Klarinet Archive - Posting 000101.txt from 1998/02

From: avrahm galper <agalper@-----.com>
Subj: BREAKING IN REEDS by DANIEL BONADE (part 3)
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 14:29:47 -0500

Breaking in Reeds by DANIEL BONADE (part 3)

Two important points, however, should be made: do not use a knife or
razor blade to scrape the reed, and do not scrape a reed in the center.
A clarinet reed is not shaped like an oboe or bassoon reed.
Scraping a reed with a knife, as double reed players do, makes ridges in
a clarinet reed (line along which the reed bends abruptly), which is a
serious defect.
The best scraping material is Dutch rush. The reason one should not
scrape the reed in the center is that the reed vibrates very little
there where its main function is to offer resistance to the lip.
The amplitude of a reed's vibration increases away from the center zone
and is at its maximum at the tips and sides. If the reed is too hard,
scrape the lower Right edge, as mentioned before.
One concluding point: a reed that is too soft on the left side will not
vibrate well, whereas the reverse will not affect its performance.
This is caused by the Right hand's twisting the instrument slightly,
with the result that the Left side of the reed is pressed harder against
the lip.
Consequently, the reed must have more resistance at this point to offset
the extra pressure.
Selecting and breaking reeds requires great patience and understanding.
By comprehending the factors involved, players can save themselves a lot
of trouble and also secure a much great proportion of playable reeds.
There is little point to screaming about the reed situation if one does
not give a potentially good reed the opportunity to develop; the point
at which its good playing qualities can emerge.
A few preliminary remarks: Be sure that the side edges of the reed are
not squeezed against the mouthpiece by the ligature.
The pressure of the ligature should be in the center of the reed.
Second, the ligature should be about a quarter of an inch below the
upper line drawn on most mouthpieces.
Third, do not tighten the upper screw of the ligature--tighten only the
lower screw. It is not an exaggeration to say that reed troubles of 90%
of clarinet players are greatly aggravated by not observing the above
points.

Avrahm Galper. There will another segment (Bonade's notebook)

THE UPBEAT BAERMANN MELODIC SCALES
http://www.sneezy.org/avrahm_galper/index.html