Klarinet Archive - Posting 000518.txt from 2000/10

From: rgarrett@-----.edu
Subj: Re: [kl] Mouthpieces (Was: Changes to Elite and other Buffets)
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 11:08:51 -0400

At 10:21 AM 10/10/2000 EDT, you wrote:
>Roger, as I have said before I currently use Vandorens I also made my own
reeds for years and years. Why do I use Vandorens now?

>I was taught, and I have read in Stubbins' book to put a very high polish
on the back of a reed. To successively sand with 320 sandpaper, 600
sandpaper, then to polish on newsprint.
>
>I DO NOT put a high polish on the backs of my reeds now, and I would not
do it if I was making my own reeds.
>
>The problem lies in the fact that this seems to take away from the power
of the reed, actually limiting the vibratory character of the reed, while
at the same time allowing it to last much longer.....

Interesting results. I have had the opposite results. I wonder what the
variables are here?

>I will polish a working reed on paper if it seems to be absorbing too much
moisture, but this is usually a stopgap measure used on a reed which will
ultimately not make it.

I believe the point of the polishing is to seal the back. Interesting that
you were going to all that trouble but avoiding one of the most important
aspects of reed making! But - as you said, you noticed a difference in how
the reed responded to you - as Sue has indicated it affected her reeds.

Sincerely,
Roger Garrett

Roger Garrett
Professor of Clarinet
Director, Symphonic Winds
Head, Recording Studio
Illinois Wesleyan University
School of Music
Bloomington, IL 61702-2900
(309) 556-3268

"A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes
another's."
Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825)

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