Klarinet Archive - Posting 001013.txt from 2000/12

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: RE: [kl] Reeds
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 16:48:13 -0500

<><> Lacy Schroeder wrote:
Uhhh, Bill, um, I think he was asking about the "reeds" ;^)

Well, this part of the thread has gone far enough astray that I won't
pursue it further, but.....

One of the reasons for a beginner to own a Legere reed

(OK, I admit it, I opened my Xmas present from my daughter a few
days early --- but it wasn't my fault --- Walter mailed it directly to
my house, as my daughter requested, in a plain brown envelope and I
opened it unawares, wondering why Walter would mail me something, so it
is _Walter's_ fault that I opened it early .... because he didn't gift
wrap it! .... and thanks for the note, Walter <grin> )

Anyway, one reason for a beginner to own a Legere reed is to have a
"stable reference standard" close at hand when you go through one of
those awful phases where nothing works properly and you want a reed that
hasn't changed since the last time that you were happy with your playing
--- which is precisely what is happening to me right now.
I've already posted that I believe that I received a bunch of bad
reeds recently; but mixed up in this equation is that I may have played
a few reeds too long, and I may not have paid enough attention to how I
position my reed on the mouthpiece, and I don't have constant embouchure
or breath or tongue position in the first place (I'm talking about over
a period of weeks, not just for a few minutes), and the weather does
vary, and so forth.
Amidst all these possible interactions, I'm finding that it _is_ a
good thing to have a reed about which you can say: "Here's one thing
that hasn't changed, so I can use it as a reference point to get myself
back on track."

Truthfully, the tip curvature of Legere's reed does not match the
tip curvature of my mouthpiece, and this was my motive for posting
questions about curvature. It's been worthwhile to hear that other
experienced players generally pooh-pooh this as a potential cause. All
I can say is, right now, it's bothering the heck out of me, but I guess
that it s is my problem, not Mr. Legere's.

The other thing, Walter, is that I believe I told my daughter to
order the wrong strength, so I'm sending you another $13. However,
since this reed won't arrive before Christmas, there's no need to gift
wrap it, and a plain brown envelope is probably best because I wouldn't
want those amply endowed matronly ladies (such as the lady who delivers
my mail) to know.... <grin>

Cheers,
Bill

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