The Way of Cane
Bassoon Reed Machine Service
Eric Arbiter
The Way of Cane
musician, photographer, writer, teacher
Includes Sound files
The Way of Cane
Oxford University Press, 2020
See the book's website for additional materials and sound files:
https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780190919627
From the back cover: Nothing like this outstanding volume exists anywhere. The language is easy to understand, and it is a 'must read' for those seriously studying the bassoon. It contains a thorough guide to bassoon reed making, from elementary procedures to professional methods. The book goes beyond reed making to present information about fingerings, articulations, and many of the musical problems a professional bassoonist has to learn and solve.
Bernard Garfield, Philadelphia Orchestra, Principal Bassoon, retired
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I am very pleased to recommend “The Way of Cane” by Eric Arbiter. This book is fantastic: a very thorough examination of all aspects of reed making and how they relate to performance.
Eric presents a philosophy of reed making based on an intimate understanding of reed cane, a most capricious material. Not only is this a scholarly work, but a rich and personal narration of a life in bassoon playing.
I think it will stand for decades as the most detailed and insightful work on the subject.
Stephen Franse, Principal Bassoon, Calgary Phiharmonic Orchestra, 1973-2011
Reviews
"FINALLY!! A reed making book that is not just an oversimplified cookbook or a dictatorial 'How-to Manual.' With the all-important bigger picture at the forefront, this book is entirely unique at its core when compared to all the other reed-making books out there."
Roger Tropman, bassoonist,
teacher, and owner of www.nexuswoodwind.com
The Way of Cane offers a wealth of information regarding all aspects of bassoon reed-making, going far beyond other existing texts. The language is easy to understand, and based on the author's many years of impressive performance and teaching experience. It also offers many other specific insights in bassoon performance. I find this text to be an invaluable resource. It is now required reading for my students.
Rod Ackmann, Professor of Bassoon, University of Oklahoma, Principal Bassoonist, Oklahoma City Philharmonic
This is one of the best books I have read on the reedmaking process, and clearly belongs in every bassoonists library. The language is incredibly clear, and Arbiter provides an outstanding process on learning the "why" we do things. The audio samples provide a great explanation as to the effects we might expect for a given action. The student using this book will have a great insight into how to take notes on the process of finding the perfect reed, and seeing for himself what works, what doesn't, and what has no effect.
Arbiter also gives insight into machinery we may use, yet not use to its greatest effect. This undeserved niche of the reedmaking tutorial gives the reader valuable advice.
This book will not necessarily teach you the techniques as you may find in another book, but it will help you learn how to assess the effectiveness of the techniques you may find in every other book.
"Give a man a reed, feed him for a concert; give a man this book feed him for life."
Richard Turner, bassoonist from his Amazon review of
The Way of Cane
I’ve finished your fantastic book! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed delving into it. Lots of great info here, about reeds and many other aspects of our chosen life as musicians.
I want to thank you for sharing your work and philosophy with the community.
I very much enjoyed the audio clips. Just beautiful.
Lewis Kirk, bassoon and contra, Chicago Lyric and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra
Photo: Julie Ann Arbiter-Simpson About Eric
Eric is a professional musician, photographer, writer and teacher. He played with the Houston Symphony as Associate Principal Bassoonist for 45 years, as well as Acting Principal Bassoonist during 8 of those years. He has performed with several other groups including The Marlboro Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, Da Camera Houston, the Harvard Chamber Players, and the San Antonio Chamber Players. He was also Assistant Professor of Music at Rice University for 19 years, where he chaired the wind department, taught bassoon, chamber music and woodwind repertory.
His photographs have appeared in several publications and he completed a comprehensive portrait project of the Houston Symphony’s musicians for the orchestra’s Centennial in 2014. All of the photographs for the Way of Cane, unless otherwise credited, were taken by him.
He has been lucky enough to have followed his many passions which include music, photography, writing, and teaching, as well as reading and many years of Zen practice. He retired from the Houston Symphony in 2019 but has an active performing life in addition to enjoying his family which lives in Houston. Since retiring he has also been repairing, servicing and and setting up bassoon reed making machines.
If you have found your way from my regular FaceBook page of my The Way of Cane Page on Facebook, feel free to contact me through this website if you are interested in bassoon reed machine repairs, restorations or consultations on setting up machines. I can also set up gougers, profilers and tip profilers with your target specifications as well as have Zoom lessons on doing these things yourself. I'll be adding before and after restoration photos of machines I've done in the past year in the blog section of this website.