A clever bit of software called iPlayer Downloader (Shareware too). Oh and a mac.

Ta very much!

I'm a schizo-techno. I acquired an old iBook from a friend (a musician, in fact) and use it for all those things that are just better or easier on a mac... but can't quite give up the pc.

I'm sort of schizo. I support Wintel at work (just as well I don't support mac as there would be nowt to do and I'd be out of a job), but use macs at home.

Several iPlayer downloaders share this as the core (Mac or Windows):
http://po-ru.com/projects/iplayer-downloader/

The mac version I use has a fancy frontend which browses the BBC iPlayer site. The only difference is that when you click on a programme it downloads rather than plays.
http://snapshotmedia.co.uk/projects/iplayer-downloader


The basic app can be used standalone on Windows. You simply find the URL of the programme you want and paste it into the address bar off the application:
http://po-ru.com/projects/iplayer-downloader#windowsgui

There is a caveat. I think you have to have an IP address in the UK range.

Dear All,

Sorry not around much these days - had to return to the world work!

Son is with me now and wants to let you know what he is playing.

Mozart Concerto, 1st movement - he's not sure if he likes it yet as he hasn't been learning it long enough. Note to self to find a recording of the piano part and a good recording. He is also playing Ferling Study No. 12. In orchestra he is learning "Mornning" playing the tune in sectionals and 2nd oboe in full rehearsals. I'm looking forward to first school concert in 3 weeks' time - for a proud mummy moment!

Well I've just had a listen - it seems OK. It starts on violas and that always puts me in a good mood. You possibly need someone to make a copy available to you

I'm listening right now in iPlayer .

I'll try installing the software at home and try it out before calling upon Helpful Persons
It may be I can download radio but not video, just as I can only hear radio but not see TV on iPlayer. It seems they use the IP address to stop non licence players viewing TV (or some such logic). Not just the Beeb. Channel 4 too.

... "Mornning" ... what's this????
I hope he comes to enjoy the Mozart!
... and that the concert is fun!!!

Good show.

Ah that makes sense. I'm pretty sure if you can play it then you will be able to download. Oh, I didn't mention, the mac iPlayer Downloader only works on Intel based macs with OSX 10.5 or later not earlier G4 models so you might need to go with the Windows one.

Yes, my mac's too old...
And it seems that I can't download, even though I can listen online.
Oh, well.
I'm not sure that I liked the Schedrin that much anyway.

yes, working silly hours for this week - back in at 2pmtoday till 10pm, same tomorrow and hopefully a day off next week sometime!


No I didn't see that, thanks for the tip off, I don't venture into the forums cafe very often.

back on topic, I am just trying to keep my oboe practice ticking over this week. I made sure my shifts were organised so that I could go to my lesson this week, and then my teacher cancelled it because she wasn't well... oh well...hopefully all back to normal soon.

How were people's lessons this week?

I am currently trying to sort out the position of my wrists. It all started with trying to improve the intonation in a jump from A to 3rd octave E using the left little finger to hold down the Eb and G# key. I had been trying all sorts of things but hadn't tried altering the way I hold the oboe. It's actually quite unsettling as although it is not a major change it is enought to make it feel slightly strange. I can tell when I've got it "just right" because everything is suddenly much more comfortable, unfortunately I can't seem to predictably find this "magic" position.

The other priority is playing loudly

My lesson was fine - apart from my forked F suddenly sounding so out of tune as to be nearly F#. Teacher had same problem too so oboe problem which needs fixing.

Scales, Albinoni and sight reading this week.

As well as trying out some sight reading from the AB book, teacher thought it would be nice for us to try out a duet to finish the lesson off - additional sight reading practice in 7#s (plus various double sharp accidentals). She called a "good brain workout"....I think I could have found some other words to describe it.. The bits that worked sounded very nice though.

Just focussing on exam stuff at the moment and trying to sort out accompanist.

If it's the forked F I would suspect the adjustment of the vent on the side of the oboe below the C, C#, Eb cluster. It should be closed except when you lift your RH 2nd finger (when it should open under spring pressure). You can try playing a forked F then alternately closing it manually with your little finger and releasing it to see if the pitch changes significantly. If it doesn't make any difference it probably isn't opening enough (or at all). If it appears to be working OK then I'm barking up the wrong tree.

I did find when I first got my Howarth that the forked F sounded quite different to the normal F and I had to "humour" it. I don't notice it now so I've got used to doing whatever it needs.

Thanks for the comments re forked F, but it definitely isn't the vent.
It is a little bit of cork that has fallen off from one of the linkages. In the forked F there is a hole that closes just next to the normal RH F key, this isn't closing properly, it is very obvious by inspection where the cork should (and used) to be.

As an ad hoc solution I slid in a little bit of one of my (thin) craft foam squares in place of the cork, and it played beautifully for my practice. Not a long term solution but it will get me by till oboe repair man is back from his holiday.

This is going to sound like a stupid question but what do you use your thumb rest for?

One of the things my teacher suggested I do was to change the height of my thumb rest slightly (I have an adjustable one) so I have been dutifully trying it a few mm higher and lower. Today I realised that in fact, although the thumb rest is there I don't really use it. It might stop my thumb sliding up on a hot day but that's about all - just to "prove" it to myself I took the thumb rest off completely and could play just as well without it (having played a lot of recorder, which don't have thumb rests, I think I am holding the oboe as if it was a recorder). It then occurred to me that this is probably why my teacher says the oboe moves too much when I'm playing but I'll have to wait until Wednesday to try my theory out on him and I'm not sure what to do until then.

This is, of course, one of those things which is much easier to demonstrate than to try and put into words but I would be grateful for anyone's opinion on how the oboe rests (or doesn't rest) on their thumb.

Hello folks...

Been away from here for a few days for all sorts of reasons (and now chlling out in a rather rustic cabins owned by a friend, listening to the sound of Caribbean surf and jungle night-time chirpings, connected via a shaky mobile connection...)...

Very little advance, I am sad to report. No class this week due to work issues but orchestra rehearsal was fun now that we have returned to a more manageable repertoire. Just as well I didn't have a lesson as I have been reallly down in the doldrums and not making any headway.

I feel more positive now though. My teacher played and conducted in the opening concert of a small chamber music festival in the town where I study and it sounded absolutely fabulous. It was sad that the audience was pathetically thin - at least they were about the right numbers for the best theatre acoustics. It was very inspiring.

I see you've been having some interesting problems. I hope you get your F sorted soon, flobiano. Obviously it's not the problem this time but for any key adjustment problems I found the instructions "for dummies" with accompanying photos in Martin Schuring's book extremely useful recently (to make the sort of adjustments pushpull was recommending). Do you have the same issue with the sound of the forked F on your Howarth that pushpull mentions? I do on my XL, which I didn't on the Patricola, so I am also having to learn how to "humour" it... I've got very lazy too with the LH F because the key seems miles further away than on the Patricola. I just have to discipline myself to get used to it, I suppose. The XL is still doing splendidly in the main, though, and seems to be inciting quite a lot of interest in our little oboe community here.

kerioboe, I think I also have a wrist position problem which in turn is affecting fingers. If you work out how to analyse the problem and solution, do post it! My problem becomes apparent when I am playing that very same high E position (for which, as I may have commented, I was rather sternly reprimanded in Howarths!)... I can move up to F just fine but somehow the ring finger just won't come back down in the right position when I try to come back down from F to E.

I've also wondered about the thumb rest. My thumb rest on the Patricola was in a really inconvenient and uncomfortable position and I needed a cushion on the rest to save my poor thumb. I was going to put one on the XL and discovered I really didn't need to. I don't think I?m using it much either. The XL isn't extremely lightweight but it is noticeably lighter than the Patricola so maybe I subconsciously don't feel I need to take so much weight on the thumb. I was also a recorder player many years ago so perhaps you are right that it also is an influence. However, I am not sure that it's entirely a good thing ?n my case when I don't avail myself of the rest as I have the impression that I might have more tension in the hands.

pushpull how are all those new reeds coming along?

And does anyone know if Andrew is OK? He hasn't been around here much for quite a while. You OK, A.U.K.?

My thumb rest was moved when I was at college and this was a great success as my RH position improved greatly.

It is fascinating how just moving the thumb rest improved my whole posture and meant I was less likely to "Bite" or grip to tightly at the embouchure thus minimising the risk of headaches. This then got me to have a much more open throat and higher soft palate and improved my tone.

It is one of the reasons why now I have an interest in applied ergonomics now. Having either been or seen injured musicians I now look very carefully at the burden a musical instrument puts on ones physiology. The oboe although reasonable light puts quite a burden on the player because of the control of the double reed. Therefore it is necessary to insure that as a player one gets everything else right or the bad habits can cause muscle strains.

The Royal College of Music have a department of Performance Science that explores this area and a number of Alexander Technique practitioners that work with musicians to minimise strain when they are playing. Whilst Alexander Technique is not a panacea, it certainly is a step in the right direction. Dancers tend to use Pilates to build strength to compensate for the physical demands their bodies are put through. There are similarities between the two. I have had a number of Alexander Lessons and Pilates Classes and found them helpful for playing the Oboe and singing. I really feel that the body-awareness they encourage particularly of your frame, and shoulders is beneficial.

The forked F on my XL is identical to the "normal" F and it was one of the things which impressed my teacher about the XL. (On the Marigaux the two Fs were very noticeably different and it was one of the things I checked when I was chosing an oboe).


I don't think my wrist position affects my fingers that much - it is more a question of comfort (for the right wrist) and keeping the oboe immobile (but I think this is probably specific to French embouchure technique as I believe Americans move the reed in and out depending on the register).


I used a cushion on my Marigaux for a while and then (when I hurt my shoulder and couldn't lift my arm very high) put on an adjustable thumb rest so that I could play with my arm almost by my side. Since my shoulder recovered I hadn't really thought about what I was doing with the thumb. I think I am holding the oboe rather than having its weight resting on my thumb

I was going to put one on the XL and discovered I really didn't need to. I don't think I?m using it much

Huh! That's interesting. Maybe mine needs checking. I didn't think the difference was noticeable when I tried the oboe at Howarth'sbut it has become a bit more noticeable since bringing the oboe back to CR. I may just need to give it some time... the problem I was having with the "stiff" C# and Eb keys has partly resolved itself as the oboe has settled into the climate. They're still stiffer than the C key but not too much. Any case, I'm not really worried the forked F and overall I'm still really happy about my unplanned XL purchase. I bumped into the National Symphony principal oboist today after a concert and he told me that my teacher had commented on how lovely it sounds

Today I met a kid here who has bought a Ludwig Frank oboe Some people are evidently not too badly off...

I only just got my lessons sorted today! I had an audition this morning to assign me a teacher. What's brilliant about the University of Manchester is that they pay for 18 hours of tuition for you Lovely people.

Also, just for anybody who remembers my qualms about having no oboe a while back, I now have a Howarth S40C and I ADORE it. My new reeds still haven't arrived, but I'm making do with some of my old ones. They're still in quite good condition despite being 18 months old! I know that some other people name their instruments, so just for those who are curious - my new oboe's name is Spike. [Buffy fan alert!]

Excellent. Welcome to the S40 massive.

Do you have a supplier you always use?

Naming instruments. How childish. My first oboe was Buffy (because it was a Buffet). How's that for a coincidence?

, excellent! Though I have to say, I think 'Spike' would be better suited as a name for a 'cello...

Haha, yes I've noticed that many people play the S40 It's a good oboe for the price!


Up until now I've always used Fortay Reeds, but they've been very slow of late. My friend orders directly from Howarth and she always gets hers in under a week. I may try there!


WOW, what a coincidence! I didn't name my first oboe, but my second oboe was Casper [as in, 'The Friendly Ghost']. My friend named her S40 'Duck Vader'!

And yes, it may be childish, but I don't think I'll ever stop naming my instruments!


Haha, indeed it would! Though I suppose it could count for an oboe too, in a way... getting jabbed with the reed end of an oboe has a spike-like effect Not that I've ever tried!

I've been using Fortay for quite some time and whilst I agree they're not exactly lightning fast, I do rate the quality and consistency very highly. So I always order batches of three or four a good month before I know I'll need them.

I just ordered some shaped and gouged cane from them (for my next trick!) which came through much faster than finished reeds.

BTW will you be going to the Woodwind and Brass weekend at the RNCM?

Yes, the quality is definitely very high! The reason I'm going to try Howarth is because they actually sell the Fortay reeds too. Fortay must supply them with a batch that they can just sell immediately.

I have a reed-making kit, but I'm terrible at it Have you given it a go before?

I didn't even know about the Woodwind and Brass weekend! Is it open to everybody? Are you going?

I had a brief start at it last year but sort of lost the impetus. I'm just starting again.

Yes it's open to all and it's free. http://www.rncm.ac.uk/component/option,com...d,51/Itemid,95/
I've been for the last couple of years and will certainly be there this year.

Today's lesson was one of those where you come out feeling

Right at the beginning I asked my teacher if the thumb rest was supposed to be resting on the thumb. It was so obvious for him that it was that he initially didn't understand my question, when I said the rest wasn't resting on my thumb he was dubious about the truth of this so I took the thumb rest off to show him that it made no difference to how I played. He was amazed and incredibly apologetic for not having noticed that I was holding it wrongly but he also said he didn't really see how he could have noticed visually since my thumb was in the right place just not doing the right thing He had a go at playing without the thumb rest on and he sounded awful. He said he was amazed that I had got to the level I had, holding the oboe the way I was and that he could now understand why all the things he gets his other students to do had never really worked for me.

Anyway, once he'd helped me sort out what I was supposed to be doing with my thumb the difference was amazing, not just from a physical comfort point of view (all wrist tension and pain suddenly vanished ) but also from a musical point of view - the tone was fuller, intontation was spot on, a natural vibrato appeared ... I couldn't believe what a difference it made.

My teacher kept apologising for the fact that he had let me struggle for so long without realising what I was doing but I pointed out that he was not the only one not to have noticed - none of the oboe teachers on the courses I went on noticed either.

The difficulty now will be to re-educate my hand to go into the right place and to stay there. I had to keep stopping in my lesson this morning to put it back in the right place (I just hope I can find it again correctly by myself). My teacher said to play lots of long notes and scales and really easy music this week so I can just concentrate on my hand position.

I'm awful at making them My fingers are too shaky when I try to keep them still!


Wow, that looks fantastic! I'll have to check and see what I'm doing that weekend [I have a reading week coming up so I might not be in Manchester], but if I'm still in Manchester I'll definitely try to work it in!


That's brilliant! Glad you got that sorted out, because I can imagine it must have put an awful lot of strain on your wrist. How were you holding it originally?

Welcome back Stephie - glad to hear you managed to get an oboe and will get some lessons at the University! When do your lessons start? You may find that your teacher is able to help with supply of reeds- -my teacher makes mine for me and they are fab!

Keri - was going to comment on your thumb rest problem earlier in the week but sounds like you've got it sorted. Amazing to hear what a difference it makes. I definitely do rest the weight on my thumb (and am developing a slight callous to prove it!). But sometimes wonder if it would be more comfortable if it was a smidgeon higher up - was it easy to fit an adjustable thumb rest?

Katica - hope things are going well with you! Glad you are still enjoying your new oboe. My forked F has now been fixed, and although there is a very slightly difference in quality - colour is probably a better word - to the normal F there isn't really much of a difference between the two. it maybe that it needs readjusting slightly when everything has settled down.

Pushpull - I am planning to go to the woodwind and brass weekend at the RNCM too - was thinking about starting another thread about it!

A.U.K - hope you are doing OK. I miss your posts!

I've had a good lesson today - exam pieces seem to be on track, scales aren't too bad, I have the number of an accompanist so need to arrange a couple of practice sessions with them, and I have a couple of non-exam pieces to work on over the next couple of weeks. On the down side, my teacher can't do next Wednesday and then it's half term, so 3 weeks till my next lesson.

It gets better with practice
If you're looking for "ready-made" reeds, you might like to try Wiggins. I liked Fortay a couple of years ago but don't anymore. Someone this summer suggested I tried Wiggins - they are expensive but I find them I also quite like Ke Gun Xe reeds but these are quite hard (I know quite a few English people think they need a lot of adjustment before they are playable). I play them "as they are" but I think French people have a slightly different embouchure.


I was holding it like a descant recorder. I had recorder lessons at school from the age of 5 to 11 so although this is now over 30 years ago I think I just automatically reverted to what I had been taught when I was very young (and which had obviously become ingrained). I just used the thumb rest as a sort of guide as to where to place my thumb and if it was very hot and my hands were sweating a lot, it stopped the oboe slipping.


The XL comes with an adjustable thumb rest. On the Marigaux I fitted a clarinet adjustable thumbrest. I bought this online following a link that Skylark posted. (I'll have a look for it later and add an edit to this post if I find it). The clarinet thumb rest had 3 screws and my oboe only two but the two the oboe had were in the right place so I just screwed it on myself with 2 screws and it worked.

I read somewhere that if you want to experiment with height before buying something else, you can unscrew the one that is on there and screw it back on upside down. This doesn't give you a comfortable thumb rest but gives you some idea of whether the hand position is more comfortable.

Thank you! I'm not sure when my lessons start yet. Christine has yet to text me with my first lesson date! I gave her my timetable details so that she can fit me in somewhere between my timetable and hers. My third oboe teacher [I've had many, MANY oboe teachers over my twelve years of playing!] used to make my oboe reeds for me and they were fantastic. None of my other teachers ever made reeds. I haven't met my new teacher yet, but maybe she will!


SCALES ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE. Glad I don't have to do them anymore At least, I don't think I do... OH NO! What if I have to do more scales?! *weeps*


It must take a lot of practice then I spent a year failing miserably. Then I gave up!
Oooh I've never heard of Wiggins before. I'll have a peek on their website, if they have one. I've heard good things about Ke Gun Xe reeds though. I'm French, but since I was raised in the UK I don't think I fall under that category


Oh wow, okay! An oboe's a lot heavier than a descant recorder though, so there must have been a big difference!

Don't come and have music lessons in France then
Unlike in the UK scales are considered to be advanced technique in France. My cello playing daughter is playing pieces around grade 5 standard and knows one scale: C major. My younger daughter is playing pieces of around grade 3 on both oboe and piano and also knows only C major scale.

My daughter and I have the same oboe teacher and while he only expects her to play this one scale once all slurred, he expects me to play at least one different scale daily (plus a chromatic just to "warm up"). For him playing a scale means playing it slowly slurred to listen to intonation and even tone, playing it fast slurred, tongued, staccato and various combinations of slurred and tongued, in thirds (slurred and tongued), with repeated notes, running scales (where you go up an octave + one note each time) and a couple of other scale patterns. All of this to be done over the whole range of the instrument and not just from tonic to tonic. And a couple of exercices out of Gillet "20 minutes d'?tude" in the relevant key (and if you think scales are boring, they are nothing compared to Gillet's book which must be the most boring book ever written).

I'm actually planning to spend some time studying music in France after I'm finished my degree My grandfather studied music in Paris and I've always wanted to follow in his footsteps [my dad is French and I was raised bilingual, so language certainly wouldn't be an issue!]. I've already been in contact with conservatoires in France. It isn't playing scales that's the trouble - I mean, I did my Grade 8 two years ago and I still play my scales to warm up before practice - but I just don't enjoy playing them. I know some people who do though


Aha, chromatic is a scale I do enjoy! I don't know why I love playing chromatics so much Every day, I sort of race myself to see if I can go faster and faster playing them... Does that make me dorky?!

Be aware that the whole system is very different. Just to get an audition at the Conservatoire (I presume you mean a Conservatoire nationale sup?rieur of which there are only two: one in Paris and one in Lyon) you have to pass written and aural tests first. The sort of things that you are asked to do in this are very different to what is routinely taught in the UK.


I like scales but I must admit that I find them more satisfying on the piano than on the oboe - there aren't enough notes on the oboe Like you I find chromatic scales the best ones to play (maybe because there are more notes)

Playing the oboe makes you dorky.

I work in IT and play the oboe and accordion and dance morris Dorky nerd or nerdy dork?

Yes, I've done lots of research and I've definitely seen differences! It would still be incredible to try though... and at least I would have tried! It'll probably never happen, but I'm still hoping.


Haha, I'm not good enough at the piano to have an opinion on that


That is the best quote ever


Both! Well I play the oboe, own a t-shirt that says 'Yoda is my Homeboy' and carry an old Gameboy Colour with me wherever I go I think I qualify too

Welcome back, Stephie! It's great to have a new influx of enthusiasm. Not that it lacks around here.


I'm a bit worried about Andrew, too. I hope he's not being hassled again or, worse, ill. I sent a PM but if he's not visiting us here I don't suppose he'll see it. Wherever you are, Andrew, I hope things are hunky-dory.


That's really brilliant!!! Who'd have thought that so much would change by changing your thumb support?! I hope my attempts to correct my wrist are equally successful... Actually, at my lesson this week I commented to my teacher that I "knew someone" who didn't use the thumb rest and whether that was OK. His answer was along the lines of " well, you find all oboists do all sorts of things... but why would you want to? It would probably make your wrist and hand much tenser..." Well, happily you found the answer for yourself!


Yep, in some ways it's even more gorgeous than when I first met it! The difference in the forked F is rather like yours, quite slight really. It's just on the Patricola I couldn't detect any difference at all (one of it's strong points). The XL is revealing my bad habits, though. I am having quite a bit of trouble when I have to move from certain notes such as middle C sharp to LH E flat. My wrist/finger position is often slightly off and then I get a fuzzy note. The lower register is completely exhilarating to play. And my teacher says the buzzy sound in the middle register is great, though I don't really understand why. (I think kerioboe said something similar a while back).

My class this week was great, despite some of the usual harangues... My teacher always seems to think I should have things down pat in 5 mins. Lots of really useful practice tips. I hope they work. I'm supposed to have the first part of the Vivaldi concerto I am studying committed to memory for next week. That'll be a first for me. I think it is a good approach, though. I seem to play much more musically when I'm not enslaved by reading. However, at this stage in life I find memorising anything more than a short phrase (written as well as musical) a fearful challenge.


An utter nutter!!!

Actually, that's a compliment. I don't think oboists are regarded as particularly nerdy or dorky here. Just totally mad. They sometimes seem to aspire to lunacy, actually...

Well thank you.

I think we cultivate the madness thing just to appear "windswept and interesting" as Billy Connolly used to say.

Our primary characteristic is quite clearly bucketloads of patience.

Thanks, katica





Billy Connolly said that?! Oh I wish bassmadmatt were here to see this

He didn't actually use it about oboists!! It's how he described himself.

Haha I know! It's just that I've been applying that phrase to bassmadmatt for ages now, and I didn't realise someone else had used the exact same phrase before!

Haha! My moment of fame!

It is so much more comfortable holding it properly - I can't believe that I have been doing it wrong for so long . Suddenly all these things my teacher has been telling me about balancing the oboe make sense and I can also understand why he couldn't understand why I always had the impression I was going to drop the oboe when I had to play 3rd octave C followed by 3rd octave E which involves moving all my fingers... I'm feeling ridiculously excited about my next lesson, like a child who wants to go and say "look what I can do"

What are you trying to do with your wrists Katica? Nothing quite as drastic as me I hope


I have/had (it's getting better) a similar problem. The LH E flat is quite a stretch on the XL (I compared it to my teacher's the other week). My teacher did explain that there are various ways of making the key slightly longer (all of which involve parting with the oboe for several weeks) but I think (hope) I will get used to it eventually. I am doing lots of exercices Db and B majors and also a Gillet exercices which involve alternating Ds with left-hand and right-hand E flats (1st and 2nd octave) and then the same plus D flats and then with right-hand and left-hand G sharps thrown in as well and octave jumps. They are a bit like tongue-twisters for the oboe And I get in a muddle after a while and don't know which hand is which but I'm hoping they will help my finger to know where it's supposed to be going.


Are there any you can share?


Which one are you playing? (ie what key)

Hi there everyone
I've been away for a while...too much life, but I'm really glad to be back.
I got my G5 theory last session, and I'm hoping to do some higher grades...G6 next Easter, and then G8 a bit later!
Over the last few months I've been starting to get to grips with reed making...and playing scales...It's a bit worrying really.
Anyway it's nice to be back on Forums!

Welcome back, itchy1! I was away for a while too, so we're back about the same time [I've been back online a week or so, I think] I gave up on making reeds a loooong time ago! I'd definitely like to start back up again. How are finding it?

I wondered where you'd got to
Congratulations on the theory.

And what is it that's worrying about reed-making and scales? (I assume you're not trying to do both at once )

Thanks for the welcome, it's really good to be back online.
About the scales, I'm just worried that enjoying scales makes me a bit of a nerd ...but is that a problem?
The reed making is great, most of the time. I'm just beginning, but I seem to able to make reeds that at least play in tune. I can't make very consistent reeds, but I'm hoping that I'll get better at it.
I started to make my own reeds because I was getting fed of buying expensive ready made reeds that had to be scraped before they would work for me, so I thought I would have a go myself.
Any reed making hints and tips would be welcome!

I'm afraid I can't help on that point - my reeds fail every time! I'm thinking of trying again though, so I'll let you know if there's any improvement