Klarinet Archive - Posting 000209.txt from 1997/04

From: Nick Shackleton <njs5%cam.ac.uk@-----.BITNET>
Subj: Re: Reed Contradictions
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 1997 18:57:28 -0400

As a professional scientist I'd say "don't waste my time with science, help
my to make reeds last better for me on my mouthpiece". This is not a
question where a scientist can say one method is wrong and the other right.
I was first shown how to seal a reed by Gervase de Peyer about 30 years ago,
at which time he advocated using the thumb and the grease along the side of
the (his) nose. Having tried the side of the (my) nose I've preferred cream
from the top of a bottle of milk. I prefer using brown paper instead of the
skin of my thumb.
I remember that de Peyer (then one of the busiest and most successful
players around) said that he could work over a dozen good reeds and they'd
last him a year! At the other end of the spectrum: French players would walk
into the Vandoren factory and try a few reeds and pick one out for the
concert that night and buy that one only. Some people like one approach,
some the other.
One thing is certain: Bob Lake is right that a reed maker knows that some
polishing of the surface is necessary: for most readers of Klarinet the
question is whether Vandoren have done enough or whether they need to carry
on the process. In my experience commercial German reeds need more work on
the surface than Vandoren reeds and need polishing with dutch rush or
something similar before you start with thumb work.
Nick

   
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