Klarinet Archive - Posting 000790.txt from 1995/05

From: John Roman <JohnARoman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Vandorens vs. Mitchell Lurie
Date: Sat, 27 May 1995 22:43:04 -0400

Bruce Hudson wrote:

<<I'm certainly amongst the newest to the business reading here, but I had no
idea the strength of reeds was treated as something of a weight lifting
contest. I guess I'm bothered in that when I tell somebody I started the
clarinet nine months ago at a rather advanced age and especially if their
experience was limited to high school or college bands, it seems their first
question is what strength reed am I using-- "oh, a 3 1/2 well you're coming
along pretty well." It seems to me that my progress is measured in the
subtlies of articulation I can achieve, the development of tone over these
seemingly endless hours of long tones and how firm platform I can maintain
for the sound with my fledgling embouchure-- all of which it would seem has
very little to do the the number on the box of reeds I buy. And if I'm
right I think this has some dangerous implications for young players
thinking there's something to be gained by being pushed into the the hardest
reed possible as soon as possilbe-- like permanently locked jaw
muscles from prolonged biting.>>

Bruce, you certainly have come a long way. Your comments are right on and
you appear to have a really good understanding of what's important and what's
not.

I don't think you'll find much advocacy on this list for using the hardest
possible reed. Good clarinetists look for a number of things in a reed, some
of which can be readily defined and some which are more difficult to put your
finger on. However, reed strength is a individual matter based in part on
the opening between the reed and mouthpiece and personal preference as well
as a number of other variables. It's also likely that after a reed has been
adjusted (trimmed, shaved, balanced, or in other ways worked on) as most of
us do to make it more playable, it is probably no longer the same strength as
when we took it out of the box anyway. Of course, it is important that we
consistently buy a uniform strength of reed that best suits our needs.

It is a fact that a beginner will start on a relatively soft reed. That is
because he/she simply doesn't have the lip to handle anything heavier.
Progressively stronger reeds are used as the student's embouchure improves.
Unfortunately, I think that many beginning clarinetists see this as an end
in itself.

This current discussion of reeds originated because we clarinetists are
looking for that elusive "perfect" reed; the one that will do everything we
want it to do consistently. We spend much time in search of that reed and
when we think we've found it, we want to hoard it and make it last forever.
We buy boxes of reeds in the hope that we will find at least a few that we
consider acceptable and are often disappointed. That leads to discussions of
which brand of reed is best, how best to condition and care for reeds, and
anything else that will help us find or create the reed that will make us the
envy of clarinetists everywhere.

Best wishes in your new avocation. It's unusual to find someone who decides
to take up an instrument later in life as you have but you couldn't have made
a better choice than the clarinet.

John Roman