Klarinet Archive - Posting 000138.txt from 1993/11

From: "David L. Shea" <DSHEA@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Clarinet Tips
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 13:56:48 -0500

I also like Vandoren reeds and the cane which they use. I hear a lot of
people commenting on how they need to fiddle with them constantly. Perhaps
it is the constant fiddling that is the problem. I find if I balance the
reed and accept it for what it is and not try to make every reed play the
same, I have much better results. I also notice that if I just play and
don't spend excessive time adjusting reeds, I always have a couple of good
reeds to play on. You might think back at what reeds have been the best,
at least for me they have been the ones that don't need any or very little
adjustment right out of the box. Reeds that need major adjustments are
usually bad cane and will never be worth the time spent on them.

One more comment on adjusting reeds all the time, I find that if I resist
tampering for a couple of playing sessions and I still find that the same
problem exists than I adjust. One must take into account fatigue and
peculiar playing conditions and how this affects reeds. (sorry about grammar
in these last two sentences) If reeds continue to drive you crazy, forget
that you are a clarinetist and be a musician.

David L. Shea
Indiana University
dshea@-----.edu