Klarinet Archive - Posting 000649.txt from 2004/11

From: "Steve White" <bass.clarinet@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Sandpaper vs. Reed knife
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 13:44:29 -0500

I use a combination of three methods. I use reed knives for larger work
that is more for changing larger aspects of the reeds response and
playability. I use sandpaper to blend these larger changes and for fine
adjustments to the vamp, heart, table, and sometimes the tip of the reed. I
also use a file to 'dial in' the flatness of the table. Different reeds
like different approaches - each one was a living piece of wood at one time
and therefore have the potential to be vastly different. (as I'm sure we can
all relate)

Much like choosing a mouthpiece, it more about what works for you than what
everybody else does.

Steve White
Whittier, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: Simeon Loring [mailto:sloring1@-----.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 6:34 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] Sandpaper vs. Reed knife

An oboist friend taught me that using a knife, going very slowly, and
merely trying to make dust as you scrape is a good concept.
Simeon
On Nov 23, 2004, at 9:01 AM, GrabnerWG@-----.com wrote:

> David Dow says:
> <<I simply balance the reed in the areas where I feel the reed is to
> thick..removing cane from below the tip or the balancing of the rails
> with
> a Herder knife...I never use sandpaper either....>>
>
> Tony Pays says:
>
> <<Wow. Does that mean we shouldn't?.....I sometimes do.>>
>
> Walter says:
>
> Although I am very proficient with a reed knife (I have successfully
> made
> oboe and bassoon reeds in my lifetime), I find I have much more
> precise control
> using sandpaper.
>
> I work my reeds, moistened, and placed on a small plaque of plate
> glass. I
> cut approx. 1 inch squares from waterproof sandpaper of 320 and 600
> strength.
> Using the corner of the moistened sandpaper over my fingertip, I can
> exercise
> fairly precise control over where I want to remove a hard "spot" on
> the
> reed. Using the glass to support the cane, I can also get a very nice
> thin tip
> evenly over the entire top of the reed. This is very hard to do with a
> knife
> without tearing the fibers of the cane.
>
> I used to use the reed knife for quick adjustments. I do not anymore
> since I
> found it too easy to dig "little holes" in the surface of the reed. I
> found
> -- for myself -- that I got a much more even and smooth adjustment of
> the reed
> using the sandpaper.
>
> Should everybody do it this way? Of course not. We're all different
> and have
> different size hands, different levels of manual dexterity, different
> levels
> of sensitivity.
>
> If there is one thing I have learned in my "advanced years" in clarinet
> playing...is to ignore authority and do "it," whatever "it" is, in a
> way that
> works for me....not the way some authority, or even a treasured
> teacher said
> "it" had to be done.
>
> By cutting myself loose from the burden of authority, I have achieved
> levels
> of playing which I never was able to before. I also enjoy music and
> playing
> the clarinet much more than I ever did in the past.
>
> I think this is what Tony is trying, over and over, to encourage us to
> do.
> Find our OWN ways and techniques to achieve what we need to achieve.
> Not rely
> on what some long-dead, and possibly misquoted, authority might have
> said,
> done, or practiced.
>
> Walter
> _www.clarinetXpress.com/music.html_
> (http://www.clarinetXpress.com/music.html)
> Music by Donald Draganski
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
>

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

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