Hi, my name is Brian Lyons. I am an historical oboist living in The Hague, The Netherlands and I love making reeds! Formerly an orchestral principal oboist and university instructor in the United States, I turned my professional focus to historical oboes when I moved to Holland in 2021. These days I continue to cultivate my expanding freelance career, develop my private teaching studio, and supply exceptional reeds, beautifully processed cane, and/or experience-based reed knowledge to students, avid amateurs, and professional colleagues. Currently I produce reeds for the Baroque oboe and oboe d’amore, the oboe da caccia, and the Classical oboe. If you would like to know more about me, my performance experience, or my teaching credentials you can read more on my personal website here.
My Concept
The HistoricalOboeReeds.nl concept is low volume sales with a considerable amount of time and attention paid to every reed. From the very first cane selection steps, each tube is evaluated for;
- the surface attributes of the bark
- general length-wise curvature of the tube
- the symmetrical curvature outward from an observed natural spine in the tube
I wholeheartedly believe that steps two and three are essential for creating a balanced opening with sides that seal all the way to the end of the tip which translates to a beautiful sound and excellent dynamic control. Only after meeting these first criteria will a piece of cane be considered for careful gouging while paying special attention to preserve the natural spine.
My personal commitment to this concept, from initial cane selection and gouging, through shaping and tying, and finally multiple stages of scraping and rest, assures you a well-balanced, stable, and long-lasting reed with a warm, round, core-rich tone and dependable octaves. The scrape is straightforward and adjustments are easy.