Klarinet Archive - Posting 000355.txt from 2003/11

From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Reed hardness?
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:48:57 -0500

> How do you decide what hardness of reed to use?
>
Try a few reeds of different strengths and see what works best. Keep in mind
that different brands have different strength definitions. A #3 traditional
Vandoren is not even the same "hardness" as a #3 Vandoren V12, much less a
Rico or a Lurie or a Zonda #3, etc..., so it's important not to start
juggling both brand and strength at the same time if you aren't pretty sure
what you're looking for.

Unfortunately, there *is* a monetary cost to this kind of experiment, but if
you stay at first within one brand and just try to settle on a strength, you
can then get comfortable with the one you choose before (if) you start
worrying about which other brand(s) to experiment with.

By the way, it is possible in some very variable climates that your ideal
strength will be a little seasonal - you may need to change up or down by
half a strength as temperature and humidity change from winter to summer.

Karl Krelove

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