Klarinet Archive - Posting 000668.txt from 2004/11

From: "Steve White" <bass.clarinet@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Sandpaper vs. Reed knife
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 11:47:57 -0500

All true.
That said I'll relate my experience. (and that's all this is) Please
excuse me if this has been so thoroughly digressed upon in the past. I tend
to be a bit of a saliva producer at times. I prefer that my reeds do not
get fully saturated as it effects my playing negatively. Here's what I do -
and it could probably be explained better.

Using what is essentially the wood-working term of 'raising the grain' as a
starting point, I take the reeds from the box and consider them unfinished
and not aged enough. I take a coffee cup of warm (not hot) tap water. I
have noticed the tap water is better for this technique (if you want to
aggrandize this procedure with such a noble designation) due to the
impurities contained in it. Immerse the reeds but end up into the warm
water (I stick them to the side of the cup to keep them this way using the
capillary strength of water) and let the water completely saturate the reed.
(doesn't take but 10-15 seconds with newer reeds) Once the reeds are
saturated I place them table side up on a piece of glass to dry. I repeat
this process several times until the reeds takes about 2-3 minutes to fully
saturate.
I call this 'tempering' but I think it just the concept of raising the
grain of the wood and letting it warp if it is going to. Once I reach this
point I then begin to adjust the reed - flattening the table, knifing that
one spot on the left side of the heart down from the tip on Vandorens that
always seems to need it....
Tempering the reeds like this limits my time actually adjusting the reeds
as they are vastly more stable after this process. They will still change,
but much less than normally.
I understand what occurs thusly: The tubes in the cane are wide open due
to the manufacturing process. This allows the water/saliva to run through
the reed like an a Corvette on the Interstate. Tempering allows the
impurities in the tap water to block these tubes as the water evaporates,
partially or completely depending on how much you do it. Once you sand and
scrape the reed you will open the tubes up some, but not all. Therefore the
water being partially or nearly completely locked out, the reed will change
less and be more stable. This increased stability give longer life to the
reeds, but I typically start with harder reeds than I need to get the
longest life from the final product (not always, but usually).

Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV)

Steve White
Whittier, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: Karl Krelove [mailto:karlkrelove@-----.net]
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 6:35 AM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] Sandpaper vs. Reed knife

Erik Tkal wrote:

>One question I do have, though, is regarding the fiber ends. I read
somewhere, and was told by a teacher as well, that one should rub the
surface of the reed with your finger in order to close the ends of the
fibers to keep water from soaking in. This runs counter to the earlier
mention that this is undesirable because working it with your finger can
ruin the reed. What's the right answer? Should the ends be closed off
somehow, or does this really not make a difference?
>
> Erik Tkal
>
>
The right answer is "yes".... and "no."
I'm not sure that anyone's said it doesn't make a difference. The real
question is: how do you want your reeds to feel and sound when you've
done whatever you do to them? In some previous discussions we've heard
from a couple of players who go as far as painting the butt end of
their reeds with nail polish in addition to closing (to the extent they
can without poisoning themselves) the tip ends of the fibers. Certainly
none of this makes a reed waterproof, and cane doesn't vibrate well when
completely dry anyway.

There are players who find that reeds last longer when they slow down
the absorption of saliva by closing the fibers in some way. But the
question still revolves (or should) around whether or not the reeds
sound and/or feel better. There's not much point in preserving a reed
that doesn't do what you want it to do.

Once you've determined what, if any, difference you feel and hear, you
might even want to seal some reeds and not others, depending on how
their playing characteristics are when they come out of the box.

Whether or not closing off the fiber ends has a *benefit* (as distinct
from an effect) depends completely on whether you as a player like the
result.

Karl Krelove

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