Klarinet Archive - Posting 000416.txt from 1996/02

From: Everett J Austin <BrendaA624@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: hard and soft reeds/V-12's on Gregory Smith M.P.
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 04:46:01 -0500

Dear Emily,

I thought for awhile about your dilemma with reeds and had a few questions:

1. Why are the reeds "dying"? (request an autopsy?)

I doubt they are truly "shot", since it sounds like a premature demise in
terms of actual playing time. In that case, the reeds may cease to work for
several possible reasons:

a. the back is not perfectly flat: sand the back on a fine file or other
slightly abrasive flat surface

b. the reed is no longer balanced: play test each side and balance (easier
said than done)

c. playing it has changed the basic strength (has become harder or softer):
clip conservatively if soft, sand judiciously if hard
d. the wrong moisture content may also be important (climate, weather,
method of reed storage)

2. What makes a reed too soft of too hard?

a. it must match the mouthpiece facing in strength and slope (see Rehfeld's
book of aphorisms on reeds, for example) and must be flat on the back and
balanced (otherwise it will be "stuffy" as opposed to "hard"). Ben Armato's
pamphlet ("Perfectareed") on reeds is quite explicit on these matters, though
experience is still an ongoing factor.

b. a reed is truly too soft if the upper clarion and altissimo are thin and
flat. Try getting the most beautiful and resonant open G (that unforgiving
note) you can muster and then play the whole range with good air support but
not necessarily excessive blowing resistance. This may help you play on a
slightly softer reed. Another airstream check is to play a robust clarion F,
diminuendo to pp without loss of edge and intensity and slur to F#. Ascend
chromatically very slowly to clarion high C without any loss of intensity or
edge (ring) and while preserving exact pitch and tonal center without
pinching the reed excessively (let it vibrate). Listen very carefully. If
this does not work your reed is too soft or your air stream is not well
focussed. This can be done as a "Zen" type excercise or one could go into
explicitly what the larynx and oral cavity might be up to in the process.

c. a truly hard reed (for one's set up) may play more easily in the high
ranges but lack resonance in the chalumeau. It also may tend to sharpness
whre the soft reed tends to flatness

d. sometimes for a particular passage a softer or a harder feed may be
better. This is probably more noticeable in the extremes of the range and
perhaps more on saxophone than clarinet.

I hope these general comments are helpful. As for the Gregory Smith
mouthpiece, I have one too and despite trying every brand of reed in my
cupboard (VanD Reg and V12: Glotin Gaia, GIII, Musique de Chambre; Buffet;
Olivieri: Selmer Omega; Marca; Lurie; VanD Black Master; Alexander
Superial; etc) the V12s are the most suited to that mpc and really work
quite well.

Best wishes,

Everett Austin
Fairfax, California
BrendaA624@-----.com