Klarinet Archive - Posting 001104.txt from 1998/09

From: ROBERT ABRAHAM <rkabear@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Bass Cl reeds
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 14:12:05 -0400

I *personally* hate tenor reeds on bass clarinet. That was the point. I was responding to someone saying that using soprano sax reeds on clarinet was wrong, because they thought it would be the wrong size. I was responding that they should try it before saying so, to have a point of reference, and the perspectives on reeds differ. My dislike for tenor reeds for bass clarinet playing is an example of that, because people do use them a lot. I just tend to not use them because of the way *I* play.

My dislike for tenor reeds on bass clarinet is *personal* and will differ from person to person. I typically have liked La Voz bass clarinet reeds (although it's been a while since I did the bass thing). I dislike Vandoren tenor sax reeds altogether, and the La Voz tenor reeds I used were not the greatest for bass clarinet. The reeds were not great for the ligatures I used on bass clarinet, because I was using a two screw ligature on bass, which did not support the reed evenly to get good response. Thus, the perspective. With a different setup, my perspective might have been different.

Kelly Abraham
Woodwinds/Computer Geek
New York City
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Kelly Abraham wrote: "I personally HATE using tenor sax reeds on bass clarinet, because I have problems playing the lowest and highest notes in tune." I would beg to differ. In 20 years of playing bass clarinet (in sypmphony orchestras, school bands, pit bands, and jazz bands) I've played on both "bass clarinet" and "tenor sax" reeds interchangeably, depending on what's available in what brands, and sometimes because of price differences. While a true "bass clarinet" reed should theoretically be slightly wider and perhaps shorter than a tenor sax reed, if you compare modern reeds of just about ANY BRAND, you'll find that the bass clarinet and tenor sax reeds are IDENTICAL in size and cut. Manufacturers apparently make them on the same equipment, as far as I can tell. I've done many a test where I bought both the tenor and b.c. reeds from the same manufacturer in the same strength, and did blind tests to see if I could tell which was which, and I've NEVER found any statistical difference,in my own experience. Typically, since there's a greater variety of reeds available for tenor sax, I buy those for use on my bass clarinet.
Dave Spiegelthal
Calverton, VA

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