Klarinet Archive - Posting 000169.txt from 1994/12

From: "William A. Helmers" <reedman@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Practice Reeds
Date: Sun, 11 Dec 1994 01:46:09 -0500

As a practical matter, I tend to avoid practicing on my best few reeds
because I don't want to shorten their life by overworking them. I have
found that often a mediocre reed will improve if I use it for practice, and
make adjustments to the reed bit by bit. If it blossoms into a good reed, I
put it aside and try to bring along another one.

Psychologically, this process is helpful, because when I'm having trouble, I
always know that there's a better reed for me to go to. When I have solo
passages in orchestra, or a solo or chamber performance, I pull out the best
stuff. By using the really fine reeds sparingly (and they are few and far
between, as we all know) I can get several months use out of them.