Klarinet Archive - Posting 000531.txt from 2002/10

From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: Wacky reed problem
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 08:20:05 -0400

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bruce E. McGarvey [mailto:bmcgar@-----.net]
>
> We'll have to agree to disagree on this point. I've used standard and
> inverted Bonades extensively (though I haven't altered them by
> transversally
> filing down the middle of their rails, as some advocate), but I'm still
> happier with the way reeds respond using the Gigliotti inverted
> ligature. I
> also find tightening any ligature up "good and snug" (as I'm only guessing
> you mean it) downright dangerous to the reed.

Not to mention that it's also dangerous to the screws on those ligatures!

>
>
> "I bet your student is sucking on the reed and putting pressure on it with
> her tongue when she wets it, thus warping the reed and making it go out of
> whack after a few minutes."
>
Oddly enough, this seems possible. In fact, it could be that she's simply
bending the reed at the lesson when she wets it. Who wets it up when you
initially give the reed to her? This tongue pressure when wetting the reed
is something I've found over the years many of my younger students do - they
actually suck on it the way they do a lollipop, pressing it up against the
roof of the mouth. You could eliminate this possibility by getting her to
wet the reeds in a cup of water for half a minute or so instead of in her
mouth (even if you don't like this method as a general rule, it would help
isolate the problem as a temporary measure).
>
> 3. I'll have her keep one of my adjusted and mature reeds on her
> mouthpiece
> through at least 3 or 4 hours of playing--no removing it for
> storage. If the
> reed starts closing, I think I will be able to concentrate on an oral
> chemistry, "mouthing", or handling problem. If it doesn't, it's gotta be
> storage.
>
Many players advocate this anyway - in theory any distortions in the reed
caused by drying/wetting cycles will result in the reed's conforming to the
mouthpiece. We've had this discussion a number of times - the opposition's
main objection is mold/mildew forming on the back of the reed because of
incomplete drying. I've never found this to be a problem unless I'm actually
sealing the reed in an airtight container like a plastic bag to keep it from
drying completely.

> 4. I'm going to quiz her husband about what she does with her reeds when
> she's not playing. One never know's what interesting things one
> may find out
> when spouses are around.
>

Careful, you may find out more than you wanted to know!

> 5. I'll have her store her reeds on piece of glass until we get some
> information via 1-4.
>

I know I'm in the minority here on this issue, and I don't especially want
to open up a whole repeat thread in this area. But my experience was never
good with reed cases that held reeds flat on metal or glass, nor was it good
when I dried reeds flat-side down on glass without the clamping pressure
Reedguard and other holders provide. I found a much higher incidence of
warping whenever water was prevented from drying evenly on both sides of the
reed. In theory, if one side dries faster than the other, the wood will tend
to contract on the dry side and pull the edges of the reed toward that side.
It happens all the time in lumber yards (with much larger pieces of wood)
where the lumber is outdoors and exposed to rain during storage. I'm not
really able to argue the theory in any convincing way, but my experience as
a much younger player was that, while some reeds warped when stored flat,
none warped when stored either flat side up on my desk (so air can circulate
around both sides equally) or in reed cases that hold the reeds up on their
edges, again exposing both sides of the reed to air.

When I was a very young player still studying at college, Gigliotti
constantly harped at me about pinching the reed when I played. One day
(initially unrelated to the pinching issue) he wanted me for some reason to
feel how his reed responded and handed me his clarinet with his mouthpiece
and the reed he had played (so he said, anyway) the night before in an
orchestra performance at the Academy of Music. I played on it for a couple
of minutes, was duly impressed with how responsive it was (it actually felt
much too light for me - which as I remember was part of his point in having
me play it), and handed it back to him. He tried to play something on it,
looked at it in mild horror, and declared that I had "closed it."
Apparently, in those couple of minutes I had put enough pressure against the
reed to have bent it slightly inward. Could your student simply be pinching
the reed and closing it consistently enough that it just isn't recovering?

Karl Krelove

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