Klarinet Archive - Posting 000314.txt from 2000/04

From: "Karl Krelove" <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] re: Tone - the quick way
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2000 14:14:14 -0400

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Lawrence [mailto:belgarath10@-----.com]
> Sent: Saturday, April 08, 2000 11:50 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] re: Tone - the quick way
>
>
>
> Is there any book or
> web site that shows in detail how to select *good* reeds? Is
> there anything
> to look for other than straight fibers and a thick heart? TIA
>
> -Michael L.
>

Without wanting to sound snide or flippant, I think you missed Tony's main
point in the message to which you were replying (in part) with this
question. Without in any way wanting to speak for Tony Pay - he does very
well on his own and I can't speak as a player with nearly his level of
authority - I would nonetheless suggest that if you're looking for visual
clues to good reeds, you're barking up the wrong tree. Reeds are *good* or
*OK* or *not good* because of what they sound like and what they allow you
to do. I've played on some reeds that looked awful by every standard
criterion. They did what I needed them to do. Many reeds that look wonderful
don't play well because there are qualities in the cane that you can't
really see reliably.

I've long ago quit trying to pick reeds visually at all. I don't look at
them until after I've tried to play on them. I actually try (on the
instrument with a ligature) every reed in the box. Some are just too far off
the mark to make me want to spend the time trying to adjust them, so I put
them in a box for some other lifetime (I keep thinking I'll buy a
Reed-Du-All one day). Some feel closer to what I'm searching for, and I then
inspect those to see if I can find an imbalance or a heavy area visually.
The important thing is that the sound and feel of a reed makes it good, bad,
or indifferent. The great challenge in learning to choose good reeds is
developing a conceptual expectation of sound and response against which to
judge each reed you try.

Karl Krelove

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