Klarinet Archive - Posting 000538.txt from 1996/11

From: David Blumberg <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Got to have a Sharp Knife
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 17:50:06 -0500

I agree. A really sharp knife does very good work. A less than sharp knife
does a good job of gouging the cane. I use the Knife extensively for reed
adjustment. I learned reed adjusting w/reed rush, but I find that the knife
(really sharp, like an oboist knife) does a very precise, non gouging job. I
use a Vandoren Reed card ("never leave home without it") to place between the
Reed, and the Mouthpiece. I have an RDG knife, but one of my students has the
Pyne, and it is quite good. As Stan Geidel wrote- the Swiss Army knife does a
good job also.

David C. Blumberg
Principal Clarinet, Riverside Sinfonia
Reedman@-----.com
----------
From: Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network on behalf of David B. Niethamer
Sent: Monday, November 18, 1996 6:09 PM
Subject: Re: Vandoren reeds

Bill, you wrote:

>I have been wondering what the
>prevalent wisdom is about balancing/voicing. I have been through the reed
>knife (useless for tip work), X-acto knife (great but encourages gouging and
>overworking or "spotting" and hence uneven voicing), and presently have
>returned to fine sandpaper. I feel the fine sandpaper allows me to *preserve
>the manufacturer's slope*.

James Pyne sells a knife and plexiglass plaque with a curve in the
sharpened part of the blade, close to the tip. It arrived *very* sharp,
and on the curved part particularly, was very useful for working the tip.
I still use sandpaper to smooth the surface of the reed after using the
knife.

Until I began making my reeds, I used my Bohsys knife as a plaque -
nothing else to do with it!

David

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