Klarinet Archive - Posting 000357.txt from 2003/11

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Reed hardness?
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 22:51:01 -0500

At 10:28 PM 11/19/2003 -0500, Rob C Chaney wrote:
>How do you decide what hardness of reed to use? When I started in 5th
>grade I used a 1 1/2. Then over the summer when I ran out of reed. My dad
>asked the person at the music store what size I should use if I have been
>playing for a year. The sales person said move up to a 2. About three
>fourths of the way through 6th grade we got a new band director. He said
>no you should be playing with a 2 1/2. I have been playing with a 2 1/2
>since then. Now I am a junior in high school. I am wondering how do I
>decide if I need a harder reed or the hardness of a reed you need? The
>main problem I had when I started was I went through several band
>directors in 5th grade, and a few more in 6th. At the end of 6th I got my
>current director. He ignored me for a few years since there was so many
>clarinets that he could not work with everyone. When I got to high school
>he saw I was a serious player because I was one of the four surviving
>clarinets of over a dozen. Now between 9, 10, 11, and 12 we have a dozen
>soprano clarinets and one of them drifts between Alto, Bass, and Bb. My
>director is considering switch my to bass because we have very little
>bass from the brass and he needs some more. Does anyone have any
>suggestions on how to drift to the bass?

I believe that the proper reed strength is more a function of mouthpiece
facing than any other factor. Personally, I own a number of Bb mouthpieces
and use anything from a 2 1/2 to a 4 1/2 (Rico/Mitchell Lurie strengths)
depending upon which mouthpiece I am using. Beginners are usually given
rather soft reeds, since their embouchures are not strong enough to handle
anything harder. As one's embouchure muscles firm up, it is normal to move
up in strength a bit, but you can only go so far this way. It is shocking
to me how many band directors force students to use a particular strength
of reed regardless of their equipment. It shows a fundamental
misunderstanding of the instrument. In the end, IMHO, the best reed
strength for YOU the one that is soft enough to produce a clear, non-airy
sound, without great effort on YOUR mouthpiece, but HARD enough to not
sound flabby and to be able to play altissimo notes cleanly and strongly
without closing off. Do not be swayed by what OTHERS are using, unless
they are playing the exact mouthpiece you are, in which case you may use
their reed as a STARTING point.

Bass is a lot of fun. Fingering is essentially identical, so the rest is
just a matter of getting used to the embouchure change -- bigger mouthpiece
and probably different angle, unless you have a Bay or similar neck on the
instrument. Use the floor peg, and, preferably, a neck strap, too. If it
is adjusted right, it will make playing notes like first space F more
secure, so you don't feel like you are pushing the instrument out of your
mouth. ASSUME that the school instrument you are given will be out of
adjustment, so don't get frustrated right away.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org