Klarinet Archive - Posting 000303.txt from 2003/05

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Reed Cases
Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 09:30:52 -0400

Oliver Seely wrote,
>I dug my dearly departed reed out of the trash
>this morning and took a picture of it for you folks
>(for those of you who are into this kind of thing).

Guilty! ;-)

I'm embarrassed that it took the promise of a yucky picture to get me to
visit your nifty web site, Oliver! I've bookmarked it. That's a terrific
photo of you with your chamber group.

>Curious isn't it, that a reed which would separate in the
>interior the way this one did with just a little sideways
>motion in the reed case was not only perfectly good for playing,
>but persisted in that mode month after month requiring only the
>occasional clip job.

That is curious! The reed looks worn out, aside from the major damage.
It's one of life's mysteries how reeds that look crummy sometimes play the
best, while reeds that look as if they should be perfect sometimes grunt
like hogs or squeal like banshees. I wouldn't put anything in my mouth
that had visible fungus among us, though. Apparently that reed did you no
harm, but I'd be too distracted to play, imagining Things rubbing off the
reed and growing on my tongue. Hmm, that might make a good horror story
premise.... The insane clarinetist discovers a revolting new fungus on a
reed, then gets revenge on orchestra colleagues for imaginary sleights, by
"social kissing" with peculiar aggression at the New Year's fund-raiser....

Reeds are quirky critters, though. A reed that gives poor results on one
mouthpiece may play well for me on another mouthpiece, or even with the
same mouthpiece on a different clarinet. A good, very free-blowing student
mouthpiece, such as my Hite Premiere, is my favorite way to use up reeds
that are too stiff. The Hite Premiere is a good jazz mouthpiece, btw.
Someone was asking about jazz mpcs recently and I forgot to answer.

Reeds have gotten too expensive for me to just toss 'em when they're
defective or they don't suit me. I almost never throw away a new reed as
unplayable. Even the lousiest ones are usually good enough for
woodshedding, composing, memorizing, learning tricky fingerings, warming up
with scales, etc.--though I throw away the poorer reeds without a qualm
when they start wearing out. I won't waste time fussing over a reed I
don't like. Well, the truth is, I won't spend much time fussing over a
reed I *do* like, either. I pretty much take them out of the box, soak
them and play them. It's easier for me to use a different mouthpiece or
adjust my embouchure than it is for me to monkey with a reed. My monkeying
attempts haven't gone too well (perhaps not surprisingly, considering that
my high-tech reed tool is an Xacto knife...).

Lelia
e-mail: lelialoban@-----.net
web site: http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban

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