again divided into ‘single’
and ‘double’. For instruments used in Western art music, reeds are made
from the large semi-tropical grass Arundo donax or Arundo sativa,
commonly called ‘cane’, which is indigenous to many countries but is
grown for this purpose chiefly in the Var region of France. The earliest
discussion of the cultivation and preparation of cane for musical reeds is
found in Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, iv.11 (see Aulos, §I, 5(iv)). The
stems are harvested when of suitable size and somewhat unripe, and are
then matured in the open air, a process which calls for careful judgment.
The rough slips are cut to length, flattened on the inner side, and on the
other scraped down to a feather edge at one end (fig.1a).
The single beating reed, typified by that of the clarinet or saxophone (see
Clarinet (ii)), is a tapered piece of cane fastened at its thicker end with cord
or a metal ligature to a mouthpiece that is roughly conical with a flat ‘table’
tangential to the base (fig.1b). The thinner portion of the reed is positioned
over the opening of the mouthpiece and vibrates as the air is introduced.
This motion periodically closes and opens the aperture, thus transmitting
bursts of energy to the air column within the instrument. By means of his or
her embouchure the player may determine the maximum aperture, and can
also modify the characteristics of the reed’s vibrations by selectively
dampening the harmonics. The player’s tongue controls the quality of the
attack and transient, and this also affects the reed’s tonal characteristics.
In reed pipes of organs (fig.2) the action is similar but in this case a slight
curve is applied to the metal blade or the tongue instead of to the table
(see Reed-work). In some cases the tongue is loaded with a
supplementary weight to lower its natural frequency. The structure
equivalent to the mouthpiece of a woodwind is called the shallot, or by
organ builders a reed – a curious reversal of usage.
The body of some non-European instruments is itself a length of cane; a
reed is formed by splitting a section of cane from below a natural knot.
Such instruments are termed ‘idioglot’, and are exemplified by the Near
Eastern zummarah. Detached reeds of similar construction are widely used
in the drones of bagpipes in both Western and non-Western cultures.
The beating double reed of the oboe or bassoon is made from one piece of
cane folded on itself and bound, with the concave faces joining, onto a
metal tube or staple (oboe), or the cane itself is formed into a tube and
fastened with wire (bassoon). The bark is removed and the surfaces
scraped before the tip is slit to form the two blades. When blown the
elliptical gap between the ends of the blades opens and closes, again
giving bursts of energy to the air column. As is the case with single reeds,
the form and degree of ‘scrape’ applied to the tip of the reed has a
profound influence on its behaviour and sonority; styles vary considerably
from player to player and between different national styles. The scrape of
typical American oboe reeds is longer and less evenly tapered than
European, particularly German, styles.
Both double and single reeds are found in reed and wind-cap instruments
where the player’s lips do not come into contact with the reed, e.g. the
Crumhorn and Bagpipe. These reeds are housed in a closer chamber with
a single aperture through which the player blows, or into which air is forced
from a bellows. The construction of double reeds for reed-cap instruments
is similar to that for instruments where the player’s lips are in contact with
the reed. In general these reeds need to be lighter so that the air pressure
alone will set them in vibration. (Certain instruments such as the Shawm
and the Arabic zurna function in a similar way, because the reed is taken
whole in the player’s mouth, meaning the player’s lips have only minimal
influence on the reed’s vibration.)
In Western musical instruments the Free reed (fig.3c) is less common than
the beating type and is chiefly found in certain organ pipes and bellows-
blown instruments such as the accordion and reed organ. Here the tongue
does not close against the slot in the shallot or mounting plate, but can
pass freely through it. The common Mouth organ and the traditional
Chinese sheng are two of the few examples of mouth-blown free reeds.
In many Asian cultures, dried and smoke-cured leaves of different plants
are fashioned into reeds; many of these are double, but some instruments
require reeds of four or six blades. Throughout the 20th century Western
musicians have sought viable substitutes for arundo donax as the raw
material for reeds. Silver, whalebone, lancewood, fibreglass, plastic and
partially laminated cane have all been tried, but while orchestral musicians
have been reluctant to replace the traditional material, fibreglass and other
synthetic substitutes are widely used by jazz musicians. Plastic single and
double reeds have proved indispensable both for musicians who work in
environments such as marching bands and military ensembles where the
reeds are exposed to a greater degree of wear and tear, and players who
lack the expertise to carry out the constant adjustments required by cane
reeds if they are to function optimally.
In some organological contexts, the word ‘reed’ is used to describe
somewhat different acoustic elements. Lip-energized brass instruments are
frequently called ‘lip reeds’ since the player’s lips form with the mouthpiece
the vibrating element of the tone generator, and the term ‘air reed’
sometimes refers to the generating element in organ pipes, recorders, or
transverse flutes. In both of these cases the mode of sound generation
differs acoustically from the reeds described above.
For further illustrations see Reed instruments.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
R.E. Perdue: ‘Arundo Donax’, Economic Botany, xii (1958), 368–404
B. Haynes: ‘Making Reeds for the Baroque Oboe’, EMc, iv (1976), 31–4,
173–82
D.A. Ledet: Oboe Reed Styles (Bloomington, IN, 1981)
B. Haynes: ‘Double Reeds, 1660–1830: a Survey of Surviving Written
Evidence’, Journal of the International Double Reed Society, xii (1984),
14–33
T.E. Hoeprich: ‘Clarinet Reed Position in the 18th Century’, EMc, xii
(1984), 49–55
P. White: ‘Early Bassoon Reeds: a Survey of Some Important Examples’,
JAMIS, xi (1985), 69–96
Le roseau et la musique (Aix-en-Provence, 1988) [incl. exhibition
catalogue]
G. Burgess and P. Hedrick: ‘The Oldest English Oboe Reeds? An
Examination of Twenty Surviving Examples’, GSJ, xlii (1988), 32–69
D.H. Smith: Reed Design for Early Woodwinds (Bloomington, IN, 1992)
P.J. White: The Early Bassoon Reed in Relation to the Development of the
Bassoon from 1636 (diss., U. of Oxford, 1993)
G. Burgess: ‘Historical Oboe Reeds: Avenues for Further Research or
“Now, what do we do with all these measurements?”’, A Time of
Questioning: Utrecht 1994, 205–22
D.J. Casadonte: The Clarinet Reed: an Introduction to its Biology,
Chemistry and Physics (DMA diss., Ohio State U., 1995)
K.E. McCarthy: ‘A Bibliography of Sources Pertaining to the Oboe Reed:
its Manufacture, Physical Aspects, and Ethereal Qualities’, Journal of
the International Double Reed Society, xxvi (1998), 113–16
PHILIP BATE/GEOFFREY BURGESS

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Reed.

An elastic lamina of natural vegetable tissue (bamboo, leaf, straw or wood),

For further illustrations see Reed instruments.

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