Auxiliary double reeds such as English horn and contrabassoon have their own sets of measurements, which are subject to the requirements of the player.
[5] The reeds of non-European instruments can be made from similar wetland grasses, bamboo or young leaves from toddy palm trees.
[4][5][6] For example, the reed of Japan's hichiriki can be made from either mountain bitter bamboo[7] or Phragmites australis, the latter is a softer cane than Arundo donax.
The unprofiled end of the cane is shaped into a tube with the aid of a mandrel and bound with three (or four in some reed making techniques) strategically placed wires.
However, because the oboe does not have a bocal, the cane must be fastened to a metal tube (the staple), the lower half of which is normally surrounded by a piece of cork.
There are also many options with regard to staples and shaping equipment, which all have a subtle effect on the tone quality a reed will produce.
[20][21] The principal difference between double-reed embouchures – both between and within instrument families – is in the positioning of the rolled-in lips, and the musculature employed to control a sound.
Similarly, the Armenian duduk does not require rolled-in lips and the control of the air flow is distributed toward the lower half of the cheeks.
[22] All double-reed players employ and develop muscles at the back of the mouth to control their intonation via adjustments to the shape and pressure of the oral cavity surrounding the reed.