Klarinet Archive - Posting 000158.txt from 1998/01

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: KLEENEX
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 08:17:23 -0500

On Sun, 4 Jan 1998, avrahm galper wrote:

> If to talk about abrasives on a mouthpiece, how about the pupils (and
> many pros also) who slide the reeds on and off the mouthpiece, without
> removing the ligature first. Imagine trying reeds like that.
> That is an abrasive action if there ever was one. I tell my pupils not
> to do that. But habits die hard.

Absolutely fascinating point and well-worth addressing. We all do
it. I do it, anyway, and I was told to do it decades ago because it
makes it less likely that the reed will be damaged while securing it
to the mouthpiece. It never occurred to me that this manner of putting
the reed on the table of the mouthpiece might actually be contrib-
uting to warpage. Avrahm, are you suggesting that the reed be
applied and removed from the mouthpiece in perpendicular fashion
-- i.e.; remove the ligature first, then place/remove the reed
in an up-to-down motion without any sliding whatsoever -- followed
by careful lowering of the ligature past the tip of the reed onto
the mouthpiece before tightening the screw(s)?

Those of you who believe that swab friction impacts a mouthpiece's
physical properties: how does this notion concerning reed applica-
tion strike you?

Neil