Our Reeds
Larry Allen has been making reeds for over 40 years. Stradella reeds have been honed with a ”window design” to give players a “chocolate-like sound” with maximum flexibility of articulations in all registers. Stradella reeds come in all strengths to accommodate the performance needs of oboists at all skill levels from beginners to advanced performers.
Stradella reeds include oboe, English horn, and bassoon reeds. Each reed comes in three strengths Medium Soft (MS), Medium (M), and Medium hard (MH).
The Medium Soft reeds for all three instruments are very easy to vibrate for the beginning student. These reeds have a balance of resonance, articulation, and wide dynamic ranges.
The Medium reeds are designed for both the intermediate and advanced student. These reeds are easy to articulate, have more resonance than the Medium Soft reeds and have a wide dynamic reed with a deeper tone quality.
The Medium Hard reeds are designed for more experienced student, especially those students who like to adjust their own reeds rather than make the entire reed from the beginning. These reeds are designed with more resistance creating yet a deeper resonance of sound in all registers of the oboe than the Medium reeds.
As each double reed player prefers a specific resonance of sound and an ease of articulation in all registers that they enjoy, the Stradella reeds are designed for each skill level-beginner, intermediate, and advanced.