Klarinet Archive - Posting 000085.txt from 1996/10

From: Roger Shilcock
Subj: another boring reed controversy (fwd)
Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 04:23:42 -0400

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 12:33:33 PDT
From: Fogle, Bill <bill.fogle%ASPENPUBL.COM@-----.UK>
Subject: another boring reed controversy

Roger---

I play Glothin #4 and Vandoren #4 but I _scrape them down_ to play
as I want. I use #3.5 in "Alexander Superials" (not always with as
much success). I assume any new reed requires break-in time, and
I allow a time for the reed to blow hard/fuzzy _at first_ as I am
"voicing" it. The bore is the standard R-13 (I can't quote the mm) and
the rather exotique Selmer 10R (drastically tapered or whatever).
Basically, my philosophy is to err on the hard side. Honestly, if I
play something too responsive, too thin-sounding, I'm miserable. Also,
I have never played a soft[er] reed that sounded good in altissimo.
-----Bill F.

-->Bill:
-->Are we really talking about the same #4? If I give people reeds in an
-->emergency, the usual response is that they're "too hard", and these are
-->usually *threes*. What make do you use, and are they labelled the same
-->for strength on the 2 (or more?) sides of the Atlantic?
-->(Yes another boring reed controversy ensues oh dear oh dear .....)
-->The "sound that goes to the back of the hall" surely arises also from
-->a particular range of mouthpiece & bore dimensions. (Possibly Jonathan C.
-->has made assumptions which not everyone reading his message has taken on
-->board).
-->Another possibility: if bores are wider in the U.S., then "hard" reeds by
-->our standards may seem not so hard over there.
-->Roger Shilcock

I agree about softer reeds sounding bad in the aaltissimo register (and
often flat, even when the instrument's actually in tune, because of
the tone quality). I take Jonathan's point about "controllability", and
it turns out I usually use the same reeds as he does anyway.
However, I can do without making continual substantial physical
adjustments, which can be just as tiring as using a relatively hard reed.
Roger