 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: melissa
Date: 2003-01-23 16:28
everyone always says to rub the vamp of the reed before and arter you play it... What part of the reed is the vamp???
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2003-01-23 17:13
It is the top of the reed that has been shaved (or cut) during manufacture. Soak the reed in your mouth (saliva only is best) until moderately saturated. Lay the reed on a flat surface--glass is good--and rub forwards and back from tip to bark. You can actually rub over the tip on to the flat surface and back again without damaging the tip if you hold the reed securily to surface. Rub until it feels smoother. (washing of hands is also advised)
After playing, rub the vamp once again to help purge the reed of excess moisture and promote even drying.
Hope this all helps--good rubbing!!!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Frank
Date: 2003-01-23 17:39
I have a booklet "Perfect a Reed" by Ben Amato....he says one should not do that and should handle the reed as little as possible...I'm in no way implying anyone is right or wrong....just curious.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Alan J. Nussbaum
Date: 2003-01-23 18:54
And then there are those who say that rubbing is good, but only toward the tip and never away from it, since whatever rubbing in one direction does to close the xyla of the cane (generally considered a good thing) will be undone by rubbing in the opposite direection. As to the question wetting in water vs. saliva, opinions diverge there as well. Certainly saliva contains various things that water (especially distilled water) does not contain. And maybe exposing new reeds to those various things may help seal the xyla. But on the other hand, I have also seen it said that one of the things that makes reeds die of old age is precisely the build-up of deposits left by--you guessed it--saliva. Go figure.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Bob
Date: 2003-01-23 22:33
Reeds are like cats, rub one way only...towards the tip. At least that's the consensus
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: d dow
Date: 2003-01-24 12:32
I feel that rubbing the reed actually deadens the life of the reed becuase we are putting acids and dirt from the hands into the part of the reed that is "alive".
Once I stopped doing this( and relied on adjusting reeds meticulously by knife )I fond my reeds sounds better and ended up playing for months at a time. (ie.orchestral concerts for days on end and in all kinds of situations where I though they would "die".
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-01-25 01:58
I agree with d dow on this one. I never rub the cut portion of the reed with my finger. I use a dull single edge razor blade. I scrape from vamp to tip to remove surface contaminates. I also scape the flat side if needed.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
