Klarinet Archive - Posting 001247.txt from 1998/01

From: avrahm galper <agalper@-----.com>
Subj: BREAKING IN REEDS
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 14:26:47 -0500

Breaking in Reeds. Daniel Bonade (Part 1)
This appeared in the Clarinet Quarterly 1954

Many times one will hear a clarinet player boastfully say, "I usually
can find only one good or two good reeds in a hundred".
Another common remark is" My reeds last me only one week."

The above remarks reveal two things about those who make them:They do
not know very much about reeds, and they do not have good embouchures
The better the players, the less reeds he will use.
A player's ability and knowledge can be accurately determined by the
number of reeds he uses over the period of a year. Of course, one must
allow for the amount of playing done.
Here is another remark one will hear- and often from good players:
"My reed went well at the concert last night but this morning it is
terrible."
This appear to be the truth; it is a fact that the reed won't go. The
fault lies, however, not in the reed but rather in the players'
embouchure that changed overnight
His lips have rested and the muscles are relaxed; therefore, his
pressure upon the reed has changed.
The same thing happens when one is touring; temperatures, climates,
altitude, food water etc. are constantly affecting changes in the
embouchure.

A flute player does not rush to the store to buy a new head joint when
he picks up his flute in the morning and hears a bad tone. No: he works
hard to get normal flexibility back in his embouchure.
So we can take a tip from the flutists and learn that our embouchures
are constantly changing much more than we had realized- and this is
the important point to be kept in minds when preparing new reeds.
After playing a new reed for five minutes, the embouchure has radically
changed because it has begun to adapt itself to the new reed.
How foolish it would be to find a perfect reed at that particular
moment
Further, reeds change radically in their behavior the first few hours
of alternate playing and drying, and one can never be sure how they are
going to turn out
Pretty grim picture isn't it?
But don't give up, because there is a method, which allows for the
above complications and yet will bring good results.

Avrahm Galper

The Upbeat Baerman Melodic Scales
http://www.sneezy.org/avrahm_galper/index.html