SUGGESTION BOX
A page for comments and suggestions about how to make this site more useful. Have at it.
Oboe Reed Reviews
It’s not a blog, it’s a forum
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Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).
May 1st, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Pages coming soon for other suppliers recently mentioned here.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Page now up for Billerbeck Oboe Reeds, in UK section.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
If you would like to add Billerbeck Oboe Reeds to your comments section, please do.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
It’d be awesome if ‘Emerald’ and ‘Gary Armstrong Woodwinds Ltd.’ could both be added to the list.
February 18th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
So far my favorite reeds have come from Bill Roscoe at http://www.doublereeds.com but I don’t see him on your site. Maybe you could add it. This site has been very helpful. I used to make my own reeds but that was many years ago and I always hated it. I get frustrated with sites that say “if you want good reeds make them yourself”.
September 21st, 2007 at 4:15 pm
i’m not sure if it’s feasible, but could a reed compatibility scale work? i’ll give you an example.
i hate winfield reeds with a passion. this is not because they are bad reeds (many of my friends love them), they are just not for me. i do however love stray reeds. would it be possible to do a compatibility scales? i.e. stray reeds, then list the 5 closest reeds to them so that people experimenting with new reeds would know what to try in comparison to what they already know they like.
just a suggestion - i do very much like this site!
September 19th, 2007 at 10:34 am
It would be helpful if the webmaster would put links to the individual pages on the collected polls so one doesn’t have to try and remember the name and go up to the list on the left hand side.
So, for instance, on the top of the collected polls, where it says “Please rate Back Bay Reeds”, it would be hugely helpful to have Back Bay Reeds be a link to that page.
April 25th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
I’d like to see Reed Monster (www.reedmonster.com) on the list. I really like those reeds!
April 18th, 2007 at 11:45 am
The Reedmaker has example playing on his site: http://www.reedmaker.com/5EXAMPLE_RECORDINGS_OF_THESE_REEDS.html thought you might want to ask him if he wanted to have it linked or added. He plays very nicely and has many musical family members. And, although your site is quite lovely, I also wondered, why green as your website color? Green does not speak “oboe” to me. See you later : ) - W
March 11th, 2007 at 7:07 am
Please list Advantage Oboe reeds. Thank you
March 7th, 2007 at 12:04 am
Hi there,
Great site, I will be keeping an eye on it. One suggestion though: as you are now listing reedmakers from all over the world (mostly US, a few UK, one or two German/Australian), how about subdividing the list by geographical area? I am a UK player, so don’t really want to pay postage on reeds from the States - therefore it’s a bit of a waste of time for me to click through all those pages. Would be much clearer if I could see the UK reedmakers straight away.
Claire.
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:38 pm
RDG page is up.
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I really would like to see RDG Woodwinds on the list since they were just recommended to me and I would like to hear other’s opinions.
www.rdgwoodwinds.com
February 8th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
About Marlin Lesher Reeds: I tried to order these reeds directly from the site and they e-mailed me back and said they don’t sell directly to individuals. So you might list another site that sells these. I used to order these from www.wwbw.com, but I heard they’re going out of business so I’ve found www.music123.com which is very similar. There are also more sites that sell these.
February 8th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
One thing I thing you could do is as well as having your polls is when someone goes to leave a comment you should make it so they give their rating at that time. It would ensure that people vote for one thing. Also it would make it so we don’t have to read their whole comment. Sometimes it can take a LONG time to read their whole comment. Also you might add Chartier reeds. I’ve used them once and want to see if it’s just me or the reed that caused the problem. I know there are others but I just can’t remember.. Just to let you know…I love this site….it’s very helpful!!! I agree with one of those other comments that I wish it was more traversed!! People need to be told about this site!!! It’s awesome!!!
January 26th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
I found your website while looking for a vendor of double reed supplies on google. Do you think this would be as successful for bassoon reeds? I do and would be interested in helping to set it up. Do you want to contact me? Elisabeth Romano reedexpertise@juno.com
January 21st, 2007 at 10:35 pm
I am a “returning” player who was a promising reed-maker as a teen, but can’t possibly make my own now (well, not yet).
A few comments: I was searching for precisely this sort of site and am happy to find it, but am disappointed at the evident lack of participation. There must be a bit more that could be done to drum up some interest, such as posting an announcement on message boards, etc.
Secondly, as others have said, it is quite important that comments can be read in light of the experience and expertise of the person commenting. I have seen other feedback forums where there was (at least) a field in the comment box where one had to check off options like “beginner”, “intermediate student”, “teacher” etc. I am happy to read comments from other less-than-top-notch players, especially if they speak directly to the concerns of players at those levels, but I do want that degree of context.
Lastly, the “would not buy again” option in the poles reads as being an extremely negative rating, but realistically, there are many reasons why somebody might be unsatisfied with their choice of reed, but the reasons don’t necessarily speak to bad value. For example, I recently bought 3 reeds from a well-reviewed small-scale reed maker, but they simply felt so different from the reeds my old instructor used to make for me that I will not buy them again, even though they were obviously made with care and attention to detail, and they have met the approval of much better oboists than I. I don’t think it’s fair to make it so easy for reed makers to receive unflattering ratings without explanation. “Would not buy again” is far too ambiguous, and the industry of reed making is small enough that a site like this needs to recognise that it may have an appreciable influence on consumers.
January 20th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Advantage seems to be a retailer that carries many brands, including several already listed on the site, so I don’t really see the need for a separate page. (I realize I’ve made that mistake with others in the past.)
January 11th, 2007 at 7:52 am
Please list ADVANTAGE-USA.COM. ADVANTAGE reeds are great.
November 24th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Can you add Richards Reeds by Richard Rath, and Marlin Lesher reeds? I am new and get them all finished. I use mediums. There’s no place to tell hardness or pitch or anything.
November 13th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Is there any way you could bee more specific on WHICH reed from a particular maker? For example, I purchased three different reeds from Nielsen recently, had drastically different results with them, and therefore feel uncomfortable answering the poll about them. If you could specify “Nielsen silver” or “Graham Pro” you might get more accurate results.
I agree wholeheartedly with the reedmakers’ requests to have players’ abilities levels listed. It makes a difference whether a reed was good for a middle-school beginner on a Bundy or a person with more experience and muscle to their embouchure and playing a Loree or Covey.
Thanks for the site - it’s great reading as is, and did let me know about some makers that are new to me.
October 28th, 2006 at 5:40 pm
Pages now up for Torda, Stray and Fortay.
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:29 am
Hi
A fabulous idea for a site, as it’s so hard to tell what reeds are like from web pages and it’s easy to make some expensive mistakes! As a UK-based player, I’d like to see some more Brits listed to give the site some more international value. How about listing Torda, Stray and Fortay reeds, for example? I’ve been experimenting with all three and would like to know what other players think about them.
By the way, the menu bar looks a bit odd in Firefox. Worth checking, perhaps?
Thanks!!!
July 4th, 2006 at 9:08 am
Please could you add Nick Winfield reeds to the list, I couldn’t see them anywhere. I like the idea of this site, it is very useful for oboe enthusiasts-like me!!!
July 4th, 2006 at 6:54 am
Hi Roger!
Just a thought: How about adding a page from reed makers? Kerry has brought up a good point and I wrote a while back about some of the style differences in reeds. Others may have some input, too.
Thanks for thinking about it.
June 21st, 2006 at 10:28 pm
Glad you found the site, Luis. I hope you get some use out of it, and also find time to submit your own opinions.
By the way, I think you’re going to be the whole section tomorrow. Good luck on that Bartok!
June 21st, 2006 at 11:59 am
This is Luis from UCB summer symphony. Great website! I’ll probably be using it soon, as my school schedule is going to be heavy next year (I’m applied math-economics, so I can’t spend too much time on oboe).
June 7th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
Kerry:
Thanks for the comments; I especially appreciate input from reedmakers.
Regarding anonymous comments, it would be possible to require all users to register, but that wouldn’t really prevent anyone from remaining anonymous if they wanted to. I’m doing this as part of my hobby, and I don’t want to be in the business of collecting people’s personal identifying information. As a reader, though, I would give more credibility to someone who was willing to post under their own name.
I agree with your point about beginners, etc. On the front page for the site, I ask people to describe their proficiency and experience, but if you look around the comments pages, you’ll see that most people just don’t do that, for whatever reason. The best solution I can think of would be to improve the polling function so that it captures more information, including information about the player. This would require a fancier polling plug-in than the one I am using. I know that one is in the works, and I would like to install it when it is released, if I can do so without losing all of the polling to date. Time will tell, I guess.
June 6th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
Comments from a Reed Maker - The comments do no good for a reedmaker when the person giving the comments may be a beginning student that has no idea of oboe playing! I noticed this on my section and others also! Without some credibility, it is just not fair to the reedmaker. All of us are hardworking, and good professional oboe players. Is there anyway to not allow Anonymous responses? Or, any way to insist on number of years playing as one of the lines in the response? I think you have a great idea, but any reedmaker that makes great reeds has people that will not be able to PLAY their particular style of reed. That does not make bad reeds, but just a different type of reed! Thanks for a great job. Kerry Willingham www.reedmaker.com
May 6th, 2006 at 7:50 pm
Laura–
I’m glad you like the site, and I certainly sympathize with your qualms about the polling feature. It’s there because I think some people would prefer to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down type rating, rather than type a comment. But it’s hard to know what to make of those ratings without knowing more about the players who gave them, their preferences, etc.
My idea when I started this site in March was just to get something basic up and running. If the site continues to get traffic for a few more months (and I get less busy at my day job!) I would like to add poll that would capture a little more useful info.
Roger
May 6th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
I love using this site, but I would like to see more comments added, rather than the emphasis on the poll rating. I’ve gone through the listings and been frustrated when I see less-than-excellent rating but there are no comments to justify it. This doesn’t tell me anything about why the reed isn’t up-to-par or what sort of a player (beginner or advanced) rated it as such.
This is a great site, though. I make my own reeds now but when I need one in a pinch I still buy. It’s nice to find less expensive ones that require very little scraping!
April 17th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Done.
April 17th, 2006 at 3:24 am
Cascade reeds from Oregon should be added.
March 23rd, 2006 at 2:59 pm
Katherine Needleman can be reached at needlemanreeds@yahoo.com. As far as I’m aware, she doesn’t have a website.
March 22nd, 2006 at 5:59 pm
pages now up for katherine needleman and oboeworks.
March 22nd, 2006 at 2:09 pm
A suggested addition: Oboeworks. Their website is www.oboeworks.com, and they make both student and more advanced reeds.
March 22nd, 2006 at 12:40 pm
John, I’ll put up a page. Does she have a web site?
March 22nd, 2006 at 11:43 am
I am an amateur and use Katherine Needleman’s reeds- from the Baltimore Symphony. She sells her reeds at reasonable prices if you contact her directly- most are less than $30. I find that their tone is superior to most of the other manufacturers out there and though she markets them as her seconds, they are far better than much of what I have found on the market. I would like to see her name added to the list. Thanks, John
March 18th, 2006 at 7:29 am
Wow! I didn’t realize there were so many reed makers…I’ll have to try some different names on the list. Thanks for the informative site. I’m looking forward to using it. I have previously tried about 5 on the list but always come back to Forrest’s. Weber, of course, is great but way more expensive on a regular schedule.
March 17th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
Thanks for the comments. I agree about the color scheme and some of the other design details. I’ll probably change that soon. The site was built with this blogging software called wordpress, which makes it very easy to change the overall look of the site, and there are all kinds of prepackaged themes available for download. I’ll add McFarland.
Also agree that it would be good to have more detailed info rather than just text comments, but it would be work to design that, and I’ll have to see if the site gets enough traffic to justify the effort.
Roger
March 17th, 2006 at 7:47 am
Hello from the Fremont Area! Thank you for the thought that you have put into this project. Will the sight eventually have enough data to post an analysis link, where the potential shopper can look for the results, by either beginner, amatuer (Beg. Int. Advanced) , professional consumer? I would suggests as well to list the make of instrument the consumer uses as a guidline in the Consumer profile or Comments box. This is helpful when either the reed maker or consumer is educating themselves. The key word of the web site should also be focused on “education”. This will be hard to monitor with your sight, but trying to monitor all of the responses will be difficult. The nature of the instrument is as you say quirky, and can lead to frustration, especially when one does not have a dedicated teacher and is still difficult when one does, as you know. The request for “Polite” responses will need to emphasized and monitored somehow before they are sent to the product maker. I am a teacher of the instrument, and some expereince on some humorous stories from un informed, begining, or youth expereinces, and have found that the response of some can produce a brittle relationship. For ex: I would buy reeds for the student that the parent would not take the time to do, or was trying to be cheap! and the student reported to the parent that the reeds werebroken. The (agressive-agressive) parent demanding return of the money and lesson fees! Needless to say, the student percieved the reed as cracked because there were two cracks down each side of each reed! Indeed there were, as I inspected each, exactly were they should be; where the two blades have been bound together to meet and to produce the lovely sound of a “double reed” instrument! The reeds were actually so good I offered to buy them for myself. After I performed and excert of The Mozart Concerto, the parent and student refused to sell them back to me! I ordered three for my self, the next day. Thank you Mrs. Dustee!
I recommend a “response box” monitoring system if you can do this, before it reaches the reed maker. They sometimes decide that its just not worth the trouble to make reeds, especially when most do not know even where to start with feedback. One must be an educated consumerand user of reeds, and as learning to play the oboe, this too takes many, many years, and patience.
Sandra Moore PS: My husband is Art Director, if you need Creative Visual Content for your Web. a440too@comcast.net
March 16th, 2006 at 11:45 pm
Hi, Roger. This is a great beginning. I like your basic site design, and your casual wit. I submitted reviews of two reed makers — see if you can find them. Suggestions: I think your color scheme needs improving, especially the hard-to-see gold-on-gray at the right. Gives me eyestrain. Run your spell checker, and particularly change “scaping” to “scraping.” I think I would put the suggestion box somewhere other than alphabetically in with the victims — er, reedmakers. With further time and thought, I’m sure you’ll want to add some graphics. Great job so far and looks potentially very useful. — Ron What?? No McFarland?