Klarinet Archive - Posting 000262.txt from 1994/05

From: Kirby Fong <u745%sas.nersc.gov@-----.BITNET>
Subj: Working on reeds
Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 14:05:09 -0400

Stan Geidel initiated a discussion about the amount of effort spent
working on reeds. My own experience generally matches his and that of several
others who replied. At one time in the dim and distant past I tried making
reeds from blanks. I found this excessively time consuming and switched to a
strategy of buying manufactured reeds which were a little too stiff for my
mouthpiece. This means a modest amount of scraping is needed to make the
reed usable. I try all reeds in a box; nothing is discarded solely on visual
inspection. I might do a little scraping on the first playing, but it seems
more profitable to set a new reed aside and try it again the next day. Playing
characteristics seem to change during the first few playings, and I want to
get an idea whether a particular reed really has any potential before investing
much effort shaping it. My experience with Vandoren 3-1/2 to 4 is that
roughly one third will never be playable in the sense that the tone quality
is not acceptable, one third may be acceptable for practicing (acceptable tone
but not sufficiently responsive to tonguing), and one third are good enough for
rehearsal and performance. I believe that due to irregularities in cane fiber
and density, it is too much to hope that using mechanical devices to make every
reed the same shape will result in every reed becoming playable; after all, the
reeds in a box are already machine made and do not turn out identically.
Therefore, a final, custom adjustment is necessary. I find that it is useful
just to hold the reed on the mouthpiece with my thumb and to blow a few notes.
By trying the reed a little high or low and also offsetting to the left or
right, I can get an idea whether the tip is too heavy and whether the sides are
properly balanced and therefore know where to scrape. Visual inspection and
scraping to achieve a balanced looking shadow around the heart is not my
starting point; how it plays is what's important, not how it looks. My
current attitude about working on reeds is: don't do a lot on any particular
reed all at once. Do a little work each day for three days. By then it should
be apparent whether the reed will ever be usable and warrant further investment.

I might also add I try to keep eight reeds playable and use them in rotation.
I suppose giving them a few days rest might increase their longevity, but
having a fair number of reeds like this means I can go for months without
having to open another box of reeds to work on. This means on a long term
average, I don't have to spend much time working on reeds.
Kirby Fong fong@-----.gov