Lou Skinner’s “Darmstadt” Model Reed
Many well-known German reed-makers continued to make tapered-gouge reeds until well into the 20th century. Lou named this model the “Darmstadt” because one of the most well-known makers of tapered-gouge reeds, Karl Mechler, was based in Darmstadt, Germany. For more information about Herr Mechler and other makers, see the History page. For more information about the tapered gouge, see the page about Longitudinal Gouge Variations.
A Darmstadt reed can produce an exceptionally crisp staccato, with an agreeably full “pop” at the beginning of a note. This is possible because the cane fibers at the tip of the reed are closer to the bark, in a layer where the cane is often more dense, allowing the reed to be trimmed thinner at the tip. At the same time, the inside gouge taper imparts additional resistance to air after the tone has begun, and very gradually dampens the transmission of vibrations along the length of the Bahn (blades).
To make a Darmstadt reed, Lou first gouged the cane on a regular gouging machine. He then used a circular scraper to create the inside taper by hand. The procedure was as follows.
First, Lou marked the inside of the cane with six lines, 3 on either side of the middle (fold). In these photos, the marks are placed to produce a taper that starts in front of wire I, but Lou also made tapers that start at other points further back in the tube. Second, Lou used the circular scraper to scrape between the lines marked “3”, about 20 times. Then another 20 scrapes between the lines marked “2”, and finally another 20 scrapes between the lines marked “1”. Scraping continued until the middle (where the cane would be folded) was at least 0.25mm thinner than the area behind the lines marked “1”. In this example, the gouge has been tapered until the middle is 0.35mm thinner. The gouge was then lightly sanded to make it smooth and blended.
Lou used hand-scrapers for this process, but today at least one tool manufacturer has produced a gouging machine than can be modified for use as a secondary machine, after the regular gouging machine, to produce this result.