Klarinet Archive - Posting 000398.txt from 1998/02

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: IT'S A FACT (1)
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 16:17:15 -0500

On Sat, 7 Feb 1998, avrahm galper wrote:

> After clipping a reed, round off the sharp corners with an emery board
> (used for filing fingernails). If left pointed, the corners do not
> vibrate evenly with the rest of the reed and will, therefore, create
> a degree of buzzing in the tone.

When I envision doing this, I imagine that the width of the tip
and side rails have some impact on how true the above statement
is likely to be. If the corners of the reed are rounded off and
you have wide tip & side rails, then there's a lot of rail "left
over" due to the diminshed surface area of the tip of the reed.
In other words, a question: what are the facts concerning the
relationship between reed vibration and the relative width of
the tip and side rails? What if the reed tip is not rounded
off at the corners and is, rather, left with square edges
and sort of pokes out the sides beyond the tip rail? What
if the right & left sides of the tip are rounded off, and then
only the middle portion of the tip is even with the tip rail
of the mouthpiece? Facts, anybody?

> Do not oil the wood of your instrument. It deadens the tone.

What constitutes a "live" tone? Is it when the air stream is
well-focused, the reed of decent quality, and we get that projective
"ring" at the core of our sound? If the answer is yes, how does the
wood of the instrument affect this "live" quality?

> Most ligature guidelines drawn around mouthpieces are placed too high.
> Top-notchers usually play with the ligature from one-sixteenths to one
> -eighth of an inch below the line, therefore opening the reed more.

What are the physics re: where pressure is applied by the ligature?
I sometimes place my ligature an 8th of inch just above the *butt*
of the reed, thereby leaving all of what lies above free to resonate
and vibrate "as it will." What are the resonance factors which affect
optimum position of the ligature relative to the length of the
reed, particularly with respect to the thick part below the vamp,
which is not affected by the fulcrum of oscillation?

> When playing a reed, or after clipping a reed, experiment to find the
> right spot for it on the mouthpiece.It is seldom that two reeds play
> their best in exactly the same position.

I've developed the philosophy of greatest strength and flexbility
in my own playing mechanism, such that I am able to readily com-
pensate for the idiosyncarcies of a given reed's vibrational
tendencies. Using air, embouchure (internal and external) and
physical relaxation, I find that I am able to adapt to any
reed (condition: the reed is not completely dead) while main-
taining a consistent position for each one on the mouthpiece.

Neil