Selection of Cane

Finding just the right piece of cane to make a quality reed from has been the quest of reed makers for generations. Cane is really an agricultural product and is now, more often than not, grown and processed under carefully controlled conditions. Of great importance are weather conditions, temperature, humidity, and most of all: curing in sunlight. Any variance in this process can produce undesirable results. Subtle changes can make good cane outstanding, or conversely it can become virtually useless. These are things that are difficult, if not impossible, for reed makers to control.

All of the cane Jones Double Reed uses for the production of Oboe and Bassoon reeds is grown and processed in the Mediterranean region. There the processors carefully harvest the cane at the time of year they determine to be optimum for quality. They stack the cane in teepee fashion until properly dried and finally expose the harvested cane, with bark skinned off and cut to lengths of two or three meters, to intense sunlight. This hardens the cane and enhances its color. This last process relates directly to the pitch and sound a piece of cane will produce when finally made into a finished reed.

Generally speaking, cane with a hard outer surface tends to produce reeds that are higher in pitch while softer cane will give you a lower overall pitch. After trying some tubes of a certain batch of cane you may determine that the cane is too soft, simply date the container and store the cane for future use. Over time, the cane will probably harden somewhat because it will continue to dry and season.

If a batch of cane seems to be too soft you can use a thinner gouge to achieve harder cane with which to work, of course, the opposite is also true. If the cane is too hard, a thicker gouge will help soften the cane. The thickness of the gouge determines the distance from the bark, therefore determining the strength of the cane with which you are working with.

Some reed makers soak the cane in water for a few hours to soften the cane. We do not use this method because we believe prolonged soaking will ruin more cane than help. This is especially true of bassoon cane because the forming process for bassoon reeds involves drastically distorting the original radius of the cane. This does make the reed easier to form but can literally take the strength and life out of a piece of cane. Therefore, we advise caution in soaking cane.

One property of cane that is frequently overlooked is straightness. If a piece is curved or warped lengthwise from end to end it will be difficult to hold in the gouger bed while scraping is done. Twisted cane is also undesirable. Reeds made from this cane will almost always be difficult to gouge, and in the end will produce a reed with blades that constantly slip; they literally twist apart. Select the straightest cane for your reeds and insure the fibers flow straight down the cane.