Klarinet Archive - Posting 000031.txt from 2003/05

From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] RE: hard reeds
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 17:54:08 -0400

This does tend to happen, especially among older students. My experience
with younger ones is that they don't as a rule care much on their own what
sort of sound they produce, so any reed gets slapped on the mouthpiece in
any old position it lands in with the ligature shoved on as far (or not) as
it will go without a hand having touched the screws. Sometimes, there's not
even a whole reed tip there. So it can sometimes be simply that "any old
reed will do" as much as "hard reeds are better."

I have also encountered the "hard reeds are better" approach more with
students whose school instrumental music teachers are not reed players. To
combat the thin, nasal, out-of-tune experience that comes from the #2 Rico
reeds the kids got in their cases when they started, the teachers just
over-react and tell them to go out and buy popsicle sticks with no regard
for the mouthpiece the reeds need to play on.

Karl

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lacy, Edwin [mailto:el2@-----.edu]
> Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 10:41 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] RE: hard reeds
>
>
> <<<For some reason, my students tend to favor reeds that are too hard,
> so when they play, only about half the note tends to speak, covered up
> mostly by the sound of rushing noise.>>>
>
> Sure, I think it's the old "hard reeds are better" syndrome. You know,
> we've all heard it: "You're playing a #3.5 reed? Wow, I use a #5; I
> must be a lot better player than you are."
>
> I experience the same thing among high school-aged oboists and
> bassoonists. If they use commercial reeds, having not yet learned to
> make their own, I recommend that they buy "medium soft" reeds. Time
> after time, they will come in to lessons with medium or medium hard
> reeds. "Why did you buy such hard reeds," I will ask. "My band
> director said I couldn't get a good sound on a medium soft reed."
>
> Ed Lacy
> University of Evansville
>
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>
>

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