The reed in the photographs below was given by Marcel Tabuteau to his Curtis student, Ted Heger in 1951. The second photo shows a closeup of the scrape.
During the mid-1950s and early 60s, Frank Stalzer purchased gouged/shaped cane, reeds and oboes from Tabuteau that he freely shared with his students. The two Tabuteau reeds below were given to his pupil, Bennie Cottone, who kindly photographed them for this website.
Both reeds lack ‘rails’ and have only the slightest indication of a ‘heart.’
| Short Reed | Long Reed | |
| Length | 68.0 mm | 75.0 mm |
| Staple | 45.5 mm | 46.25 mm |
| Start of scrape above thread | 20.0 mm | 21.5 mm |
| Width of tip | 7.0 mm | 7.0 mm |
The two Tabuteau reeds pictured below from David Weber were made at the Drake Hotel in 1959 for Sam Robinson when Tabuteau returned to the States for a visit.
| Longer Reed | Shorter Reed | |
| Length | 74 mm | 72 mm |
| Staple | 45.5 mm | 47 mm |
| Start of scrape above thread | 24 mm | 22 mm |
| Width of tip | 7.0 mm | 7.25 mm |
| Length above the binding | 27 mm | 24.5 mm |
Below are five Tabuteau reeds, and one by David Weber scraped on by Tabuteau (white thread), from 1963. Courtesy of David Weber. Photos by Nancy Lehrer.
| Reed 1 | Reed 2 | Reed 3 | Reed 4 | Reed 5 | Reed 6 | |
| Total length | 70 mm | 70 mm | 70.5 mm | 70 mm | 69 mm | 67.5 mm |
| Staple | 46 mm | 46 mm | 47.5 mm | 47.5 mm | 46.6 mm | 46 mm |
| Width at tip | 6.5 mm | 7.0 mm | 6.5 mm | 7.0 mm | 7.0 mm | 6.5 mm |
The four reeds pictured below were given by Tabuteau to Adrian Gnam in Nice during July of 1965. Courtesy of Adrian Gnam.
| Reed 1 | Reed 2 | Reed 3 | Reed 4 | |
| Staple | 46.5 mm | 47 mm | 46.5 mm | 47 mm |
| Shaper width at tip of reed | 7.5 mm | 7.5 mm | 7.5 mm | 7.5 mm |
| Total length | 72.5 mm | 72.5 mm | 71.0 mm | 72.5 mm |
| Tip started (from binding) | 23.5 mm | 22.0 mm | 23.0 mm | 24.0 mm |
The four reeds shown below were sent by Marcel Tabuteau to Laila Storch in 1965 when she lived in Puerto Rico. Laila gave them to her student, Dr. Charles Larsson, who kindly sent in the following photographs.
| Reed 1 | Reed 2 | Reed 3 | Reed 4 | |
| Length above the binding | 24 mm | 23 mm | 23.5 mm | 24.5 mm |
| Start of the scrape above the binding | 21 mm | 20 mm | 21 mm | 21 mm |
| Tip width | 7.25 mm | 7 mm | 6.75 mm | 7.25 mm |
| Staple length | 46 mm | 46 mm | 46.5 mm | 47 mm |
| Total length | 70 mm | 69 mm | 70 mm | 72 mm |
Charles “Chip” Hamann, principal oboe of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra contributed the following images of a Tabuteau reed from 1965 given to him by his predecessor, Tabuteau student Rowland Floyd.
Overall length: 71mm
Tie length: 46.5 mm (tube might be 46.5 or 47)
Width at top: 7.5mm
Fish skin on the reed
| Overall length | 71 mm |
| Tie length | 46.5 mm (tube might be 46.5 or 47) |
| Width at top | 7.5 mm |
| Fish skin on the reed |
Brent Hages reports that John de Lancie gave this Tabuteau reed to Fred Capps, who gave it to Michael Finkelman, who then gave it to the present owner, Brent Hages.
| Total length | 69.0 mm |
| Length of Staple | 46.0 mm (cut down from 47.0 mm) |
| Location of the start of the scrape above the binding | 21.0 mm |
| Tip width | 7.0 mm |
| Length of tip | 1.50 mm |
| Length of hump | 2.0 mm |
Additional information:
- No spine
- Rails just barely present
- Scrape extends back to 5.00 mm above the binding
- The long area in back of the very short hump contains a 9.0 mm section at the bottom of the scrape which is a bit deeper than the area above it.
(High magnification photos by Nancy Lehrer)
The four reeds pictured here were obtained from Tabuteau’s widow following his death in 1965. They comprise part of David Ledet’s extensive collection of music and memorabilia (including Tabuteau’s reeds and tools) housed in the music department of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Photo by David Ledet. Oboe Reed Styles. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981.
