• I f - FoMRHI

16
cane is folded. This means that the tip of an
18th-century reed wiU be closer to the one-ceU
layer called the epidermis than in a modem
level gouge. (The epidermis is sometimes mistakenly
caUed the bark.) The next ceUular region
just below the epidermis is the fiber band,
where the ceUular material is most dense. This
region is important to the structure of the plant
because it gives the plant its rigidity so it can
withstand the forces of wind and gravity. The
fiber band is comprised of cells with thicker
walls and increased amounts of Ugnin than
cells in other regions. The increased amount of
Ugnin in the fiber band is significant because it
makes the fiber band water resistant and less
flexible. These two properties of the fiber band
are important to the playing characteristics of
a historical bassoon reed and in particular to
this discussion, because the water resistance
and the lack of flexibiHty of the fiber band
causes the tip area to perform in a certain manner.
It must be pointed out that the different
regions of ceUular material flow into each other;
there is not a clear line between each of
these layers. This is important because the cellular
material becomes more rigid the closer it
is to the fiber band because of the thicker ceU
walls. When the tip of the reed is constructed
from ceUular material in the fiber band, the tip
absorbs less moisture than the other areas of
the reed because of hgnin's water resistance.
Therefore, the tip expands less when moist
than the area behind the tip, which is constructed
from the next ceUular region down
known as the inner cortex. (The area behind
the tip of the reed is comprised of inner cortex
material because of the sloping of the reverse
tapered gouge.) So as the reed dries, the inner
cortex area of the reed behind the tip contracts
more, forcing the tip to warp. In other words,
the increased water resistance and the lack of
flexibUity of the fiber band causes the tip of a
historical reed to expand and contract at different
degrees than the other areas of the reed
which are made in the inner cortex. The different
degrees of expansion and contraction in
turn causes the tip opening to increase or the
tip to warp when dry. This is why only a reed
made with the tip in or close to the fiber band
wUl warp when left to become bone dry. When
contrasted to a modem bassoon reed, it is easy
to see why the brief statement in HaUe is so
important. The modem bassoon reed constructed
with a thick level gouge, is made entirely
from ceUular material of the inner cortex,
so there are not different degrees of expansion
and contraction in the ceUular regions of the
cane. Therefore, it is not necessary to soak a
modem reed as long as a true historical bassoon
reed: warpage is usuaUy not a problem.
After reading the primary sources on reed
making for both the oboe and the bassoon
from the late 18th and early 19th-centuries,
and the more recent secondary sources on historical
double reeds, I have come to the conclusion
that reeds were made using a reverse
tapered gouge. I, of course, am not the only
bassoonist to have come to this conclusion -
Paul White and others have caUed for the use
of a more historical reed design years ago.
However, many modem players of historical
bassoons perform with reeds based on modem
designs, made with more or less a level gouge.
The modem design, where the tip is comprised
of ceUular material of the inner cortex and not
of the fiber band region of the cane, has many
impUcations on the performance aspects of the
bassoon such as tone quaUty, dynamics, ease of
response, fingering, range, and flexibUity of
pitch. A discussion of these performance aspects
goes beyond the scope of this short
communication, but I would like to say that in
my experience, historical bassoons must be
played using a sound generator with a design
similar to the one for which the instrument was
designed. Simply put, historical bassoons perform
and sound differently depending on the
design of the reed, and in particular, the type
of gouge. Ozi knew exactly what he meant
when he stated that the center of the cane
should be gouged to a thickness of a quart de
ligne d'epaisseur or about .55 mm.[5] Having
spent three years constructing historical bassoon
reeds with this gouge thickness at the
center, I concur.
I found this important source by being in
the right place at the right time. Otherwise, I
never would have thought to look in a discus-