Klarinet Archive - Posting 000982.txt from 1997/12

From: "line ringuette" <lringuet@-----.net>
Subj: RE: making reeds
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 16:44:48 -0500

I make all of my reeds by hand, from the tube cane (I do not buy pre-made
blanks) and I have found that time invested in making a really great reed
is certainly not a waste! I too am a very Very busy person (I work
30+hrs/week) go to school (Grad.), teach etc... but if you make a really
great reed it can last an increadibly long time... I had one reed last me
over 1 year!!!!!! It was great until the very end, when I accidentally
chipped it on my stand!!! :( I personally think that it all balances
itself out: sure you spend more time on each individual one, but they last
sooooo long and are so very consistent - it really is quite a luxury to
open your reed case and pick one out that you KNOW works. Furthermore,
there are ways of working on 'batches' of reeds to save time...I do not go
from start to finish only on one reed, I do usually 10-12 at a time and
then don't have to do any more for a long time. For me this is great - I
am the type of person who loves to fiddle with gadgets, I love to whittle
away at cane, I think it's fun!!! Probably the best way to learn how to do
this is to take lessons with a teacher who is very serious about making
reeds and who always plays on his/her own reeds - that way you learn
techniques and tricks that you just can't learn in a book.
Line Ringuette
lringuet@-----.net