Klarinet Archive - Posting 000192.txt from 1997/02

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Reed Changes
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 1997 15:47:42 -0500

On Fri, 7 Feb 1997, Marissa Jeaninne Polsky wrote:

> I've been playing on V12 3 1/2 reeds now for about two years.
> Recently, however, everytime I would go into my lesson, my professor would
> say, "gee that reed sounds very soft." And so, the next time I bought
> reeds, I bought one box of 3 1/2 and one box of 4. Now, when I try to
> practice or play on the four, I find that either I sound horrible or I get
> terribly dizzy after 10 minutes. How does one go about making the
> transition to a harder reed?

Assuming that your teacher knows what (s)he is talking about...that you
really are playing a reed that is too soft for your mouthpiece...I re-
commend the following for transitioning from a softer reed to a stiffer
one.

In any given box of Vandorens, you will typically find a variation
of strengths which are supposed to be reflections of the number printed
on the outside of the box. After you've played each reed in the box a
few times (in order to condition them and break them in), begin to "grade"
each reed according to relative stiffness. I grade mine with double
letter indications, such as "M/MS" which means somewhere between medium
("just right") and medium-soft. I've worked out my system to the point
where I have a *very* good idea of how that reed is likely to respond
when I take it out of the box. I write my indication in pencil on the
flat back side of the plastic individual Vandoren reed cases, such
that I can modify the indicators as the reed changes with time.

After you've graded each reed in a box, begin your practice sessions by
warming up on reeds which are just a little more resistant than what
you're accustomed to using. Choose a reed out of the box with a "M/MH"
indication (medium/medium-hard) where, when you play it, it is definitely
stiffer than what you're used to, but only to a degree which demands
slightly more air support and embouchure pressure to make it speak. If
the reed is stiff to an overly high degree relative to what you're
accustomed to playing, then you'll experience that dizziness and poor
sound quality much more quickly. The idea is to condition your air-use
and embouchure muscles *gradually*, stepping up the resistance over a
reasonable amount of time, enabling you to adjust your technique.

After warming up on that slightly stiffer reed, you can remove it and
spend the rest of your practice session using one of your "normal"
reeds. You'll notice, of course, that your normal reed suddenly
feels much softer than you remember, because you just spent time
adjusting to the stiffer one. The reason for switching back to the
normal one is that, if you wish to practice for an hour or more,
you can't maintain your endurance on the stiffer reed. If you try to
practice the whole time on the stiffer reed, you're liable to build
muscular (and psychologial) tension which will very quickly work
against what it is you're trying to accomplish.

With each subsequent practice, gradually increase the time that you
spend playing the stiffer reed before switching back to your normal
strength. As a side note: when you switch back to the normal strength
during practice, maintain the support you used when playing the stiffer
one, otherwise you will still tense up after a few minutes and choke
the softer reed to the point of poor response. One way to ensure against
tensing up is to take a little more mouthpiece into your mouth when
switching back to the softer reed, while maintaining good diaphragm
support.

In the same manner that there are "stiff" reeds in a box of 3.5's,
there are also "soft" reeds in a box of 4's. After you've graded
your box of 4's, you're likely to find that some 4's are actually
softer than some harder 3.5's. Among the 4's, find those which fit
the description of being a little more resistant than your usual reed
strength. Maybe they're all too stiff, in which case you can use
a little sandpaper or dutch rush to bring them within playable
resistance per your mouthpiece. Eventually, this type of adjust-
ment will not be necessary as often, because you will have adjusted
to the median resistance of 4-strength reeds, which is exactly what
you're shooting for.

Best of luck.

Neil