Klarinet Archive - Posting 000732.txt from 2000/12

From: "Ian Black" <clarinet1@-----.uk>
Subj: [kl] Reeds (Was Re: [kl] MB's taste in magazine's [sic])
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 23:37:40 -0500

----- Original Message -----
From: Tony Wakefield <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subject: Re: [kl] MB's taste in magazine's [sic]

> Award yourself an extra box of reeds.
>

Which leads me on to the question I meant to post last night.

Am I imagining things, or has quality control at Vandoren gone way downhill? I've just worked my way
through a box of regular Vandoren reeds (not V12 or anything fancy...), have found that most of them
play relatively well, but none are what I would call excellent. Visual inspection of many of them
shows that the tip has not been cut in the centre of the reed. (where the tip meets the sides of the
reed, the angle is more marked on one side than the other), and on one reed the tip doesn't even
curve in the middle. Whether a bit has broken off, or whether there was not enough tip when it was
cut, I have no inkling. Also, the middle of the reed (the U-shaped cut-out just next to the bark) is
anything but uniform.

I remember the reeds I played on before I had a break from playing (those in the purple plastic box
which was divided into two halves, and those in the opaque purple plastic "folders" similar to
today's clear folders) and remember these to have been manufactured better. Am I using the
rose-tinted glasses again, or has anyone else noticed it.

PS Please don't respond with hundreds of helpful hints on reed preparation. I am referring to my
perceived drop in quality in "virgin" reeds straight out of the box. I will make my own adjustments
and do my own preparations on these reeds as a matter of course.

Thanks

Ian

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