How to Choose the Best Oboe Staple for You

Reedmaking comes with an overwhelming amount of choices that make it difficult to choose which is the best staple for your ideal reeds. The staple alone can be different lengths, different materials, different shapes, and different constructions and how much does it really matter? Maybe you are feeling good about your reeds but you want to explore more options to see if your reeds can be even better, or maybe you are just beginning to make reeds and you are looking for help knowing where to start. This is the list of staple info I wish I had starting out!

Material

Silver, Brass, and Gold. These are the metals used to make staples. General consensus is that the sound from silver staples will have the most brilliance or “brightness.” Brass staples are the middle of the road being a little more mellow than silver staples, but not as mellow as gold staples. Some find that the different materials feel more or less resistant more than they sound different. Ultimately, the difference between the three is considered minimal or unnoticeable by some and they prefer to buy the cheaper brass option because they see other factors in your reedmaking as much more important.

Shape

Your reed and your oboe should be one if everything is working together properly. Therefore, the brand of your oboe (or just your oboe being its own unique self) can change how you like your reeds. Ideally, the shape of your cane should be an extension of the shape of your staple, which should be an extension of the shape of your oboe bore. This all takes experimentation to see what combination you like best with your oboe and I wouldn’t worry too much unless you are advanced and looking to perfect your sound.

Beyond this, the thickness of staple walls also affects your finished reed. Thinner staple walls are considered to have a “brighter” tone which would make thin-walled silver staples the “brightest” option. Thinner walls, though, can cause your reed to be more unstable, but a well-scraped reed on a thin staple can create a smooth, resonant sound that would be harder (or impossible) to accomplish with the thicker staples.

A more narrow staple will cause your reed to be more open and vice versa. Therefore, a more narrow staple will also cause your reed to be flatter in pitch and vice versa. The tip of staples can also be more round or more oval. Generally, oval is preferred because it is easier to tie the cane on without leaks and it makes for a more stable reed. Round staples cause the reed to be more open and flatter. Also, longer staples equal flatter reeds and shorter staples equal sharper.

So, in other words, if you chronically struggle with sharp reeds, switch to 47 mm staples (if you are not using those already) and consider finding a staple with a more narrow diameter or perhaps a rounder shape at the tip. If your reeds are consistently flat, try a wider staple diameter and/or a 46.5 mm or 46 mm staple, and check to see if your staples are more oval as opposed to more round. Don’t forget to take the weather into account if you struggle with consistently very out of tune reeds!

Brand

Silver or brass staples of either 46mm or 47mm are the bare minimum of options I have seen offered by any brand of staple maker. The traditional Chiarugi staples have the most options for the diameter of the staple that I have seen. Here is the chart from Midwest Musical Imports that shows the sizes of the Chiarugi staples:

Bore:       Tip Opening width/height (mm)     Bottom Diameter (mm)
2                              2.4/1.9                                                             4.8
2+                           2.5/1.9                                                              4.6
3                             2.6/1.9                                                               4.8
5                             2.5/1.9                                                               5.0

Artist Pisoni and Thin-walled Stevens staples appear to have about the same thickness (or thinness rather…), but in my experience the Pisoni staples are less symmetrically round. This may not affect anything though. You might want to avoid both these if you are a new reedmaker because they are less forgiving than thicker staples.

My Experience

In testing different staples, I can’t say that I notice a huge difference between brass or silver staples. In one batch, I preferred the tone of more of my brass staple reeds than the silver. They seemed to have a richer tone that may be what some call the “darker” sound brass is supposed to give. But the brass was not universally better and it may be that I just happened to make more great reeds on the brass staples than I did on the silver by accident that week.

I do prefer a smaller diameter (or at least a standard size) to keep reeds open. I live in a climate that can change quickly and frequently and having my reeds more open helps prevent the reed closing up in dry weather, which is one thing I dread. It is much easier to pinch a reed down than try to keep it open.

I do also like the thin-walled staples. They feel like an easier blow and have more dynamic flexibility in my opinion.

I have not tried the newer corkless staples which I hear can bring a whole new sound to your playing. I thought I would mention that here as an option you might want to look into. The effects of length and width still apply, but the resonance is different because of the different material. For now, I am going to stick with the traditional corked route, but maybe your interest will be peaked more than mine!

Conclusion

If you are feeling overwhelmed, I would stop worrying now. Go with the cheapest option if you are newer to making reeds or go with whatever your teacher likes. Don’t overthink it right now. If you are want to know more about staples or fix a particular issue, doing your own experimentation with several types is going to be an inevitable step to take to see what becomes important to you for your reeds. I hope this gave you a good idea of what to look for! If you want to learn more about reedmaking, I have several more posts you might find helpful.

If you are interested in buying handmade reeds or reed blanks to practice on you can find those at my shop! Happy reedmaking!