Klarinet Archive - Posting 000697.txt from 1998/01

From: lanewhite@-----.com (Lane G White)
Subj: Re: reeds
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 22:34:25 -0500

On Wed, 14 Jan 1998 21:24:58 -0400 Rich & Tani Miller
<musicians@-----.net> writes:
>As long as the topic of reed preference is being discussed, I'd be
>interested in hearing what the rest of you do to break reeds in,
>adjust reeds, etc.

My only break-in procedure is let a "virgin" reed soak in my mouth for a
while before playing it at all. If it seems a little hard at first, I
play it a few minutes a day to give it a chance to settle in
>
>I am also of the "PLAY" or "DIE" school--I have absolutely no patience
>with reeds that don't play. I've also never effectively been able to
>get stuffy reeds to play.

I own some Dutch rush, and once in a great while I have succeeded in
making a good-sounding, but hard-to-play reed a little better. I do not
try to re-plane the back of warped reeds, trim the ends, etc.

I think the odds are that if it doesn't play well out of the box, there
is something wrong with it. "Odds are" is the key phrase. Maybe I could
fix it. Is it worth the hassle to have one success out of ten?

If I made my living doing this, I would probably try my hand at making
reeds from blanks. As is, I do well to practice clarinet and sax enough
to be proud of how I can play; reed-making is a related, but different,
avocation that I can't spare the time for.

>
>I've found reeds that I like in most brands but I've never been sure
>whether it was specifically the brand or whether it was simply a good
>reed. I've also discarded many-a reed. I'm sure that there are other
>people on this list who would like to hear comments on this subject
>
I said this recently, but I'll say it again - people who say they get
only one good reed out of a box of 10 on a regular basis may be buying
the wrong brand/strength for their mouthpiece, level of ability, and/or
playing style. I think we're a little fixated on hardness (don't say
anything, Dan or Jacqueline) -- I rediscovered an O'Brian crystal
mouthpiece that I had given up on. Sweat would pour from my forehead as
for about 2 years I tried to make that sucker work with 3.5 strength
reeds. On a whim one day, I tried it with a #2 Rico Royal out of a box I
bought for a beginner student (another long story...) - it lit up
beautifully. I prefer a different setup for "legit" work (R. Marcellus
and 3.5 Mitchell Lurie Premium), but that mouthpiece and a light reed
like a 2 or 2.5 is working great for me on dance band jobs - a bright
sound, and it makes it easy to do a jaw vibrato, grab the thing and play
after playing sax for hours... in other words, thin reeds *are* good for
some applications.