Musette

The real deal with an oboe reed!
 
Designed by: Whystler   contact | Shop: Whystler
8.8 w x 7.5 d x 11.8 h in cm |

A "musette" is the smallest member of the shawm family. Shawms were the renaissance/early baroque version of the oboe. This musical instrument has been created to exacting dimensions to play in the key of F (like a sopranino recorder). It has been designed to use a standard oboe reed. The dimensions are taken from a historical model. The decoration, including the greenman face, twisted flutes, and turning, are my own addition.

 Permalink
 Report abuse
 6
 
Comments  6

Log in if you would like to leave a comment
Ahh, word to price .. it's about $150 in WSF and $275 in White Detail with a less than $15 markup.
Fri Jun 3 21:04:50 2011 by Whystler
Hey guys, after having this for a while, I would say a wooden musette would yield better results than the WSF material, or the White Detail - both of which I've printed this out of. In the case of the WSF material, it does have a rougher finish, and as a result the windway does not effect as stable a tone as polished would might. That said, it still plays nicely and gives the sound of a high pitched oboe, but I think it could be better. White detail delivers a more stable tone, but I have noticed it warps with age. Plus it has a slightly waxy finish from it's support material. It is based on the measurements in the Robinson book with some tweaks. I can get a clear octave + a 6th from the instrument and I am not an oboe player. I have played a few renaissance reed instruments, but I wouldn't consider myself anything more than a passable consort player. I expect a good oboe player could get more notes out of it.
Fri Jun 3 21:02:41 2011 by Whystler
Great Job! I's great idea! But so many questions!
Did you use Musette's blueprint from Robinson's "Amature wind instruments maker"?
What pitch do you have now - baroque 415 Hz or Modern 430?
Your musette is 2 octave or single, chromatic or diatonic (with fork fingering )?
Material looks like too granular. It's polishable?
And last :))) What is total price?
Fri Jun 3 19:20:46 2011 by nick_vasiliev
What material did you print it out in? Is it cheaper than buying a "real" musette?
Thu Mar 31 21:22:25 2011 by dhawktx
sounds great I don't play but I might start.
Tue Oct 27 19:50:49 2009 by jarabis
Hi Whystler, it looks and sounds great. do you plan to paint it or otherwise "finish" it in any way?
Sat Nov 15 02:00:39 2008 by Xcapee
I have a set of bagpipes made of polypencom Plastic. Many pipers use polypenco pipes because of how rugged they are.
Wed Oct 15 20:01:36 2008 by gernreich
Understood- I've played the sax since I was in 2nd grade, so I'm no stranger to the reed. ;)
Wed Oct 8 22:08:48 2008 by Concept Visual
Out of the box good! All I had to do was add a reed :) Now, mind you, I'm used to playing reed instruments, so it may not be perfect for the novice player. I'm going to test it with some beginner reed instrument players to see how they feel about it.
Thu Oct 2 17:14:40 2008 by Whystler
Wow, that's wicked. Did you have to do any post-printing work to it before it was playable (ie- light sanding or clearing of holes, etc) or was it out of the box good to go? Sounds great- what a genius use of the technology.
Wed Oct 1 17:00:44 2008 by Concept Visual
Apparently certain areas of my website are down today ... so, if you ever have problems accessing that sound file, try this link instead: http://www.glennlroberts.com/www.tsj.ca/musette-pvriens2.wma
Wed Oct 1 15:39:28 2008 by Whystler
update: And today it arrived in the mail!! I started out by testing it with a drinking straw reed, as I have used on my clay shawms. The result was that it sounded a lot like my clay shawms but was easier to play, because the holes were more precise. But it wasn't good enough, so I decided to get an oboe reed. And it sounds much nicer!

Here is a soundbyte for you. Sorry for the horrible quality. I have a lot to learn about sound recording. I was able to fade it in an out slightly so minimize that horrible background noise. http://www.whyst.com/sounds/musette-pvriens2.wma
Wed Oct 1 02:47:14 2008 by Whystler
I can't wait to hear it myself!! It was supposed to arrive yesterday *pout* I guess I'll have to wait until Monday. I will definately be posting some sound bites so you can hear it. My experience with plastic reed instruments, is that the tone is not affected terribly - even when the reed itself is plastic. I've made a couple reed instruments out of pvc pipe, and also clay.
Sun Sep 28 05:29:06 2008 by Whystler
I wonder what kind of sound it has - if it sounds "plasticky", LOL! But great idea :)
Mon Sep 22 18:38:53 2008 by Christel
  $
This model is not for sale.