 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: krawfish3x
Date: 2003-07-23 16:38
i decided to do an experiment today with reed working and ive always been told never to touch the heart of the reed while adjusting reeds. i didnt know why so i decided to take wood off of the heart of a reed(this was a reed that barely played). it didnt seem to do any harm but acctually opened up the sound. so im wondering if anyone on the BB knows why does everyone say not to take wood off the heart of the reed?
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Author: William
Date: 2003-07-23 17:42
If the profile of the reed--slope from cut to tip--is misshappen at manufacture, it is certainly appropriate to adjust by "taking some off" the heart. However, it is usually beter to adjust the sides and corners of the reed, leaving the heart untouched to produce a more flexable sound.
You probably "got lucky" this time--try again and see (play) what happens, and let us know.
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Author: martin
Date: 2003-07-23 20:57
Check out Ben Armato's book Perfect a Reed.. and Beyond for an opinion-
he says it often helps. His Reed Wizard device adjusts the heart.
Martin
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-07-24 15:24
Just goes to prove that you can't always go by what you hear......
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Author: Jerry McD.
Date: 2003-07-24 20:02
The biggest reason you should stay away from the heart of the reed is because in many cases (of commercially made reeds) there is barely enough wood in the heart area to begin with and scraping it further could possibly take more 'guts' out of the reed. That said, William is right, occasionally (sp?) you do need to take some out of the heart...try this...
if a reed is not playing well and feels sort-of 'bound up,' look at the reed through a strong light. What you should see is a GRADUAL change of opaqueness-I'm not sure that's a word-from light to dark. What you will see a lot is an abrupt line change going laterally across the reed at the heart. The vibrations of the reed are literally running into this wall of thick cane. If you can smooth out this line either with sandpaper, knife, or rush to make the color change more gradual you will free up the vibrations of the reed. The key is to take just enough off to make a difference. Remember...scrape a little and test, scrape a little and test.
Good luck, I hope this helps.
Jerry McD.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-07-24 21:54
Interesting observation,Jerry, will have to check it out......
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2003-07-25 18:26
Funny, I never met a nice reed in my life!
David Dow
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