Klarinet Archive - Posting 000029.txt from 1999/12

From: Simon_Aldrich@-----.ca (Simon Aldrich)
Subj: [kl] Re:Blackmaster reeds
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 23:21:19 -0500

Malia asked "I have just recently started using Vandoren's Blackmaster
reeds. I really
like them becuase I can get a lot more good ones out of a box than I've
been
getting with the V12s. They usually sound awesome for the first couple of
days, but I'm finding that they don't last much longer than about 5 days
to a
week. I'm rotating them and playing on them for only a little while at a
time. My question is: Is it just me? or do the Blackmasters usually die
this quickly? What is a good way of using brand new reeds?"

The Blackmaster reeds, being made for a German mouthpiece, are narrower
than V12s.
If V12s "fit" your mouthpiece (ie if the width of the V12 matches the
width of the window of
your mouthpiece) then the Blackmaster reeds are too narrow for your
mouthpiece.
You can see if a reed "fits" your mouthpiece by looking straight on at the
aperture (reed/tip
opening combination) and seeing if there is any overhang of the reed
beyond the rails of the
mouthpiece.
I often have students with unusable setups. The reed/mouthpiece
combination has no playability
in it. When I check the fit of the reed with the mouthpiece window often
the reed (always a V12)
is too wide for the window. In this case articulation is difficult and the
setup is very resistant.
A remarkable number of mouthpieces have windows narrower than the
V12. Half my Kapars are like that. Blackmasters always work better on
these
narrower-windowed mouthpieces.
A possible reason you find the Blackmasters die quickly is that if your
mouthpiece's window is
too wide for the Blackmaster, the reed will "crap out" after a while. I
have found that the Blackmasters
seem good at first on mouthpieces whose window is wider than than the
width of the Blackmaster.
But after a while the weaknesses inherent in reeds that are too narrow for
the mouthpiece
become apparent (can't play loud, articulation is mushy).

Simon Aldrich

Principal Clarinet - Montreal Opera Orchestra
Principal Clarinet - Montreal Metropolitain Orchestra
Nouvel Ensemble Moderne

Clarinet Instructor - University of Sherbrooke

simona@-----.org
(514) 843-7550

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