Klarinet Archive - Posting 000743.txt from 2000/12

From: Richard Bush <rbushidioglot@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Reeds
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 23:37:51 -0500

Dear Tony W. and Sneezy Folks,

My approach to reeds takes some time to master, and it takes more time
initially than what you've described below, but I feel that in the long run, I
probably spend a lot less time dealing with reeds than most.

I break them in carefully, rubbing them down, polishing the flat side and do
these things for three or four sessions. I then start to balance them using
Dutch rush. I am able to use most of the reeds from a box, don't spend a
fortune looking for that one special one and my reeds last for a long time
(again, if the reed keeps working well I'm not spending time searching for a
good one).

Very good information on this is available in Keith Stein's, "Art of Clarinet
Playing" and Larry Teal's "Art of Saxophone Playing."

With the exception of the reed clipper, all other materials are very
inexpensive.

Tony Wakefield wrote:

> I took a year out last year Ian. I haven`t bought anything other than the
> normal Vandorens, with their usual inconsistency during this year. Some have
> blown well and some haven`t. I tend not to spend time, (`cos I don`t have
> it) on the ones which don`t blow fairly well to start with. But recently I
> purchased 6, (I only just had enough pennies for 6) and believe it or not
> <they> all blow well.
>
> Do you consider <this> Hogmanay approaching to be the real Millennium? Or
> did you get rat arsed last year?
> All the best with your reed search. And your "drinking".
> Tony W.
>
> From: Ian Black
> > 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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