Klarinet Archive - Posting 000930.txt from 1997/08

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: reeds
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 12:04:21 -0400

oh boy....the big bugaboo!

Ok...in a nutshell......

If a person plays on one reed at a time, it will wear out quickly. It is
adviseable to rotate your reeds....usually playing on one to three per
practice session. If it is a session in which you are adjusting reeds,
you might play on as many as 5-10.

I have a routine of breaking in reeds, left over from my reed making days
with John Mohler at the U. of Michigan. The process, when preparing
blanks, was to plane the reed blank to the correct thickness (3.28 MM at
the shoulder) and then follow a standard routine:

Day 1: Sand back of reed on 320 grit sandpaper, then 600 grit
until smooth. Soak in saliva and place on glass to dry.

Day 2: Sand back of reed with 600 grit - just to knock the edge
off. Soak in saliva and place on glass to dry.

Day 3-5: Same as day 2

Day 6: Cut reed and adjust to play. Leave hard. Play 5 minutes
and store on glass.

Day 7: Play reed 10-15 minutes and adjust as necessary.

Day 8: Play up to 30 minutes and complete adjustment.

Day 9-30: Reed can be played for a solid month and won't wear out
(depending on the quality of the blank.....and that is
TRUE!)

OK....so.....just do the same with the Vandoren...only make sure you don't
sand the back too much......and stay away from the tip. The best way to
know how much to sand is to score the back of the reed at the shoulder to
the but......twice...with a pencil...across the width of the reed. Then,
when you sand, only sand until the pencil mark disappears...do the 600
grit thing, and place on glass for a night of drying. Repeat for two more
days. On the third day, play for 5 minutes and put it away. The next
day, play for 10 minutes, adjust (balance it) and put it away. The next
day it is ready for long sessions and a final adjustment...of
course...adjusting can happen all the way up to the death of the reed! At
any rate......Preparing the reed this way breaks it in slowly and evenly,
and it allows for the reed to adjust from no use to lots of
use...afterall, it IS a piece of wood! Rotation is best...rotate a box of
10....and realy try to get them all to play.

Bob Spring in Arizona still makes his own reeds, and I believe he follows
the preparation system also. I finally switched to Vandoren reeds after
studying with David Shifrin...he told me he would rather have me
practicing during the time it took me to make reeds!

Good luck...!

Roger Garrett
Illinois Wesleyan University

PS.....try Vandoren V-12 3's and 3.5's...you may find they last longer as
well.

On Thu, 21 Aug 1997, Corey Hume wrote:

> This may be a really DUMB question, but please bare with me. It seems
> like my reeds have not been lasting very long before they get "yucky."
> I use Vandoren 3- 3 1/2. Could this be attributed to the amount of
> humidity (I live in Charleston, can we say 100% humidity!) or is it me?
> How long should my reeds be lasting? How can I prolong their
> usefulness? THANK YOU!!!
>
> Elaine
>