Klarinet Archive - Posting 001098.txt from 1999/03

From: James.P.Reed@-----.net (James P Reed)
Subj: Re: [kl] Of mouthpieces & reeds
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 20:49:23 -0500

James wrote:

> I have a 1962 Buffett R-13 with a Van Doren B 45 mouthpiece. I've
> used the Van Doren silver reeds with it almost exclusively (2 1/2 &
> 3) I've just purchased some Mitchell Lurie #3 which seem to give me
> more squeaks than I am usually able to produce.

Squeaks can come from taking in too much of the mouthpiece, or needing
to adjust your barrel and probably from a variety of other sources I'm
not aware of. There have been several other comments about this
lately. Try pulling your barrel out a little. Try using a little less
mouthpiece; that's often the problem when I develop squeaks with new
reeds.

Also, are you preparing your reeds or just pulling them out of the box
and using them? I realize there are probably more views about reed
preparation than I am able to absorb and recall at this point in my
playing. However, I've adapted/modified and use a process I've seen
presented here and elsewhere. I soak my reeds for about ten minutes
then dry them off. Next, I polish them on a clean sheet of plain white
paper on a flat surface. I do this by pushing the reed away from
myself, on the paper, with the heel pointing away from me and not
putting a lot of pressure on the tip. I do the underside about 25 time
and the top side about ten. I then leave the reeds dry overnight.
After they're dry, I put some clear nail polish on the heel, to seal
them to allow for less moisture absorption while playing. Finally, I
use each of the new reeds for no more than 10 minutes each day for a
week. At that point, I then rotate using a different reed each day I
practice.

Like yourself, I've been playing about a year. I was sold a Selmer HS*
mouthpiece to start with then began collecting a hodge-podge of used
mouthpieces from the ebay auction site. Along the way, I purchased
several Roger Garret (see other email from me over the past two days)
had refaced then purchased one of his new ones that he is making,
primarily for students. These mouthpieces, as best I understand them,
are modeled after the old Kasper ones and prove to be, for my playing, a
better quality sound with less resistance, than either my HS* or B45,
which I still compare them to occassionally.

I started playing on Rico reeds and almost immediately switched to
Vandoren. Later, I switched to Vandoren V12's. Recently, I also
purchased some Zonda and Alexander Superial reeds. The Alexanders are
stronger and more consistent than most other reeds so I am using a 2
versus a 2 1/2 or 3 in Vandoren. My personal experience is the
Alexander reeds play better and last longer than the other reeds I've
tried. And, they seem, in my experience, to sound better and to play
easier.

Before switching reeds, I had moved up to Vandoren strength 3 reeds. I
have moved down a bit due to the ability to practice much longer on a
lower strength reed. I've chosen to try to practice 60-90 minutes a day
on my clarinet and about 30-60 minutes a day on my alto sax rather than
working on playing stronger reeds and practicing less time at the
moment. I realize, in a short while, my embouchure will continue to
strengthen and I'll be able to move up in reed strength anyway.

Hope some of this helps. Please keep in mind, all of this is empirical,
based on what I've experimented with myself, as a result of reading much
about these processes on this list and elsewhere.

Wishing you well with your playing,

Jim

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