Oboe Reed Master Steve Hammer Interview April 2020

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I interviewed Oboe Reed Master, Steve Hammer in April 2020.  Watch the whole interview below. He talks about Bernoulli’s principle, his reed making philosophy, his favorite tools and what, in his opinion, the biggest reed making mistakes are that students make.

 

This interview takes place in preparation for the launch of THE OBOE REED MASTER SERIES starting in April 2020. It is a 10-session series which is part of The Dynamic Reed maker, a three month- long intensive reed making training program. This is fantastic new way to dive deep into the reed making questions that have always baffled you. Ask the master! This live and interactive series takes place in the JK Double Reed Making Zoom Reed Room. Each Oboe Reed Master will be joining twice with at least a week between the two sessions. This gives you a chance to digest the topic and try things out so that you can return to the second session to share your own results, ask questions and dive even deeper into the topic. Please enjoy the interview! Find out more here.

 

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Forget the reed

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You know you have a good reed when you waste no mental or emotional energy on it.

I am visited by a wave of inner worry as my colleague pulls out his reed box and opens it. I swallowed as I saw the 24 identical reeds wrapped in the same red thread, all lined up, tidy and looking perfectly respectable and playable. Fortunately, I have a beautifully crafted wooden box with inlay: a gift from friends. My strategy is to let the loveliness of my reed box distract from its contents. In it I have 12 reeds. Each looks different. They are wrapped in yellow, multicolored pastel, burgundy, navy blue. Each has a number scrawled on it (at least I log and keep track of my reeds!). They are different shapes and sizes, some looking a little worse for the wear with Teflon or wire. One or two play beautifully. Strangely, the one that looks pretty raggedy is the one I’m going to grab when the rehearsal begins in a moment. Read more