Klarinet Archive - Posting 000111.txt from 1999/12

From: "Karl Krelove" <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Blackmaster reeds
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 1999 20:38:45 -0500

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Smith [mailto:david-patty@-----.net]
> Sent: Friday, December 03, 1999 7:42 PM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] Blackmaster reeds
>
>
> Dear Karl,
>
> For me, a reed has "died" when its response is not "live": it is harder to
> get the overtones in my sounds and it is way too easy to sound brittle and
> squeaky when playing on it. Register extremes are thin on such a reed.

Unless a reed is just too soft to begin with, "death" may be an inaccurate
diagnosis of a reed that doesn't play as well after a few days as it played
fresh out of the box. These symptoms can as easily describe a reed that has
simply become unbalanced in the course of wetting and drying during the
first few days of use. Commercial reeds always soak up a lot of water during
those first few uses. Left behind each time the water evaporates are swollen
fibers and solid minerals (same stuff that builds up on your mouthpiece) on
the fibers. The reed's vibrating characteristics can change quite noticeably
and balance can be significantly affected. Once this happens, a few strokes
(in the right place) with the abrasive of your choice (rush, sandpaper,
knife, etc.) can free the reed, and a seemingly dead reed can be given weeks
of life.

Malia's original question concerned Vandoren Blackmasters, but any
commercially cut reed will do this. I guess it's possible that a particular
run of cane (or cane grown in a particular environment) may be more
susceptible to waterlogging and be more likely to change over the "break-in"
period. One of my biggest frustrations as a student was that reeds seemed to
go bad on me after a short time, inevitably the day of a big performance.
Adjusting (and readjusting if necessary) reeds to rebalance them was an
important part of the craft of clarinet playing that I hadn't yet learned
very well.

To those list members who have access to lab equipment and the expertise to
use it, what kind of procedures could be used to actually document the
causes of these changes? We've discussed reed warpage often and sometimes
heatedly (with preparatory recipes to prevent it) , but I'm not sure I
remember a discussion of other changes that occur in the wood. I assume it
would be possible to detect the presence of calcium and other mineral
deposits among (or within) the reed fibers and to detect tiny changes in the
actual dimensions or condition of the xylem and phloem tubes that comprise
the wood's structure. My explanation above is pure intuition. I've always
assumed physical evidence could be observed but never had access to
equipment and wouldn't on my own know how to use it. Comments, anyone?

Karl Krelove

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