The Bassoon Reed

After a career as one of the world's finest orchestral players, Mr Rechtman is renowned for his beautiful, effortless style of playing. This he ascribes to his own unique system of reed adjustment, which he details in this booklet, with full colour photographs and instructions.

The Bassoon Reed ‘My System’ offers a completely new approach to reed adjustment which cannot be found in other books. The basis for my system is that the bassoon and crook form a cone from the bell of the instrument down to the end of the crook, and a simple technique, which is explained in the following pages, shows the reed to be an extension of that cone. The reed then responds instantly to the flow of breath as if pronouncing an unvoiced ‘Hah’, rather like playing a recorder or blowing a simple whistle, and at the same time enables a full sound, and a wide range of dynamics. ‘My System’ has worked well for me over many years as a professional player, and also for my many students around the world. The diagrams and instructions in my book will open the door to a means of great artistic fulfilment." Mordechai Rechtman