New audio story: "The Agony and Ecstasy of an Oboe Reed Maker"
Oboist and comic monologist Josh Kornbluth has a lot to say about the painfully exacting process of making an oboe reed.
Dear Friends,
Of all the wind instrument players in an orchestra, oboists are among the few who can spend more time making reeds for their instruments than actually playing music. As the comic monologist Josh Kornbluth has painfully learned, a single one of the myriad micro-adjustments that reed makers execute can drastically change everything.
This week’s feature is a “sneak preview” of our forthcoming Summer issue, which will focus on artisans and innovators in the world of music. I hope you’ll enjoy listening to: “The Agony and Ecstasy of an Oboe Reed Maker,” written and narrated by Jeff Greenwald, Contributing Editor. As with all of our podcasts, you can listen to or download this tale directly from our site, or from your favorite streaming services like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
You can also read the original story here—and don’t miss the short video of Josh Kornbluth, or the sidebar, “Aya Rokeach: Notes from a Young Oboist.”
In other news, you may notice that our website has just had a makeover. This upgrade not only simplifies and modernizes the overall look, it also makes our large collection of stories, podcasts, mini-documentaries, and photo essays much easier to browse, read, and share. With streamlined menus, a reorganized home page, improved readability, cleaner displays, and a lot less need for scrolling, we hope it will entice you to explore further. You may also notice that the site is now simply called Craftsmanship—a signal of the solid place we have now established in the world of independent publishing, and of exciting new directions to come.
Our Summer issue will fully launch next week, so please stay tuned. In the meantime, I hope you'll always find something intriguing to read, watch, or listen to within our pages. We welcome your thoughts via email, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you for reading and sharing our stories, for donating to our cause when you can, and for being such a loyal part of the Craftsmanship community.
Sincerely,
Todd Oppenheimer
Editor & Publisher, Craftsmanship
Spring 2023: The Future of Craftsmanship
Look at almost anything you own of real quality, and you immediately see its maker's commitment to beauty, functionality, and longevity. Those values, which in our mind define works of craftsmanship, are being aggressively tested these days, as more and more material goods exhibit shoddy workmanship, and are not made to last. The trash this creates not only damages our environment, it also erodes the principles of excellence that advance us, both individually and collectively. In this issue, we introduce you to some brave souls and organizations that are fighting to preserve, and expand, the intelligence in our hands.