https://musescore.com/user/37270121/scores/39174434?share=copy_link
https://musescore.com/user/37270121/scores/39117005?share=copy_link

I'm a beginner baroque oboe player and my new reed (Baroque oboe reed: Tasso from Oboe-shop) takes a huge amount of effort to play. Should it be lightly scraped (blended)?

It seems nearly impossible to play softly and no matter the embouchure, the low F sounds very muffled. It's total thickness is 0.44 at the tip and 1.05 mm at the heart. There is an abrupt increase in thickness on the top blade, here is a video of what it looks like after 2 minutes of soaking and playing a couple of notes. Also, it's been soaked, briefly played, and completely dried for about 10 times the past 5 days. Any help would be much appreciated!

https://reddit.com/link/1x7c3jt/video/b7oubruzxsvh1/player

In a pinch I bought an English horn reed from a maker I thought would be decent. The reed is fine, but it has nothing to secure it to the bocal. I find that when I play I end up pulling the reed off. As you can imagine, that’s a pain in the neck. I don’t make my own reeds (and I realize that is a cardinal sin), but is there any way to put tubing on a reed after it’s made so it doesn’t keep slipping off? Any suggestions would be appreciated.