Klarinet Archive - Posting 000350.txt from 1996/10

From: "David B. Niethamer" <niethamer@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: breaking in reeds
Date: Sun, 13 Oct 1996 21:45:30 -0400

>Do you feel that new reeds should be played for only a few minutes at a time?
>Or do you feel that this is just a clarinet wife's tale--you can play them as
>long as you please?
>
>I've tried both ways and have had teachers who felt strongly about both ways.
>I'm not really sure which is best.
>
>How do you folks break in your reeds?

I follow the procedure outlined by Donald Yungkurth, except I start it
when I prepare the blanks for reed making. When the reeds are cut and I
start to play them, I definitely play them only a few minutes at a time
for the first few days/one week. I can feel the new reeds getting
waterlogged and unresponsive, and continuing to "beat them up" seems to
result in material fatigue, and a reed that softens and dies prematurely.
I've never scientifically measured this (length of reed life), but this
process results in reeds that last a long time for me in heavy use.

I believe it was Bill Fogle who asked about new/"adolescent" reeds, and
it reminded me of "the old days"(!!) When I played commercial reeds, I
looked for new"ish" reeds - played only a few times at most, just to the
"broken in" point. I tried to continue this pattern with my handmade
reeds, and, since the handmade reeds break in a bit more slowly, found
myself playing the second half of concerts on stuffy, waterlogged,
unresponsive reeds. For some reason, handmade reeds work a lot better for
me after they're completely broken in, and they last through several
concerts (depending on the rep) as opposed to one or two for the
commercial reeds.

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
niethamer@-----.edu
dbnclar1@-----.com
http://users.aol.com/dbnclar1/