Klarinet Archive - Posting 000938.txt from 1997/08

From: elspeth4@-----.com
Subj: Re: reeds
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 12:04:29 -0400

Roger Garret writes:

<<<oh boy....the big bugaboo!

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

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:
<snip>

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...!>>>

This is an interesting theory, but most people have neither the time nor
the expertise to follow this a long routine, and I have found that most
reeds play reasonably well without extensive treatment. Sanding etc. will
not be just the same for every reed, and I think it is better to play
them first, on a light break-in routine, and then see what they might
need, if anything. This is just my opinion, though.

Alexis